All hail breaks loose

Day 136-

26 miles

Scott River to tent site on ridge

Day seven of rain

A couple miles into our morning it began to rain. Then the rain turned to hail. Then the hail began to collect on the ground in drifts and piles. It hailed for a few hours and I had to repeatedly shake off my umbrella. I felt bad for Kevin because he didn’t have an umbrella and his shoulders and backpack were covered in hail, looking like piled up snow. Finally the hail slowed to a drizzle and eventually stopped. Late afternoon we crossed highway 3 which goes into Etna again and another town to the opposite direction. Another hiker was there contemplating hitching into town and being done with the cold and wetness. It was definitely tempting.

But in two days we will be in Dunsmuir and done with what we can finish of the trail this year. At some points we could see the rain engulfing the ridge we were on and the next ridge over was in the sunshine. I dreamed of being in that sunshine. But then I remembered the desert heat and then I was okay in the rain. The way the clouds moved over the mountains made for such epic views and it was so neat. The area also absolutely needs rain and moisture.

Day 135

20 miles

Etna to South Fork Scott River

Day six of rain

Our ride out of town was at eight am. We had scheduled a ride with Molly. She is the local trail angel who enjoys making multiple trips up and down the mountain each day to pick up or drop off hikers. Because she is so familiar with the mountain road and because of her high speed performance driving classes (she told stories), she drives the curvy mountain road like a race track. It is a mostly deserted road which probably makes it more safe but it is still quite the experience.

From this point, we have 98 miles until we get to the 5 in Dunsmuir. I’m not really sure what I will feel or think when we see the interstate in the valley as we descend to town and the end of our journey.

While in town, Kevin and I bought our train and plane tickets home! For my resupply, I bought all my favorite foods. Oreos, candy, pretzels, chips, crackers, carrots, cucumber, green pepper.

The mountains and clouds were very spectacular today. The weather was confusing, the sun was hot but the wind was cold and I often felt one without the other so there was no balance! We could see giant sheets of rain on neighboring ridges or valleys. It didn’t start to rain until we just got to camp. We managed to set up camp and get in the tent without getting too wet and while still maintaining our marital bliss (as in not arguing too much). Anyone ever seen those people who roll into campgrounds and the whole campground can hear them set up camp “together”?!

I am hoping it won’t rain all day tomorrow like it is predicted.

Resupply in Etna

Day 134

13 miles

Resupplied in Etna, sleeping in the city park

It rained all night. I groaned inside when I heard it start. It felt pretty chilly as we crept out of our tent and began hiking. Good thing we had the motivation of getting into town! The thirteen miles of hiking went by pretty quickly as there weren’t any giant climbs. The clouds were rolling over the ridge above us but disappearing into blue sky and warmth above our heads. By the time we made it to the road we could lay out our tent to dry while we waited for a hitch.

Etna is a tiny little town. No stop lights and just one stop sign on the block long Main Street. But there are a few restaurants, a grocery store, laundromat, and a shower in the city park where hikers are allowed to camp for a few to the city. We are staying under a gazebo in the park because it might rain again tonight. The next two days on trail it is supposed to rain and then we are supposed to have two days of sun to end with. It has been hard to be motivated to keep pushing through the cold rain to the end but we are also so close that it seems tangible. Etna is our last resupply and we have 98 miles to go! I’m excited to go through the Trinity Alps which are a section of mountains ahead of us. I think we had a view of those mountains today, they were probably the ones with snow on them.

Marble Mountain

Day 133

24 miles

Fifth Day of rain on trail

It rained off and on all night. We had gone to bed knowing it would probably rain on us. I had hoped it would be done by the time our alarm went off at 6am. Instead the pitter patter on the tent became more consistent. With the little bit of service I had, I looked up the weather which said it was around 40 degrees and would rain most of the morning. Both these things proved true. It was quite chilly and rained most of the morning and never really got sunny so we could never stop to dry things out. The longest break we took was maybe 45 minutes. It was too cold to stop! We also saw about eight hunters today.

Today was an existential crisis kind of day. We both questioned why we are down here hiking in the rain and cold when most hikers just ended at Steven’s pass or snoqualomine when the fires popped up. Most didn’t feel the need to finish out the newly opened section of trail. Everyone has their own journey and we sure questioned ours today. We wondered how on earth we handled the AT where we would have rain for days and days on end. I think the cold makes it a bit different. But it is supposed to be nice and sunny tomorrow. We adhere to the adage “never quit on a bad day”. And at this point we only have about five days left. So here’s to the last week!

