Smokey nights

Day 126

17 miles

Camped at Lake Susan Jane

Since we didn’t have many miles to walk today, I slept in until 7am. It was blissful. As we all got up and ate breakfast, we noticed the dense smoke settling around us. Smoke usually settles in the valleys. We had camped by a small lake and had a lot of climbing to do. On the top of the steepest climb, we got some service to see if there were any new fires developing. The Bolt Creek fire had sprung up overnight and is threatening the community of Skykomish. The Grizzly peak fire is near the Glacier peak wilderness and the Irving peak fire is north of Hwy 2 which we will be at tomorrow when we go down into Leavenworth. The group have all decided to get into Leavenworth and consider the conditions, safety, and locations of the fires and then see if we will be able to continue to Stehiken or end our travels together as a group. I am so glad we are going down into Leavenworth for some planning and regrouping.

As Kevin and I headed up the last climb of the day, the smoke was getting even thicker. At campsite we all discussed if we were fine camping at this lake or if we needed to go out the 4.4 miles to the road. Since we were so close to the road it would be easy to hike out if needed during the night but the road is also in a valley so the smoke could be worse there. The road is mostly closed now because of the fire so there would be nowhere to go if we did hike out in the evening. After going to bed, some patters of rain began to fall off and on all night. I am so grateful for the rain which hopefully extinguished some of the fires and cleared out the smoke for us to sleep.

Day 125

22.7 miles

Camped by pond, Mike 2443.5

The morning felt chilly but the coffee was strong. I did not sleep well last night so getting up in the cold felt a bit rough. The skies were a bit more clear of smoke though which seemed hopeful. We began hiking with an amazing view of a pointed ridge of rocky mountains. We crossed one ridge and began to descend another. There between the crest of another ridge was a giant plume of wildfire smoke. It seemed to steadily grow as we crossed the ridge. I talked to some hiking going south about where the fire seemed to be. We pulled out our maps and decided it was on the other side of a glacier and a couple of rocky ridges from us. The trail also headed the opposite direction of the smoke. The whole rest of the day did not turn out to be Smokey either. We hiked the opposite direction of the fire.

Smoky day

Day 124

19.6 miles

Camped by a small pond

Shortly after going to bed, I found my sleeping bag and the tent soaked with condensation. It was quite disheartening and I settled in for what I thought would be an uncomfortable night. The next time I awoke the wind had picked up and dried all the condensation. With the wind was also the unmistakable smell of smell of smoke. In the morning, the nearby hills were obscured by smoke and we didn’t have very good visibility or air quality. It took part of the day to get a report of where the fire were and whether we could continue hiking safely. Right now that is what we can do. When we get to Leavenworth this may be a different story because one fire is north of Highway 2 but another is south from where we just came.

Originally we weren’t planning on going to Leavenworth, but since meeting up with Gnome, he had planned to go there and will stay at a super neat hostel there. So for fun we will head into that town too. It is modeled after a Bavarian village like Helen GA. Probably a very Americanized version of everything. There we will check out trail conditions and consider future plans.

Day 123

7 miles – Nero out of Snoqualomine

Camped at mile 2401.3

The morning was very relaxing as we spent most of the day in town. We left the hotel at 11 am after watching some of the new Lord of the Rings show. There was a delicious little market with vegan and gluten free food called Laconia Market. They had great coffee and food. I think my positive mood in town was owing to that little shop! Our plan for the day was to take it easy and head out of town to make it to campsite by dinner time.

A friend, Gnome, we haven’t seen in many miles came into town today too and we hiked out together. It is fun to join back up with various people and hear about their parts of the journey as well.

We spent some time today planning and trying to figure out how to get a ride from Rainy pass into Seattle. We have a couple of options. Then we worked on figuring out some details of getting to Nor Cal to hike there after we finish what we can in Washington. We are also on the fence a bit of whether we even want to return to that section or consider 2435 ish miles enough of a thruhike.

