I drove down from Portland early this morning. I was planning on hiking Black Crater and Belknap Crater back to back today and tomorrow, but highway 242 is closed at Dee Wright Observatory just before the Belknap Crater trailhead. So it was a long drive for a day hike to at least get Black Crater done. Got a break in the smoke today as it had rained the last couple days, but it was still pretty cloudy/ foggy the entire hike. Air quality was really good, luckily. I was the only one on the trail today so the mix of fog and the burnt forest made things pretty spooky. Followed some deer(?) tracks up the trail for almost the entire thing, but didn’t see any wildlife other than birds and chipmunks. Saw a couple small piles of fresh scat on the trail as well. The tip was completely cloudy and very windy which made the final little scramble to the summit a bit more intense than I was expecting. The summit area looked really interesting so I was bummed that I couldn’t really see anything. I know the views would have been spectacular! Still a good accomplishment, only one more peak to go! Also, visit the Dee Wright observatory while you’re over there, a really interesting little pit stop. Would have been even better on a clear day.