Day 110 (8 September)

Miles 1999.0 to 2023.5. Pond camp to forest camp.

When we get up, it is still pitch black. At least yesterday's hauling wind has stopped.

The night was not bad and we are positively surprised that the tent stayed dry although we camped right next to a pond/lake. 

After our usual packing time of around 30 minutes we hit the trail again. The first miles are easy, since the terrain is flat and the ground solid. After about 20 minutes we reach the 2’000 mile marker. Wow, what a number! And “only” 650 more miles left until Canada! Even though we didn't hike all the 2'000 miles to get here, it still means a lot. It means that we've hiked about 1'600 miles, something we've never done before, and are quite proud of. We take some pictures and continue our hike. Just a couple of minutes later we need to cross the highway and find... trail magic! There are chocolate bars, candy and beer. I pass on the beer (never thought I would say this, but waaay too early in the morning for that) and gladly take some of the food.

Eventually we cross the highway and meet two horseback riders, decide some minutes later to have breakfast and have an amazing view. And the stunning views don't end here.

We climb up through a big burnt area with 360 degree views all around us. As we are approaching Mt. Jefferson the view gets even better. That's one good looking mountain! Later we have lunch at a small pond. Here we see several bow hunters going to hunt for elks. That's the season. But it does creep us out.

Later we pass by “Three Fingered Jack”, another very scenic mountain standing up to its name. 

After a beautiful day filled with plenty of views and happy hiking we reach Mt. Jefferson. This epic mountain is now in front of us and we're going to camp right near it. The day ends at about 8.30pm after night hiking for about an hour. We then reach our flat campsite, quickly pitch our tent and spend the rest of the evening watching Netflix episodes, which we have downloaded earlier. This has become quite a tradition and something we look forward to when it gets dark and cold.