Snoqualomine Pass

Day 122

16 miles

Stayed in Snoqualomine

Miles into town never go as fast as I think they should. We left camp at a reasonable time but still had some significant climbs before getting near town. The last few miles were less of a climb and we ended up under some of the ski runs of The Summit, I think it is called. We could look down the mountain and see town about a mile before actually getting there. I was so so so hungry and just wanted something fresh with vegetables. When we got to the main road we went immediately to the cute little market and coffee shop. I got a curry bowl and a pumpkin spice latte which I was so excited about! Fall is here! The market also had some dairy free ice cream which I have been craving since Ashland, OR.

We were able to get most errands done before getting into our hotel room and had a restful night and I could prop my feet up for some rest!

Views of Rainer

Day 121

24 miles

Camped at mile 2378

The mood of today was significantly elevated compared to the previous couple of days. Besides the sad part in my book I am reading, which was a down right mood killer for the half an hour I had left in the book.

This morning afforded more lovely views of Rainer, we are now looking back at the northern facing slopes of the mountain. This holds what looks to be the largest glacier on the mountain. Rainer has the most glaciers of any mountain in the lower 48 states. It is amazing to see. About 5,000 people summit Rainer each year. After meeting some women on trail who were talking about climbing Rainer, I wondered how different mountaineering would feel at 14,411 feet than in the Andes where I have before. It sounds like an adventure.

This afternoon was warmer than expected. The shade feels amazing but the sun is hot when the trail is exposed. The climbs this afternoon were very steep, more than I would usually expect on the PCT. Tomorrow we get into Snoqualomine where many people say the trail gets more steep and difficult going north. I’m not too sure what it will be like if already the trail has become steeper and harder.

Tonight we got to camp around 6:30. It felt like a treat to be in the tent by 7:45 and unwind before the night grows dark and chilly. I’m hoping for another night, like last night, of uninterrupted sleep.

Day 120

27.3 miles

Camped at mile 2354

Even with the swirling clouds last night we still woke up in a dry but chilly tent. Others around Sheep lake and on the higher ridge did not fair so well. As we set out for the morning, clouds were rolling over the ridge from the west where Mount Rainer stood completely obscured. On the eastern sides of the ridges we could see the clouds roll over the top and then disappear. The first eight miles of the morning were smooth walking and went by rather quickly.

Kevin and I talked about goals we feel like we have already accomplished so far on the trail and ones we would like to focus on for the rest of the trip. This helped us to look at how far we have come and how much we have accomplished. We could see how we have grown in our communication with each other and in clarity of a few things for after the trail too. We want to keep learning new things and being grateful for each day out here!

The change in plans from the border closing has us having to work a bit harder to find things to look forward to and focus on.

Today we ended up having a few great views of Rainer which is now south of us and some of the northern cascades we will walk through eventually, I am assuming. They look large and intimidating. The views were great to see as I have always wondered if we just wouldn’t have any views in WA because of weather.

When we arrived to our planned campsite tonight, it was full of other thru hikers and weekenders. There was no room to camp. So we went a mile farther to another spot. I was surprised to see that many hikers since town. We have found another bubble of hikers even though we are behind the large bubble, thank goodness. There was a huge noro outbreak in the main northern bubble (group of hikers) ahead of us. There were around 150 hikers coming through towns at a time in WA and these little mom and pop shops aren’t really ready to handle that influx I don’t think. A lot of people got clumped together since so many skipped around the fires etc. I’m so glad we didn’t get caught in the fray. It is still fun getting to meet other hikers although the general vibe of everyone is just focus on the end and less of getting to know people around them.

Sheep Lake

Day 119

24.8 miles hiked

Camped by Sheep lake, did not get water from lake

At this mileage (2100 miles hiked) on the AT we would have 92 miles left until the northern terminus. Instead on the PCT we have about 508 miles left of hikeable trail and perhaps 50 or 60 miles of closed trail. We want to travel to Northern California, to complete the section that closed from fires and is now open, after finishing what we can in Washington. I’m so grateful the trail could reopen those miles again so soon. Sometimes it is hard to interrupt a trip with travel days and then get back onto trail and keep hiking. I have experienced this during other long trips.

