Tunnel falls

Day 111

15 miles along the Eagle Creek alternate

Camped at Marina campground in Cascade Locks, OR

Day four of rain on the trail

The beginning and end of today were both quite fun (mostly) and enchanting but the middle was a bit annoying. We woke up last night to drizzles of rain. Packing up a wet tent and damp sleeping bags wasn’t great. Clouds had moved in overnight and brought an overall dampness to the air and also rain. As soon as we had gone a couple miles down the trail, the evidence of rain spattered trail vanished. We were still mostly in a cloud but it was clearing up. The Eagle Creek alternate trail is known for its many waterfall views including Tunnel falls. We had been excited to see tunnel falls since learning of it. About five miles into our morning, I looked up to see a corner in the trail and behind the corner I could hear the loud misty sound of falling water. Tunnel falls is a very tall waterfall where the trail has been chiseled out of the rock to walk around the waterfall basin and behind the falls. The path is narrow and full of slippery rocks and over is edge is about a 50 foot drop into water. I was a bit nervous but also astounded by this neat trail. It was like a tropical rainforest with ferns and so lovely!

Once we got past the falls there were several more along the way. There were also about one hundred tourists along the trail as we got nearer to the trailhead. It was a really narrow trail with some poison oak along the side so it was rough to get over to the side of the trail to let people pass without getting a rash.

Once we got into town, we got some diner food which was needed and tried to figure out what to do in town. There was no laundry in town so I did sink laundry which was annoying but we ended the day with some French fries at the brewery. All is well that ends well, I reckon.

Ramona falls

Day 110

25.2 miles hiked

Camping at Eagle Creek alternate junction

I was slow packing up and getting ready this morning. We had a few miles going down hill then a tall climb and the rest of the day were gradual ups and downs. The smooth ways the trail has gone up and down hills in Oregon has been healing to my knees. Today is our last full day hiking in Oregon so I am soaking it up and enjoying it while also so excited for Washington!

Along the trail there have been several opportunities to take some alternative trails to get the best views. One of those was walking along the rim of Crater Lake. Today was a trail down to Ramona falls. The cascade falls glided down dark basalt cliffs with a cool breeze wafting from the base. It was absolutely beautiful! I am so glad we took the scenic route! Most of these alternates meet up with the pct further along the trail. The mileages are usually similar so we don’t miss out on the final total of trail miles overall.

After the waterfall, I used my plant ID app to check out some of the plants in the rainforest like section of trail. I passed some sicklewort lousetop plant which sounded like something from a potion in a Harry Potter book. I also noticed a Canadian Bunchberry and was excited to see a plant label Canadian since it means we are getting close! We also passed some delicious blueberries!

The last couple miles of trail were an exposed ridge walk with clouds curling up the ridge and billowing over the top. It was super neat to watch the clouds roll in but still be able to see the sun shine on the valley where we are headed tomorrow.

Muir Pass

Day 54-July 1

18.29 miles

Camped at mile 852.4 near suspension bridge

Four miles of the climb up Muir pass faced us this morning after the six miles of uphill that ended the day yesterday. There were sections of steep scrambles but then it would level off into a nice walking break. The trail soon became hidden under snow fields so the miles were slow since we had to route find. We passed a few lakes and many creeks and streams from the melting snow. Lake Helen was huge and deep blue tucked into the base of the last push. It was hard to see where we were actually headed until the roofline of the hut at the top of the pass popped up.

There were a lot of people up top of the pass but only one other PCT hiker. Then I remembered, this is 4th of July weekend so probably there will be a lot of day hikers and weekenders. A few ladies gave us a bunch of their food since they go home in a day and had extra. That was amazing since one lady handed me five snacks and literally every since one was gluten free and vegan so I could actually eat it all! I was so hungry today that I was very grateful for the extra snacks! The trail provides!

The afternoon was mostly exposed to the hot sun but continued along beautiful alpine lakes. We soaked our feet then tried to find some shade a few miles later for a rest! Finally we made it to camp and the sound of the San Joaquin River through the canyon is pulling me to sleep.

Mather Pass

Day 53

19.6 miles – Mather Pass

We had camped in a grove of trees just before tree line around 10,600 feet. The body doesn’t recover from exercise as much when sleeping and hiking at altitude. So we are usually always hungry or tired. Even still, Mather pass wasn’t too bad of a climb. We saw a couple of people we had ridden to the southern terminus with over a month ago and hadn’t seen since! It was neat to learn their trail names and hopefully we will see them again soon.