Today we hiked through Marble Mountain wilderness. It was a beautiful remote area.

Our first glimpse of it was as we created our first hill today. The clouds hung low over the valley in front of us. Then we hiked directly under Marble Mountain which was pure white and stood out against the dark red and brown mountains next to it. Throughout the day we could see marble mountain grow farther away from us and before we descended our final ridge, I was so impressed with how far we had come. It was really neat to have a visual point of reference to remind us of the progress we are making and also to have such beautiful views.

Seiad Valley

Day 132

19 miles

Through Seiad Valley and up the hill

We took a lazy morning today. I slept in until 7am and then showered again! Last night I showered too but I can’t sleep outside with wet hair so I waited until this morning for that.

The campground host made us hot coffee this morning and then we headed into town for our resupply. Originally we had planned to send a box here but when we skipped this section we sent that box elsewhere. I was glad to have a few good items left over from the good resupply in Seattle. My dinners now consist of corn tortillas, peanut butter, and marshmallows. I am hardly excited about it. At this point I just want vegetables. So I also packed out a green pepper and cucumber.

The cafe connected to the store opened right as we arrived so we could get a hot breakfast too! I think it has been closed for awhile so it was a surprised that it opened.

I am so grateful it is fall weather when we are hiking through this valley. When we were going to get here in the summer, it was about 110 degrees. Now we can do the six ish miles of road walk through town and not pass out from heat exhaustion.

The climb out of town was gradual at first and then steep. We went a mile farther then planned today. Each day we feel the pull of the end of the trail a bit stronger and want to chip away the final number! The next few days the weather is supposed to be a bit more cloudy and possibly rainy so we will see how that goes. Today is also the first day of rifle hunting season out here. This seems like a very early beginning of it but we met two hunters coming down trail with their guns and they told us it is opening day. I immediately took out my orange bandana and tied it on my pack. Taking no chances out here!

Elk in the campsite

Day 131

27 miles

Camped at Wildwood Rv park in Seiad Valley

Last night we awoke to a startling sound especially when half asleep. At first I was sure that two raccoons were fighting or maybe some coyotes. Then later, an elk came up the hill near our campsite and let off a few bugles. It was such an eery sound.

The original plan for today was to hike about 25 ish miles. At the first water source, we met some other hikers heading north who were also finishing up this section before heading home. They said they stayed at this newly opened place in Seiad Valley. It is opened by some people who lost their home in the recent McKinney fire which had shut down the trail. Supporting the people who live in these towns, especially after a natural disaster is an important part of trail culture. They also have hot coffee for us in the morning, so multiple motivators! So we hiked a few extra miles and made it down to this campsite.

The trail at some parts today were severely overgrown and wildly annoying. As we descended about 7500 feet into the valley, we started encountering poison oak, heat, and gnats. All things I thought we had left behind. Hopefully as we hike out tomorrow we will quickly hike away from these things.

It is super nice to stay at this campground. I got an unexpected shower and some laundry done as well!

Oregon California border

Day 130

24.9 miles

Camped at spring, crossed Oregon/California border

It was so fun to stay in the shelter last night. It was reminiscent of some of the AT shelters and definitely warm with a fire going in a giant stone hearth when we walked up and a break from the wind. It has been getting colder as fall progresses on. I slept in my sleeping bag liner in my sleeping bag bag but also with my fleece pants and my puffy. For some reason I had never slept in my puffy before but wearing the hood kept me so much warmer than putting my sleeping bag liner over my head at night. I guess I can learn new tricks anytime! Also my next sleeping bag is going to have the mummy hood again, I definitely miss it.

Seventeen miles into our day today we crossed the OR/CA border! It only took over 2000 miles and four months! It feels great to have completed at least one entire state of the PCT. The fires prohibit us from completing WA but it is good to finish OR.

My body seems to have been listening in when we had made our plans to finish in 11 days. It seems to think it is tired, hungry, and ready to be done walking over twenty miles every day. Today my legs felt heavy and tired. My pack felt heavy. My brain couldn’t focus on listening to a story and I got distracted thinking about what kind of job I might want to apply for at home. Kevin and I talked through more of our ideas for jobs and where to go once we get home. We still have miles to go and hills to climb but at the same time we are thinking of how to get an apartment and a job. Usually one requires another so it can be tricky but last time all the details fell into place so we know this time will work out too just how it is supposed to.

