Good day of traveling 15 scenic miles. Climbed up above camp steadily through forest and into the Mt Adams Wilderness. Eventually broke out into an old burn with glorious colors in the low growing bushes. Views of Mt Hood, Mt St Helens, and finally Mt Adams towering over us at higher than 12,000’.
We trekked directly toward the west face and then traversed the subalpine slopes covered by evergreens. After some time we came to a volcanic area of an old lava flow. The trail was built through the fields of very large boulders. During this section the trail was very up and down and quite rough.
As we hiked toward our camp 5 miles distant, we came across a man out day-hiking form Camas. We also encountered 2 section hikers heading south.
Our most exciting part of the day was crossing the Lewis River. Up here it’s a glacial torrent and a milky gray color. We managed to cross delicately on narrow logs as the current noisily rushed below us. We made it across two branches of the river without even getting a shoe wet.
Just after 4:30 we found our campsite near Killen Creek. Obviously used by horsemen it has many sites. The creek descends into the meadow from a picturesque waterfall. We gathered water and cleaned ourselves up before a dinner of chicken and dumplings. We played cards and shared a Snickers Bar before a bit of reading and puzzling.
Dogleggers on the Trail 