Day 137: in the morning we all kind of scattered. Some went to the nearby campgrounds to throw away trash and use the facilities. I, to no surprise stayed on trail to just get out hiking, morning hiking is my favorite. It’s so peaceful and meditative. I love just walking and slowly heading the world wake up. Luckily the day began in the forest, but it opened up sometimes today. Providing beautiful views of Mt. Hood. Pretty immediately from camp the trail went up again. A 3,550ft climb to start the day. And it’s kind of funny because I’m always thinking it’ll be horrible, but at this point it’s not bad at all. Later I passed by a pipe spring and filled up my water. By now I never filter. If it’s moving I just fill up and go. And especially with the pipe springs I’ve always done that. It saves soooo much time! And the pipe springs are always so old and delicious. I was set to hike the 23 miles to Blue Lake before stopping to eat lunch. It is supposedly one of the top swim spots on the trail and I want to enjoy it and know that I have just a few miles after to do! I passed a few other lakes on the way, and although they were more grungy looking it’s always nice and peaceful to be trekking next to water. I made it around 3ish. The last bit to blue lake I walked with a guy named Neon. We chatted quite a bit until I couldn’t keep up with him anymore. By this time I was pooping out just for the simple fact I had only eaten 3 bars so far today. But finally I made it. and what a waste of effort. The lake was nice don’t get me wrong, but it was cold and windy as shit by the water. I tried to take clothes off and do laundry but I immediately put on my sleeping/winter gear while I tried to eat and let me clothes dry. I tried reading but it was just miserable. I never see a point in stopping if I can’t relax. Right before I was deciding to leave L-Train showed up. She had a similar idea today to get here and enjoy the lake but instead we packed up and headed the last just 2 miles uphill to our campsite for the evening. The wind stopped pretty soon as we got back into the trees. We passed the 2200 mile marker today. Although it’s exciting, it’s also quite weird to understand how I feel about it. At this point due to having to skip because of the wildfires I don’t know how many miles I have actually hiked. But I do know that means I just have about 400 left. Which at this point seems like it will take no time. As a group we’ve chatted and discussed not doing 30 mile days, just between 20-25 dependent on where campsites are. None of us want this to end so we’re gonna try and soak it up as much as possible. Later, another same night. Everyone’s together cowboy camping!