The terrain of Oregon and now Northern California is so much more gradual than the jagged peaks of the northern Cascades. The tops of our climbs today were open bald mountains with some meadows in the hill slopes but also dotted with forest. The trees were nice to walk through and the rounded climbs made it a bit easier. There were some views that looked like the Smokey mountains with layers of blue hills and Shasta was showing just the summit above a giant cloud.

Back to Oregon

Day 129

10 miles

From Hwy 99 in Ashland to a shelter, first day going sobo

I am so grateful the rest of the driving went smoothly today. One of our group had contacted a trail angel to get a ride from the Medford airport (where we dropped the rental car) to the trail. It ended up being the same trail angel who had given us a ride from Shasta to Ashland around the fire originally, who also came and got us back to the trail to finish this section too. This felt full circle and she is such a wonderful person to reconnect with!

It was wild to think that this eight or nine hour driving journey covered the partial distance I have walked this summer! This feels like an accomplishment and quite the feat when I think of it that way!

It was great to get back on trail and feel the comfort and familiarity of Oregon and being back hiking. The air was clear. The skies were blue. And there was no fear of a fire popping over the ridge.

Im really excited for this section and for crossing the Oregon/California border tomorrow. I am hoping for no more fires for this section but we will see. It is fire season after all. Already the planning of getting back home, thinking about jobs, and having a place to live is creeping in and bringing a bit of stress. It is always a challenge to bring the beliefs that things will work out and we will be provided for from the trail to day to day life.

Leavenworth

Day 128

Zero day

Rode to Seattle with a trail angel to rent a car and drive to Nor Cal

The town of Leavenworth is such an interesting place! It is modeled after a Bavarian German village. Our trail angel told us the whole town decided to make this move when the town was struggling to bring in tourism so it was a financial decision. Now she said the tourism is great and many people buy second houses here from Seattle so the people who work in the town shops and such can hardly afford to live in the town and often can’t find housing. This is the story of so many mountain towns we went through on the trail and true of our home state too.

Our journey south began with having to say good bye to Gnome and Pebbles. It was so sad to part ways with them but we also fully support their journeys and have really enjoyed their company along the way.

Yesterday, a friend staying with a trail angel had told me she was heading into Seattle today and could take us. So we connected and we’re so grateful for a ride to Seattle. From there we rented a car with Semi and Shuffles to drive eight hours to Medford, OR.

First though we explored part of Seattle. I had never been here and wanted to see the market and the Puget sound. Kevin got some salmon chowder and I got an apple cider slushie. As an apple cider expert given my Michigander heritage, it was phenomenal! We also made a stop at Whole Foods and so I am carrying way too much food for a 2.5 day resupply but it is all delicious food so I’m very excited!!

We finally left the city with surprisingly little traffic and headed to a campsite just north of Portland. We found a nice state park with cheap camping to end our busy traveling zero day.

Steven’s Pass

Day 127

4.4 miles

Stayed at the Loge in Leavenworth

The overnight rain cleared the air so we could actually take deep breaths when we awoke and didn’t feel like choking. The down side was packing a wet tent. But breathing was a good trade off. Kevin and I began packing up and our tramily did too. We wanted to hike the last 4.4 miles out together because today was our last day hiking all together. As we were packing, Semi walked up. He has been a few miles behind us in this section. It was a reunion and a fun hike out to the ski lodge and Steven’s Pass.

Highway 2 is now closed towards Skykomish because of the fires so any chance of hitching was gone. We were a bit worried about how we were going to get to Leavenworth which is a 40 minute drive. Luckily, there was a local who was running a shuttle down to Leavenworth a few times a day for hikers. Sadly, he was doing this to make some money while evacuated from his house near Skykomish. We made sure to wish him and his house safety and tip well.

When we got into town, we had to face making a decision of whether to continue on the trail, stop our hiking journey, or continue to Northern California to hike the section we missed from the McKinny fire. After looking at air quality reports, weather reports, and fire maps, we decided to stop hiking in Washington.

Our journey north to Canada has found a stopping point. But our journey continues. The smoky conditions, wildfires, and closed trail has caused Kevin and I to give up the goal of making it to Canada this year. We hope to finish these 185 miles across Washington’s beautiful northern Cascade mountains in another season. We want to be able to see the amazing views when we hike through them. Right now we will go back to Northern California to part of the trail that has reopened after the fire earlier this year that caused us to skip up to Oregon. I am so grateful for our tramily, for trail workers and fire fighters, for the communities along this trail who believe there is still good in this world and offer kindness to others. I am beginning to see the end of this trail, it just looks different than I originally thought.