After much deliberation over air quality concerns, and consulting multiple apps and hikers, I decided that we would give it a go and hike Dutchman Peak as planned. Lucky for us, the smoke stayed away and we had a lovely hike to the top under blue skies, cool temps and fields of wildflowers.
We did have to navigate a substantial amount of downfall which several of us recognized from last year. Apparently, that section of the PCT has not received much trail maintenance in some time. Once we reached the lookout we were greeted by Travis, a forest service employee assigned as a fire watcher from June through September. His schedule is 13 days on, one day off, and repeat, for four months! I think he was very happy to have visitors and he shared information about planned upgrades to the lookout as well as the process of reporting fires to the appropriate agencies as he spots them. Eventually the time came to depart and say goodbye to Travis but not without leaving him a bar of chocolate.
The temperature gradually increased as we headed down and we were all grateful that it was much cooler earlier when we climbed to the top. All in all we hiked 10 miles and climbed about 1,400 feet.
Final note, on arrival at the parking area we were surprised to see a very impressive trail angels setup, complete with shaded canopy, multiple chairs and food & beverages. I’m sure the thru-hikers were quite excited to be greeted by this oasis on the trail. Final, final note. The sign in Spanish on the tree roughly translates to "Up to the sky, down to the earth, and I am here."
Barry