Category: Pacific Crest Trail 2023

Start: 403.4

Stop: 423.6

Today’s miles: 20.3

Total PCT miles: 611.5

Can you believe, I actually fell asleep before the sun went down! It wasn’t quite 9pm yet. I slept solid, unmoving (that I’m aware of) until early morning when I woke up wide eyed, ready for the day, and had to pee. It was still dark, and I didn’t hear Marquis or Margot moving yet, so I decided to venture out to pee first, then pack.

I got back to my tent, a little chilly, and tapped my phone. It was only 12:47! Haha not even 1am yet! Lord. I’m glad I didn’t deflate my sleeping pad! I rolled over and then spent the next 2 hours tossing and turning because I couldn’t fall back to sleep. Eventually I did, and I slept great until it was time to actually get up. I left camp a few minutes after 6:30, after both of my friends.

I was sort of worried I wouldn’t be able to keep up, or that I’d show up after they left on the 4:30 shuttle into Trout Lake. I shouldn’t have though, we all made it with plenty of time to spare.. just over 20 miles before 3pm. Impressive if I do say so myself.

The first part of the day was an uphill steady climb that half the time didn’t even feel like the grade of the trail was angled upwards. It was easy and beautiful.. covered with meadows and views of Mount Adams up ahead and Mount Rainier when I turned my head to the right. There were small ponds and creeks. It was like walking through a fairy tale. I ended up seeing a coyote cross in front of me up ahead on trail and dart off into the woods to my left, I tried to get a picture or a video but he moved way too fast. He was large, swift moving, grey and white in color. Majestic really.

There was a fast moving creek to cross, Marquis had crossed both branches of the creek on slippery logs. I crossed the first branch on logs, my foot slipped once and when I saw the logs to cross on the other side, I decided I just needed to walk through the water and give up attempting to keep dry feet. There were rocks at the end of the logs and I didn’t think I’d have the balance or leg reach to hop to them without falling. I picked the easiest looking place and went for it.

It was ice cold glacier water, but silty grey so I couldn’t see the bottom. The water lapped around my calves but overall it went smoothly. Margot ended up following where I went, the water coming to the tops of her calves. We had frozen feet for the next 20-30 minutes of our hike.

It started to get hot outside, very sunny, too. And then we hit a burn zone for a solid 8 or so miles. That unrelenting heat, some bugs.. it was easy to see why we were all moving as fast as our feet could carry us. I didn’t even stop for lunch. I just ate and walked and hoped I wasn’t eating bugs while shoveling random snacks in my mouth. At some point I passed Marquis while he was getting water and when he passed me again he said he was following my trail of dorito crumbs. Yikes. Sorry, trail. I tried.

When Margot and I got to the road crossing there was trail magic! Someone had set out a cold case of beer! Alright! I got myself one and we caught up to Marquis, sitting there waiting for us .. the three of us went to sit by the road junction to attempt to hitch into Trout Lake, otherwise we would have to wait over an hour and half for the 4:30 shuttle. There was a couple sitting there already, so we made room and chit chatted.. every time we heard a car (maybe one every 20-30 minutes) Marquis and I would jump up and stick our thumbs out.

We had one stop close to 3:45. I think the other couple thought I was going to take it, but I told them we got it for them, I was totally fine waiting with my friends. They were shocked and excited, happy to be getting their ride into town, finally. I’m not sure how long they had been sitting there waiting before we showed up.

Several cars passed after that.. not stopping. A jeep with a cute older couple stopped at one point, but just to talk to us and tell us they’d been married for 50 years and were from Texas. Another car stopped and none other than Heidi and Mads were in it! I raced around their car to hug Mads’ neck! I’ve really missed them so much. We all agreed we’d see each other in town, since their hitch had no more room in their car for us.

With 20-25 minutes to spare, finally a truck stopped! Two men out fishing offered 4 of us a ride! Then as we were piling in the bed of their truck, another truck stopped to take the other hikers that had been trickling in over the last hour.. but they declined it, saying they’d wait for the shuttle (which still happened to be pick up trucks, but whatever).

Margot, Marquis, and none other than Cowbell from my first week on trail with Andrea got in the back of the pickup truck with me! The guy driving offered us a beer, yes please, and we were taken into the cutest tiny town of Trout Lake! I think I love it here! It has one general store, a hair salon, post office, gas station and cafe, and a food truck that serves tacos, burritos, and nachos. There’s also a little church that apparently has free camping out back too.

We ate at the taco truck (burrito for me), and then went to scout out our surroundings. The hiker hangout beside the general store was very nice, but there were tons of hikers, hanging out. Which is fun sometimes, but when you’re exhausted it can feel like a lot. At the hiker hangout you can’t set up your tent until after 8pm, and there was sprinklers currently going over the grass.. so that means that we’d have to set up our tents on wet grass.

We waited it out, checked out the general store and got an ice cream sandwich (well, I did, they got a half gallon of ice cream to share lol). We talked to those that were there, caught up with Mads and Heidi, let the exhaustion kick in. Everything closes early so we knew we’d have to wait until tomorrow to do laundry and shower and all that.

We decided to check out the church instead of waiting until 8pm to set up our stuff at the hangout. Man are we glad we did! The couple that got the hitch earlier were the only ones there!! Compared to at least 10-15 at the hiker hangout, hell yeah! We had the place to ourselves! There was a huge yard to set up our tents, with some space between them to breathe, plus picnic tables under a gazebo and porta potty’s with a soap and water sink! WOW.

