Month: July 2023

Start: 323.6

Stop: 340.5

Today’s miles: 16.9

Total PCT miles: 528.3

I felt like I was siding off my sleeping pad during the night, but even still-I slept hard. I’m pretty sure my night was filled with dreams, every single one of them escapes me now. I slept late, 7:45, and I didn’t have one single care. I had been tired and I wanted to sleep until I woke up.. so I did.

To my relief, Margot didn’t get up to start packing until she heard my sleeping pad deflate. She had been awake for a while, but wasn’t ready to start hiking.. Marquis had already vacated, quietly (because I never heard a peep), and as of now-I still haven’t seen him all day. He was planning to go farther than us today, so I’m sure he’s about 3 miles ahead right now.

I finally packed and was on trail by 8:30 ish I think. Maybe a few minutes early, but who cares, really? The views were so nice and the climbs-though they were there and seemed to bring me high above the clouds at times to see mountains upon mountains in the distance, they felt mild and easy to traverse.

I passed the Chinook Pass parking lot and took advantage of their pit toilet.. then continued on my way. At times I was inside the border of Mount Rainier National Park, but the trail weaves in and out along a boundary line for several miles-so at this exact moment, I’m not sure if I’m in the park or not. It has been gorgeous! So many green hillsides covered in wildflowers. Lots of day hikers and overnighters too.

At the bottom of a descent that I practically ran down, I came to Dewey Lake. I followed the trail around and found a spot to eat my lunch in the shade, with the plan to take a swim afterwards. The mosquitoes were so bad there, that I just quickly ate and decided to hike the trail to the other side of the lake, in more full sunshine to find a spot to swim.. thinking that would give me a brief break from the mosquitoes and make it easier for Margot to spot me swimming when she passes.

She never showed. Someone else did though, while I was just getting out from my swim and standing in my undies in the sun trying to dry-and constantly swatting at the pests attacking me. This hiker said she didn’t remember seeing someone with my description of Margot, shit, maybe she passed me while I was pooping in the parking lot bathroom?

Once I dried enough and got my clothes back on I filtered my water and kept hiking. Ups and downs, all gentle, all giving me the epic views you’d expect beside a national park. I even came upon this MASSIVE snowy mountain, real close compared, and I’m pretty sure it’s Mount Rainier..But a swivel of my head pointed me to the actual another snowcapped mountain that looks just like Rainier a bit farther off in the distance-looking smaller, thanks to the closeness of this one, but with clearly a lot more snow at its summit. I tried to figure out the names of the two mountains, to know for sure, but I don’t have service and there isn’t a name on my FarOut App.

I passed a couple with a dog coming towards me, who actually stopped to really consider who they’ve passed and they too don’t remember seeing Margot. So maybe she didn’t pass me after all? Today was filled with junctions on these mountain passes, and I really hope she didn’t go the wrong way, pass this spot completely, or some other way miss crossing paths with me.

I found where we agreed to camp and set up my stuff already.. I’ve been here just about an hour now. My rain gear is all on-thanks to the mosquitoes and I’m hanging out at the trail junction for a bit to see if she comes along. I’m sure she will.. I just hope her feet are doing ok. They tend to really hurt going downhill and today had a decent amount of it. Her new shoes are only 17 miles away!

When she gets here (assuming she didn’t pass me up already) I’ll let her decide tomorrow’s game plan. We’ll either go 14 miles and camp 3 miles shy of Whites Pass and go into town first thing Saturday morning, or we’ll go the full 17 to town tomorrow and sleep overnight camped outback of the store that allows that. I know she’s worried about the virus going around as much as I am, and everyone sick is going to the town we’re headed into.. so it’s just a little tricky.

I’m going to hang out up here for a bit longer, and if she’s not here by 7:30 (another hour) I’ll go make my dinner. She loves to swim, too, so maybe she had a blast at that lake after me 😉 We shall see!

