Missed It

After visiting Crater Lake, my girlfriend and I couldn’t find a campsite until we hit Diamond Lake 10 miles north of the national park. The campground had well over 125 sites and when we got there, 7 were left. The next morning, we woke up at 7 am, ate bananas, and headed for the trail. It was pretty cold until around 10 am and completely clear all day. A very nice couple began the trek at the same time as us but forgot something so we had people coming up behind us. We started the hike at 7:30 am and with four breaks in route, we hit the PCT at 9:20 am and found two guys who had set up a tent the night before. My girlfriend became exhausted at this point so I continued on without her. I didn’t want to leave her alone for long so I booked it. I got to the base of the rock wall that leads to the summit at 10:30 am. I surveyed the scene, looked down the drop-off to the north, and in the mean time, I realized how tired I’d become from not eating a good breakfast. I decided that an attempt at the summit from there would be too risky with my inexperience at such climbs, so I turned around. As we descended down the trail we saw 25-30 people there for Labor Day weekend. I was glad I didn’t climb the rest of the way to the summit because I became tired and faint for the last mile of the hike down and any more energy spent at the top would have cost me at the bottom. We returned to the car at 12:45 pm. I guess Mt. Thielsen will have to wait.