Start: 505.9
Stop: 531.2
Today’s miles: 25.3
Total PCT miles: 719.1
It started raining overnight, the light pattering turning into a more steady pour around 1:30am.. waking me up and causing me to fumble in the dark to close my tent vestibule. The place we were camping was also right next to a train track, so several times throughout the night, a long train would come barreling through. Each time, it would wake me, but then the steady hum and rumble of it, mixed with the rain, would lull me back to sleep. I actually slept pretty dang well.
We overslept a bit, only by 30 minutes.. so by 7am we were walking up the road, the majority of the tenters still fast asleep, I won’t lie, I was a bit jealous. We got breakfast from a walk up burger place: bacon, egg, and cheese bagel for me, yum. Then we headed to the restaurant we ate at yesterday so Margot could get a coffee, this little burger joint doesn’t make coffee. I was drinking a Monster (thank youuuuu gas station!), but Marquis got a coffee, too.
The alternate trail, with all the waterfalls, started leaving Cascade Locks on a paved path. It was easy moving and surrounded by damp greenery. As the paved path turned into an actual trail, the views opened up. We were following along a creek, slowly ascending. It was beautiful. The temperatures were a little cool, from the overnight rain, and the skies were still cloudy, making the walking really enjoyable. We passed several small waterfalls, surrounded by huge walls of rock that the trail was carved into.
We stopped at a swimming hole and waded in waist deep. It was way too cold to swim, since there was no sun to warm us up.. but it was fun either way. Marquis and I traded shorts after we got out of the water to dry off. I had bought a new pair from Walmart, because the ones I started in have gotten so big they’re making my hips chafe from bunching them up with the drawstring. The new ones though, I can’t handle the material once they’re wet-either by water or by sweat, which is crazy, I know, but it makes them just a little too tight for walking. How annoying.
I was only joking with Marquis at first, but then once I got his shorts on and they were comfortable, we agreed to swap for a day. Yay! I was walking so much easier in them! And he got a kick out of my shorts being so short on his long legs, it was quite hysterical! Not far after the watering hole, a hiker was walking towards me, so I stepped to the side of the trail to let him pass, and the entire ground of the trail crumbled beneath my feet and I slid right off the side of the trail into a bunch of briars and downed trees. Awesome.
That dude was mortified and tried to help me up.. but the briars were digging into my skin and I knew I just needed a minute to catch my breath and think through my options. I handed him my poles, asked him to put them somewhere “up there” and then told him he could go, I’d be fine. Then, once he was gone, I slowly started to climb my way up the soft dirt, with thorns digging into my hands, knees, legs. Dammit, I JUST finally had my legs heal, and now I have a whole knew set of open wounds. There’s a word I want to yell, and Samuel L. Jackson yells it best. Ugh.
Continuing on, after my mishap, the trail went behind a large waterfall, through a tunnel. It was truly something special. It almost felt like something from Iceland, not northern Oregon. Then, there were cascading waterfalls that Margot and I sat beside to eat lunch. It was peaceful, even with my new booboos throbbing and stinging.
The trail eventually went through a burn zone with several blow downs and some overgrowth, each bush scraping my new wounds making me walk slow and wince every few steps. Then, before long, the trail grade increased tremendously and we were climbing steeply up to the top of this mountain to reconnect to the PCT. As tough as the last 2ish miles were, they were totally worth it to see those waterfalls. I could have happily done without the blow downs, though. Especially the ones requiring me to sit and scoot under them, in Marquis’ shorts no less.
The three of us stopped to eat dinner around 7:30, at a water source on trail. We still had a mile or so to go, but we were afraid the campsites would all be taken, forcing us to continue another 3+ miles in the dark. We ate, laughed, and dug out our headlamps to make sure they were accessible. I really didn’t want to night hike again, but at least I wouldn’t be alone.. assuming I could keep up with those two.
There were several blowdowns along the way, causing us to clamber over or under and all in all slowing us down. It was close to 8:30 when we got to the first campsite area, and it was a deep discussion on how to proceed. There was already 5 tents set up in this small area. Margot’s tent is small, so she found somewhere she could squeeze in, my tent being the largest, I found a spot but the reason it was available was because it was really freaking slanted. It sucked.
Marquis said he was going to continue. We were concerned that if we got there, in the dark, over more blowdowns, and it was full too.. we would be screwed. He kept moving and we stayed. Instead of setting up right where the space was for my tent, I crowded the trail and had my tent basically set up right along it, my guyline for my vestibule just barely touching the side of the trail. It seems a little flatter, laying here.. but I have a feeling I’ll be sliding tonight.
Even as I’m laying here, utterly worn out, a couple just appeared from the direction Marquis is hiking.. there’s no way he’s made it there yet, and if these two pushed past it.. why?? Either way, I think they’re trying to squeeze in as well. There’s 8 tents in a “3” tent space. It’s amazing what thruhikers can manage, especially when we’re tired and just want to set up camp.
Speaking of tired, I truly am. And my legs are stinging from my scrapes-and-surprisingly, it’s quite cold. So, time to bundle up and get some shut eye before I go sliding down this mountain. Goodnight, y’all.