Start: 303.9

Stop: 323.6

Today’s miles: 19.7

Total PCT miles: 511.4

I tossed and turned, a lot, but overall I think I slept well. I got up around 6:45 and felt guilty as hell as I started to pack and could hear Stache waking up because of me. Sorry, buddy!

Marquis and Margot left out around 7 and I was out at 7:15. My campsite had a gorgeous view of Mount Rainier, at that moment it wasn’t covered in clouds. I ended up brushing my teeth on trail, to leave Stache alone, but had to wait awhile before I could eat my breakfast.. I’m glad I switched from oatmeal to something quick, like poptarts or breakfast bars-I don’t like them all that much but they can be eaten while I walk.

The first 6 miles flew by. It was wooded and mossy and had simple climbs and soft descents. Around 9:45 I caught up to Margot in a burn zone. We sat and rested our feet a bit. Burn zones are sad and usually hot with no reprieve from the blaring sun. We ended up walking through several burn zones today, but that first one was the only tough one for me, with a bit more of a steady slow climb than before.

The water is also not as frequent, so trying to remember when and where the last water will be was irritating.. but not terrible. I didn’t need a whole lot today anyway. Marquis told us of a plane crash site and Margot and I decided to get there to eat lunch, too. When I made it, I laid my tent out to dry the condensation and then headed down to the site. It was anticlimactic. There was just the motor and very little scrap metal left, no body or wings.

We had lunch together, laying in the sun and resting our feet. Marquis had carried on before I even left to see the plane crash, he had already eaten, too. He’s fast.. eating and walking lol. When I got going again, it was back through a burn zone and then into a gorgeous meadow with the last water running through it. I filled up my 2 liters there and sat and talked to Annie and Riley (who had caught up to us at the crash site, saw the plane and carried on) until Margot came walking up minutes later.

I was mostly joking, but I wanted to camp right there. The sites were beautiful, the trees were lush and the meadow had so many wildflowers.. not to mention the water was there. Even still, after sitting a bit, I continued on. The trail climbed up to a ridge line and then followed the ridge around several mountains. It was the most beautiful part of the day, watching moody clouds roll in and over me, until I was actually inside the cloud itself.

I also had great cell service during all of this ridge line walking, so I called Mom and Aunt Kathy and Uncle Keith! I spent the last hour or so of my hike catching up with my three favorite people. It really perked me up, not that I wasn’t already happy.. I guess I was just that much happier now. When I finally got to where Marquis was, just past a junction, I was worried.

He said the comments on our app said there were good campsites down this side trail a little bit. The side trail looks like an animal trail, but ok. He waited before going down so that we wouldn’t miss him.. since I had finally made it to him (5:45pm), he went down to scope out the sites while I waited on the trail at the top to make sure Margot didn’t pass. When she got to me, we went down the steep mountainside, too. Both slipping a little but not completely falling.

The sites.. well.. they suck. We’re all 3 shoved in and around some trees and rocks. All of our sights are slanted and lopsided. It’s on par with the day of the thunderstorms and hail when we had to backtrack and bushwhack only to find slanted spots. There weren’t many options around this area though. We considered pushing 3.3 miles to a lake, but many people would already be there, and Margot has some serious blisters coming up on her feet, since her shoes are falling apart on her. She gets new ones on Saturday morning. I know she can’t wait.

I’m pretty excited for Saturday, too. I’m ready for my good meals Mom sent me (the last ones I had at home), a shower, and some real laundry-because that hand washing in the sink business is not enough for my socks. We still have tomorrow and Friday to get through, and then we’ll have all day Saturday to do our chores. Marquis may head into town on Friday instead, but I think we’re planning on being more cautious with the whole norovirus business going. Who knows, though? We’ll see what happens. Goodnight!

