Day 150 (11 June)

Miles 705.9 to 728 (22.1 Miles)
​Dumbbell Lake Peninsula Camp to Charlton Lake

We want to do a lot of miles today so we get up fairly early, feeling refreshed from our dip in the lake last night. It turns out though that we shouldn't stay in those lakes for too long before going to bed. After a while we started to be really cold and had trouble warming up. Eventually it was fine, but we learnt to limit our time in Oregon lakes at this time of the year. Bye beautiful camp spot, we loved you!

​Sun, no snow, easy terrain. The PCT can actually be straightforward sometimes, that's new! There are so many lakes we pass in this area and we look forward to having our breakfast near one of them. But then we don't find a sunny spot and after about 6 miles just decide to take a break on the trail directly, there are no people around anyway! It's sunny here, but there are loads of mosquitoes. Luckily we carry deet and the mozzies soon let us be.

After breakfast the trail starts ascending again, looks like the easy part is already over... It's not exactly steep, but with the elevation gain the snow starts again, and it's just really really annoying. We are postholing a lot, falling into holes, losing the trail - this is frustrating and our bodies are aching! We take a short break at Stormy Lake. There is no water to collect here, only ice.

We want to reach Lake Brahma for lunch and therefore soon get going again. There are so many lakes here, it's amazing! And it's really hot today too - 36 degrees Celsius - so the minute we reach Lake Brahma we jump in again! This is fun, we could get used to jumping into several lakes a day. We wash our socks and underwear and then prepare lunch, only I am not hungry. Or better, I can't stand the food we carry anymore and rather just eat nothing. I miss Swiss food! Italian food! Fresh food! Homemade food! Did I mention we are excited to go home and, basically, just eat the whole time?

After an hour well spent we pack up. We know another big climb is coming and we are spreading the snow that usually comes with elevation gain. Hiking in snow sucks! But the next mountain turns out to be a burnt area, meaning that the sun could reach the ground and melt all the snow. This is a fabulous surprise! On top we even have cell service and I find out that my little sister got engaged! Congratulations Andri and Dana, you two lovebirds!!! And, it was about time :-)

On our climb down I am hurting. My shoulders ache, my feet don't want to carry me anymore. After what feels like an eternity but are actually 4 miles we reach our designated camp site. We jump into yet another lake -  Charlton Lake - and then hop straight into our sleeping bags, feeling really cold again. We are both not hungry and skip dinner again. While inspecting our feet I realize that I've developed quite a few larger blisters under my feet, so Dario pops them and puts some cream on them. Hopefully I will be able to walk tomorrow. Then, from the comfort of our sleeping bags we watch the hundreds and hundreds of mosquitoes outside our mosquito net. This is crazy! But you can't touch us, so who cares...