Today was a good day but I am really tired. The burned section of trail was an experience, and our group is in unanimous agreement that we should not have disregarded the closure. We ran into a group of firefighters at the beginning of the burn zone and had to be escorted through the area. While we definitely weren't in any immediate danger, there were still lots of small fires very close to the trail, and once we were out of the area, (but still on a closed section of the trail), we ran into several crews probably totaling close to 100 firefighters, headed up to work.
We all felt badly for getting in the way and causing problems. The firefighters could not have been nicer to us. They were interested in our trips, and not a single one gave us a hard time about disregarding the closure. When we got down to the staging area, we spent some time chatting with a couple of the lead firefighters who wanted to know (in a very non-accusing manner) what had led us to make the decisions we had. When we explained that we had talked to SOBO hikers who had been through the closed area without problems (probably at night, we now realize), he acknowledged that 99 out of 100 of his crew members probably would have made the same choice. That said, he wanted to get our perspective on what the Forest Service could do to encourage the compliance of thru-hikers.
In the end, the firefighters gave us tons of snacks and Gatorades. There was definitely some magic involved. I was one of the group members who advocated ducking the ropes, but I wouldn't do it again. I had taken every single "suggested" detour or alternate routes along the PCT. For the first time, I was with a group that was a little more willing to bend the rules, and I jumped on it. At the end of the day though, we all agreed that there is a difference between a suggested detour and a trail closure and that we would heed closures going forward. We appreciated the respect the Forest Service gave us, and they undoubtedly earned our respect in return.
The rest of the day was smooth sailing. After we left the fire staging area, we jumped on the Oregon Skyline Trail. The travel was sandy but fast. We did lunch at Crescent Lake where there was a car campground and lots of people with boats. It was awesome. We're currently camped along a creek about two miles out of Shelter Cove Resort. We'll hit Shelter Cove first thing in the morning, hang out for a few hours, and then join back up with the PCT to start heading toward Bend.
Hasta manana!
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