Start: 285.3

Stop: 303.9

Today’s miles: 18.6

Total PCT miles: 491.7

I wish I could say I slept well, but I didn’t.. soo.. that would be a lie. I woke up around midnight to rain pattering on my tent, and had to go out into the light drizzle to pee. In doing so, rain droplets got onto the mesh of my tent and almost came inside onto my stuff, but luckily everything stayed dry.

I didn’t get up and get going until almost 8am. I was cold outside of my quilt and couldn’t make myself get out of it after tossing and turning all night. Margot left a good 15 minutes before me, but I felt good once I was hiking. The trail was overall calm today. No grand views, really, until the afternoon and getting to finally spot Mount Rainier in the close distance, but otherwise the ups and downs were surrounded by forest. It was still beautiful.

There were a few climbs but they were shorter than days before and while they still took my breath away, they weren’t horrible. At some point I caught up to Margot and we chatted a bit before continuing on. We met up with Marquis at the last water source for the next 12 miles. Annie and Riley were there, some hikers we haven’t met before appeared, and then so did Stache. We talked and got our water.. and talked some more.

About an hour later, I came to a nice open sunny spot and could see Margot just ahead. She waved to me, and I yelled back that I was going to eat lunch and dry my tent out here. She came back and joined me. We lounged on our ground cloths, shoes off, eating and relaxing and sunning for at least an hour. When she finally looked to see how far we still had to go, it was over 12 miles. Whoops.

I had been feeling real good all day, but apparently I hadn’t been moving all that quick.
I was still listening to my audiobook, so when I got going again I pressed play and was transported back to England during World War II. I didn’t care how long it did or didn’t take me to get anywhere today, I was enjoying myself tremendously. The sun was shining, the skies were blue, and it was just a touch chilly-making it perfect hiking conditions.

My book finished when I got to the water source and where Margot and I had originally planned to camp until Marquis talked us into pushing. I got my water and the campsites were all taken by people I’ve never seen before. One man sort of rudely told me all the sites were taken already, which, technically we could have gotten cozy and fit. But, I didn’t want to camp close to these people I didn’t know. I talked to another hiker up a bit, and she basically hinted that I could hike back 2 miles for a good spot. Ummm. Ma’am. Why the hell would I go backwards TWO WHOLE MILES? Weird.

Either way, I let her know that Margot was coming and asked her to tell her I that I was going to continue the 3 miles to where Marquis mentioned, and that if her feet hurt, she could stay here and I’d see her in the morning. The girl was nicer now, and promised me she’d let her know. From there, I hit the first chunk of blowdowns all day. I was getting irritated and my feet were sore, but once I got through this burn zone and those fallen trees it was real quick going.

I made it to Marquis just before 7pm. He had cleared out 2 spots for smaller tents in the woods and showed me where more space he cleared out by the road, and where Stache was setting up. I literally had to set up right next to him, guy-lines almost touching, because everywhere else was too rocky or slanted or an actual fire pit. As I was trying to figure out my best layout, Margot appeared! She made it! And not long after me at all!

The girl had told her the info for me, and even offered to let her set up right between her and her friend, but she said she felt good and continued on. It’s a good thing her tent is small, because she just perfectly fits in that little area Marquis had cleared. When she and I were all set up, we sat practically in the trail and ate our dinner together.

Originally I wasn’t cold, but once I got back into my tent I had to put my warm leggings on and close my vestibule. It’s windy here, too, but nothing like last night. My feet keep getting sharp stabbing pains running through them, that make me jerk and jump like I have restless leg syndrome.. but it’s just the feet. Nothing else is sore or tender. You’d think these things would be used to the endless torture I force them to endure, but they still complain every chance they get.

So, with that, I’m going to try to let them rest and let me get some much needed sleep. Here’s to hoping I don’t toss and turn all night and drive Stache crazy, since I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have earplugs. I definitely will have mine in tonight. I don’t really like being so close to someone else’s tent. He’s done the AT though, too, so I’m sure he’s used to rolling around and mattress racket. Sweet dreams, y’all.