My pack felt a bit heavy today and my shoulders have been sore the last few days. My body has felt tired of the repetitive motion of walking! The new shoes are helping though! Today’s miles didn’t feel too difficult but I was glad to get to camp just the same. There was a chilly

Fall breeze around the lake and through the pass. Sheep lake is only a couple miles from a main road and trailhead so it gets a ton of day hikers and people on short backpacking trips. Unfortunately this also means there is a lot of used toilet paper all through the trees and the lake is rumored to be contaminated with fecal matter. Thus, we carried water for an 11 mile stretch rather than drink the water where we camped here. I don’t expect everyone to have the same level of knowledge of the outdoors, but you must know how to poop and pee in the woods if you adventure out here.

White Pass

Day 118

16.1 miles

Resupplied at White Pass/Kracker Barrel

The going was a bit slow this morning as we still lacked motivation, even though we are going into town. Kevin and I talked through our hopes for the rest of the trail now and how we want to keep going even if it is a bit rough for awhile. The smell of smoke was mixed with clouds rolling in which made everything a bit damp and cold. It definitely felt like fall this morning. No views of Rainer and we hope as fall approaches we will still be able to see the Cascade range through the clouds!

We resupplied at White Pass in the little gas station there which accepts resupply packages. Good thing we had three boxes for us there since there wasn’t much for me to eat in their store! We also got new shoes which I am so grateful for. I have been so sore these last couple of days from having worn out cushion in my shoes.

Knifes edge

Day 117

24 miles

Hiked over Knifes Edge in Goat Rocks wilderness

Where do I even start to describe today?

First, we started out our day knowing we were going to have some amazing views of Mt Rainer as we progressed through the Goat Rocks Wilderness. This wilderness area is definitely a beautiful treasure of Washington. The trail was pretty exposed as we climbed up to the ridge and this gave us some great views of Mt Adams behind us as well.

Then we sidelined past a neat waterfall and climbed up towards the Knifes Edge. At one point, I could see a part in the bushes as the trail reached the first crest of a ridge. Cheerio, Shuffles, and Pebbles were ahead of me and had stopped there. I assumed it was because there was a neat view. Unfortunately, we all found ourselves overlooking a huge plume of smoke from a wildfire a couple ridges away. This was very disheartening as it looked like the trail went in that direction. There was nothing for us to do except look at the map to confirm that we do move away from the fire, and know we were hiking towards the nearest road. It was also sad that the smoke obscured any view of Rainer.

Knifes Edge is part of a ridge line traverse which is very narrow and steep. We scrambled up to the top of it and could over look a few miles of trail that stretched along the ridge line. It was so beautiful even though the smoke from the new fire and southern fires obscured any view of Rainer. I was really looking forward to seeing Rainer because of its glaciers.

With the little bit of service on the top of knifes edge, we found out the section in Northern California is fully reopened! This was great news so we can go there and complete as many miles of the trail as possible.

Then we found out there are fires near the Canadian border and the last maybe forty miles of the trail are closed including to the monument. This was so demoralizing to find out. It felt like our goal we were hiking towards was snatched away. There is just something about a terminus monument that is sentimental and fully signals the end of a trail. I have been envisioning our moment ending at the monument for the whole trail and it is very motivating to have that kind of goal to work towards. I’m not sure what to envision or work towards now to signal the end of our journey. I highly doubt the trail near the border will open by the time we reach that area or later in the season with enough time to finish before the snow comes.

The rest of the day we hiked slow and without motivation. We were sad and even though we can go and complete the California section now, which we are grateful for, it is rough not being about to end at a monument. As far as we know, the fires aren’t threatening any homes but is just forested land.