After breakfast, we headed down the trail and started smelling smoke. Sections of the PCT have been closed and then reopened in Oregon due to fires this summer. We hope that our progress will not be stopped. It is a gentle trail that leads us to the South. We meet Gandolf who is finishing up his hike. He started last year in CA, but had to stop when he developed a stress fracture. He had to reroute around several sections that have been closed in southern Oregon. It was good news when he told us that the smoke we are smelling is coming from a fire that has been mostly put out and the trail is open. Other hikers that we meet during the day tell us of having seen fire erupt from lightning strikes. Oregon is in a severe drought. As we approached the fire area, some of the larger trees are still smoldering. Fire fighting supplies and roads that have been made as a firebreak are indications of the intensity of the fire. Soon though we are walking in a green landscape and notice the blueberry bushes that are quite full. It does not take us long to fill one of our pots. Camping tonight is at Lamar Meadows next to a running stream. Desert is chocolate pudding smothered in berries.

Mileage hiked 19 miles - Lemar Meadows