Mile 1,762.6 - 1,788.9

The smoke from the nearby wildfires was thick this morning. To be honest, it's making everyone nervous. We decided that we will continue hiking north until we are told we can't, and we hope it doesn't come to that.

The trail and the air is full of ash. You can see it falling from the sky and the smell is like being right next to a campfire. Only these are wildfires. We could see the fire itself today but the whole sky was blacked by the smoke.

At Highway 140 we half attempted to hitch a ride to Fish Lake which is only 2 miles up the road. Fish Lake is a resort which has a cafe and a small store. We didn't need it but it sounded good. After 5 minutes of hitching we said forget it, ate our PB&J wraps and hiked on. 

A sign at hwy 140 stated that a portion of the PCT was closed, but a southbound hiker rolled in and said it was open and not bad. So we hiked on.

We  managed to hike another big day again as the Oregon terrain is flatter than California.

We are making progress.

Y-Knot at the South Brown Shelter. While we were here, two woman brought in a cooler full of ice cold drinks for hikers. A dirt road was only a short walk away from this shelter. They said they try to keep it filled during the hot summer, and we are thankful.

Balance walking through the lava field.

That's right, we have hiked 2/3 of the PCT.

Summit Lake. We needed water here for the night and morning.

Our very nice campsite near Summit Lake.

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