After summiting the pass, we began a long descent into the Palisade lakes area following the drainage of Palisade creek. This section of trail is easily in the top five most beautiful trails I have ever hiked. After some rock scrambling and avoiding the snowfields up top, we watched the creek weave through boulders and rocks until it spilled into the lakes. We then walked along the shore of multiple lakes with deep blue green clear water on one side of us and purple and yellow flowered hillsides on the other. Towering above us the whole time were jagged peaks striped with red iron, ore, and shale.

Kevin and I sat on a boulder near the water just to soak in the beauty. I have been reading a book that describes life’s existence as a search for beautiful things. Both in what we see, hear, taste, feel, and in the connections and communications we have with others. It is easy to be distracted from the beauty in the world or have traumatic experiences take away the ability to see anything but harm in the world. But when healing has taken place, beauty can be found again. I felt a connection to this idea while observing the amazing beauty around me today.

Then the trail dropped down a steep cliff and had seemingly a million switchbacks between the cascading waterfall and the canyon wall. The rushing water could be felt deep in my chest when I went to gather water. We sat with our friends on a rock overlooking the valley for a long while. This trail is one of the most popular trail and has a long waiting list for permits. Then we pushed on through the valley and up another six miles to camp. The last half mile was a steep punishing climb especially since we had thought we would camp before this climb but missed the campsite. So we pushed on to the next flat spots for camping which were right at 10,000 feet. It was chilly when we went to bed but the rushing water lulled me to sleep quickly.

Pinchot Pass

Day 52

14.1 miles-camped at the suspension bridge the previous night then camped 3 miles below Mather pass summit.

800 miles

Kevin in the midst of saying “I’ll pose for a picture when we get to 1000 miles, not now”.

Today we went over Pinchot (pin-Cho) pass. It was a seven mile steep slough uphill. The mileage (14) and elevation gain (4,000 feet) was the same as when we climbed Mt. Whitney except we went over a 12,000 foot pass. It was exhausting. Probably because of the still very full pack with five days of food and the giant stone steps in the trail.

It took us four and a half hours to go the seven miles up to the pass this morning. I had to stop a few extra times for water because I kept running out.

The trail followed a drainage along a rushing creek the whole way up until we began passing the alpine lakes. There were several places that would have been fun water slides if the water wasn’t so cold and we were so far away from a hospital.

For lunch we stopped at a clear blue alpine lake. We soaked our feet and it was so cold! I could see the snow field that was draining into the lake making it very chilly! I was quite happy to make it to the campsite and it is another early to bed night!

Waterfall!

Day 18

Doble Spring Campsite to campsite with a waterfall in Holcomb Creek

24.6 miles

6 am was our time goal of getting out of camp and we accomplished it. This was also the first morning I left camp still wearing my puffy warm jacket. Soon into our first climb of the day we warmed up though. Thankfully there wasn’t a ton of climbing in our day as my legs felt heavy and old.

Kevin and I always start our day off with checking in with each other, how we are feeling physically, spiritually, and emotionally etc. Today we also talked through our pace and rest days for the next couple hundred miles. We shared our expectations and hopes, then we will be aware of what we want to do in some situations. For example, having a Nero into a certain town to rest for Kevin but going to the big grocery store for me! We are hoping our friends who rested in town will catch up to us again soon!

Today wasn’t too hot, weather wise. We did take a longer break in the afternoon near water but then finished up our miles by 6pm. We were super proud of ourselves that we got our miles done and also rested along the way. We had time when we got to camp to take a dip in a pool in the creek which was fed by a waterfall! So beautiful and what a treat to have so much water to swim in!

I started listening to the book “The Doctors Blackwell” today. It is about the first women who graduated as doctors and began providing health care for women. So far it is a very interesting story and sheds some light on the mindset of the day and sadly how some parts of sexism haven’t changed.

I also started using a plant identification app today that is super neat. It is called Seek by inaturalist. It needs service to identify the plants but has 80% accuracy and can use pictures saved from the phone too! I am super excited to keep learning plants as we hike through various ecosystems. Today I learned Bridges Pincushion!