PCT Day 23

Start: 2624.7 + 10mi road walk to harts pass

Stop: 2632.8

Today’s miles: 18, but zero count

Total PCT miles: 187.8

I snoozed through two alarms before finally getting up at 6:07. I had to be packed and ready to go by 7am, and I really just wanted to sleep in. I still made it happen, and ended up being on the first shuttle to trail, with Thomas and Steffi, Margo, and an another guy I don’t know the name of.. I do know he’s a geologist though. Some others were coming too, but they’d be on the next shuttle. I felt a little guilty being the last one up and moving and still getting the first ride, but I consoled my guilty conscious with the fact that the majority of the ones staying have already hiked 700 miles before now.. so it’s going to take me longer.

Raven, the caretaker and official shuttler, drove us to sign our names in a PCT register and then up to the road to Hart’s Pass. Because of a big wash out, the road is closed at a certain point, so we had to walk an extra 10 miles before we ever got to trail. And then, we’d have to hike another 30 miles to get to the Canadian border before turning around and hiking back 30 miles to Hart’s Pass and then onward southbound. 40 more miles that don’t count towards the 2655 of this trail! Sheesh!

The road walk was beautiful. It was dirt and gravel and overall seemed to be in great shape. The 5 of us all spread out pretty quick, getting to our own paces. Margo and I joked that they’d reopen the road tomorrow.. you know, after we shlepped up the dang thing. Ten miles, all up hill. Talk about breaking back in!

Steffi and Thomas beat me to the campground at Hart’s Pass, but only barely. I point this out because Thomas made the comment that I was quick and kept up.. BUT that’s just him being kind. They’re fast, as hell, but it got cold as could be, so they stopped to put on jackets. He also has a YouTube channel, so they’d stop for awesome video footage. I walked the entire 4 hours, with my only breaks being to stand still for 10-30 seconds and to drink some water. If they didn’t stop for stuff, I’d probably never see them!

When we first arrived at the pass, I kid you not it started to snow. Just light little flakes, disappearing when they hit the ground, or us. I ended up putting on my rain jacket to try to stay warm. I was cold, but I’m not complaining.. rain would be worse and-with it being so cold: NO BUGS! Honestly, I prefer it. At least, right now. We’ll see how I feel on the matter when ive been shivering for days on end.

We ate our lunches on a picnic table at the pass, Geo (geology guy until I learn his name, super nice) and Margo both caught up with us and ate with us too. Margo is French but has been living in Australia before recently moving back home.. she is hysterical. Her one liners and little quips make me laugh-dare I say it?-out loud, and often! Today is day one for both of them, they aren’t here together though.. so they’re the first real SOBO hikers I’ve met. Pretty neat.

We all put our extra food that will get us to Stehekin once we hike this 70 miles to the border and back in a bear box at the campground. This is typical, and everyone has their names and dates on their stuff, some even with notes that say, “PCT hiker, a poor one, so please don’t steal, I’ll starve to death.” Haha-while I can relate to the starving, I also know I’d be able to walk that stupid 10+ miles down, hitch a ride to town (hopefully) and buy more food-but I really don’t want to. People also left their really expensive ice axes and extra gear in there, too. I think this community is a safe one, hikers that is, so fingers crossed everyone gets their own stuff back when they get there.

The trail from there was just simply magical. Like so magical I’m actually excited to hike it twice. The mountains, some grey and sharp and spotted with snow, others rounded and covered in rich shades of green, had me mesmerized. I was audibly giddy. I didn’t listen to music or audiobooks.. I just soaked it all in. Even if it was cold as hell and snowing off and on, I was all smiles!

Tons of other hikers passed me going south, all of the ones I asked were SNOWBOs like us, besides Geo and Margo of course. I lost count after 8 or 9, but it was probably in the low teens. I was passed by Wolf, a SNOWBO that stayed at lions den last night and was on the second shuttle-she’s real fast, and to my delight was just as excited about the views as me! Before she completely smoked me, I could hear her cheers and “wahoos” and knew whatever corner I was about to round would be stunning.

There were some patches of snow to cross.. but it was all easy stuff like my last day before Ashland. Nothing tricky or scary, and it hardly slowed me down any. If anything, my only trouble was keeping my focus on the trail because everything around me was gorgeous, and for the most part included very steep drop offs, my head stayed on a constant swivel. Footing matters, even if the inclines were mostly kind, and included switchbacks.

I caught up to Steffi and Thomas and decided to camp with them instead of hiking on two more miles. Thomas found a campsite/area with zero wind! It’s surrounded by trees but a big embankment keeps the wind we can all hear howling on the other side.. and thank goodness, because I’m pretty sure it’s in the 30s right now. We set up our tents, put on warm layers, ate dinner together chatting the whole time, and then almost in unison, Steffi and I were like, “ok, tent time.” It was only 6pm but it’s cold so we wanted to snuggle up in our beds and get cozy warm before night fall. It worked out beautifully for me, I finished a book that will be returned once I have service and I got to write this out, too.

My only problem now: I need to pee again but I’m so warm in my cocoon that I don’t want to get out. However: needing to pee in cold weather actually uses up a lot of energy and is bad for you to do, so, it looks like I’ll have to suck it up and get out there. Hopefully my noise doesn’t wake them up any. Ok, sweet dreams!