Volcanoes

Day 116

26 miles

Camped at mile 2261.7

This morning we had lovely views of Rainer and Mt St Helen’s. I speculated if we would survive an eruption from any of those volcanoes while so close. The results varied depending on which mountain hypothetically erupted. I had read a book about Mt St Helen’s eruption when I was younger so that is what spurred on these thoughts. Also you have to stay entertained somehow when hiking! According to our friend, Mt Hood is the most likely to erupt again.

As it is September 1st today, we potentially have 20 or 21 days left on the trail. Of course this depends on weather and us not getting sick or injured etc. but Kevin has our miles planned out until the terminus and then back to Rainy pass as well.

It is crazy to think of this journey coming to a close. Of course, if the McKinney section opens we would want to go finish that part right away, otherwise we will be heading home to Colorado this month. There is so much excitement for finishing a trail. But along with that, I also feel the sadness of leaving the trail and returning to day to day life where I don’t walk exorbitant amounts, where I don’t dig my own poop holes, where I don’t filter my own water. Actually I don’t mind returning to running water, I highly dislike filtering water. Sometimes my filter is slow or I dump water on my shoes. But the community, scenery, people’s stories, and powerful feelings of independence are all wonderful out here.

Today I found my mind wandering to where we will live and what jobs I should apply for and where we will go after the trail. Kevin suggested I slow down my brain and speed up my feet because we still aren’t to Canada yet! So here’s to trying to enjoy the last few weeks of the trail without letting life after the trail take too much away from the moment of right now.

Trout Lake

Day 115

15 miles

Resupplied in Trout Lake,

Camped five miles past Trout Lake

We started out at a decent time to get to the forest road where the Trout Lake grocery store provides a shuttle from. When we arrived, I stood by the road for a moment and heard a car. Just for fun I stuck out my thumb and to my surprise the truck stopped to give us a ride into town. Easiest hitch so far on the trail! Trout lake is a tiny little incorporation with a grocery store, coffee shop, restaurant, and taco truck! The church lets hikers camp in the back yard. The store has a charging station for phones. The park has showers. The church also arranges shuttles to and from the trail for hikers. It is such a great little spot and I was impressed with their candy selection! It was very nice to rest in town through the hot part of the day. Once we left town with heavy packs, we went six miles up hill to our campsite! The views of Mount Adams were spectacular!

2200 miles

Day 114

27.6 miles

Camped at mile 2222

Some days just lack motivation, today felt like one of those days. A warm morning led way to an afternoon where as soon as I got into the sun I couldn’t wait to go back into the trees. The sun was so hot. I was so grateful for the thick tree cover for most of the day. The underbrush has been thick and leafy as well when we entered Washington. All the trees still tower over head.

At our lunch stop, the flies were so annoying and were biting. I felt so hot and tired to go 12 miles to camp. Somehow, we dragged ourselves along. I had to try and hydrate a lot this afternoon and eat more to stave off the dehydration and hunger.

The humidity has been wrecking havoc on my hydration.

Eating dinner in two different stops helped keep up the energy levels to camp.

Big climbs

Day 113

25.6 miles

6000 feet of elevation gain

Hello Washington! The forest often appears to be a tropical rain forest with moss hanging from towering trees and various shapes and sizes of undergrowth. It has been lovely so far! We even had a cooler of cold drinks for trail magic today. We had a few different climbs today but the longest one at 3,000 feet was at the end of the day. It was also a 10 miles water carry! About three quarters of the way through the climb, it cooled off and began to have a pleasant brew. I was so glad to have it get cooler.

All in all, at the end of the climb, we felt strong to have made it through all the climbing and still get to campsite at a decent time.

Washington!

Day 112

20.2 miles

Camped near a seasonal creek

The first day in Washington! This morning we set out from the campground by the river in the town of Cascade Locks. It is such a beautiful place with super nice camping on grass with a potta potty. We walked by the coffee shop on the way to the bridge and stopped for a latte before leaving. It was a great start to the morning! Then we headed to the Bridge of the Gods which spans the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington. It is a huge bridge with a metal grate as the bottom road so it is a bit terrifying to walk across. There is also no walking lane so we were glad we waited until early morning on a Sunday with little traffic to walk across.

This is the first time I have ever been to Washington and I am so excited for it!

This is also the first state border crossing we have gotten to walk across on the PCT!

On the far side of the river, we paused to take some pictures with the Bridge of the Gods sign. While we were there, a man driving passed pulled over to talk to us. He said he was a geology teacher and he gave us a bit of info about this area. According to his story, this is called the bridge of the gods because about 5 or 600 years ago there was a massive landslide which caused a natural bridge over the river damming the water but creating some cascading waterfalls where it is now Cascade Locks. The Native Americans named it bridge of the gods at that time. He said it is the most studied landslide in the Pacific Northwest.

The rest of the day was spent climbing a few thousand feet up along the ridge of this old supposed landslide. The first few miles we were feverishly dodging poison oak which sometimes was hanging over the trail. Cascade Locks is the lowest point on the PCT and there is always poison oak at the lower elevations.

After a long day of climbing we were happy to settle into camp near a babbling brook and meet some more hikers along this section!