We got our stuff set up and then did a pack shake down. We each went through all of our things and justified each item. The things we couldn’t justify anymore got put in a pile for either the hiker box or the post office to send home. We all had stuff for both. Mine for the hiker box was the big fuel canister, still probably half full, I’ll get a small one tomorrow. It just fits better and I’m sick of carrying the big one. My stuff to mail home is my coffee cup, sun gloves, extra ear plugs, and microspikes.

I checked my email during all of this and realized I had just gotten an email about my Antarctica trip next March. They gave me the dates I wanted AND the cabin on the cruise l wanted, too! Heck yeah! They also gave me a 3 day window to make a hefty payment. Uh, wow, guys.. 3 days? I guess it’s a good thing I happened to get to town today! Sheesh. I reached out to my friend Ashley that’s going to go on the trip with me and she was able to help me with some of the paperwork stuff the company requires, other than that, I think I was able to get it all squared away. That’s a relief.

I also talked to Curmudgeon, who I hiked with on the AT, he and his wife, Cholula. They live in Portland now and offered to come see me when I get to the Bridge of the Gods in Cascade Locks, which is our next town and hopefully our first zero since Stehekin! This is definitely the longest I’ve gone without a zero I think.. like ever. I’m a bit proud, but a lot exhausted. I think I’m ready to lay around and do NOTHING for a day. Even though when we zero we’ll have chores to do.. like plan and send our resupply boxes for some places in Oregon.

Now, the sun is gone and I think it’s time to try to get some sleep. We have to get up early and do all of our chores before catching the 12 shuttle back to the trailhead. Goodnight 🙂

Start: 423.6

Stop: 433. 8

Today’s miles: 10.2

Total PCT miles: 621.7

Sometime before falling asleep last night, I had to creep out of my tent and use the portapotty one last time. The stars were simply incredible. To be in a town and the light pollution be nonexistent is pretty amazing. I stared awhile before crawling back inside my quilt and going to sleep.

I slept sooooo good! I was actually awake before my 6:30 alarm went off. I didn’t pack though, like I originally planned. My quilt was a little damp from condensation so I left everything up, but got my dirty clothes and wallet to head to town for chores. The three of us left our dirty clothes first in line, Marquis stayed with them to put them in once he was able, and Margot and I got quarters from the store and walked to the shower house at the campground in town.

Margot went first, and while she was showering, Mads came in. We all chatted while the room steamed up from the hot water. After Margot, I got my 5 minutes in the hot shower. I really cannot wait for real conditioner. I don’t like these 2 in 1 shampoo conditioner combos that make my hair look fried. Whatever, the hot water felt fantastic and I cleaned as much as I could without a washcloth and only 5 minutes to make it happen.

I walked back to town afterwards, leaving Mads to shower next. We finally got our laundry in, then Margot and I went to the little cafe for breakfast while Marquis went for his shower. I got biscuits and gravy with eggs and bacon.. plus coffee and a huckleberry mimosa. Quite nice if I do say so myself! I was actually so full from that meal that I couldn’t eat lunch!

We resupplied, packed our stuff, and still had 2 hours to kill before the shuttle. It was weird, we kept getting finished with things way faster than I thought we would. We sat around talking with everyone, until it was time to pile in a truck for a ride back to trail. We were slow to get moving at the trailhead.. but once we did it was easy going. Smooth, calm trail.. mostly in the shade of the forest. Many people hate when we walk through thick woods, but I enjoy it. Just not the mosquitoes.

Before I knew it we had made the 10 miles we were planning on. When I got there Marquis already had his tent mostly set up, which told me he didn’t want to keep going.. so, I slowly started scouting out my place to camp, too. There were already 2 other tents set up. I was starting to put mine up when Margot appeared. I got water to filter and sat near them to eat dinner.. the only flat space for my tent is on the other side of a tree.

While sitting there another couple appeared.. they were going to set up on top of my tent, but thankfully they went down a bit farther.. like where she originally pointed would be closer than I was to Stache that night.. and that was a bit much. As I’m laying in my tent now, people are making excessive noises with their water bottles and I’m finding it very annoying, even though I haven’t been in an irritated mood today, so I don’t know why I’m finding their normal end of day racket so infuriating.. but atlas I am, and it makes me smile all the same because I know my bestie Lauren would understand my crazy. As I lay here, not tired at all yet, but with my earplugs in because I might scream if one of them flops their water around like that again.

Anyway. It’s only 7:30 and I’m considering going to sleep, earplugs in place. Or reading some of a new book that I have on my kindle app. Maybe my sudden irritation will be gone when I wake up, you know, after I get some more sleep. Haha. Man I’m such a weirdo. Oh, well. Sweet dreams, y’all.

Start: 433.8

Stop: 459.5

Today’s miles: 25.7

Total PCT miles: 647.4

Compared to previous days in Washington, the scenery today wasn’t all that mesmerizing. Not to say it wasn’t beautiful, because it was, and I enjoyed it for the most part.. there just wasn’t any “wow!” Moments, ya know?

I was woken up by my loud ass neighbors who lack respect for any other human beings, especially those sleeping, at a lovely 5:30am. I was pissed. It’s one thing to wake up and make noise packing, because that can’t be helped, but to wake up and start talking and laughing loudly to where I can hear you through my earplugs makes me slightly murderous. Like, why? I was wide awake at 11:30pm, but they wouldn’t have known that, BECAUSE I WAS QUIET. Asshats.

I could tell Margot was annoyed, too. I don’t know that Marquis ever gets annoyed, but once they got louder, he was packed and left camp lol, so maybe he does, too. I started packing at 6:30 and got on trail a few minutes after 7, making my way down to the water source to fill up. Some guy that had camped next to Margot, was one of the loud ones, AND smoked and let his smoke blow into her tent, came up to get water at the same time as me.. and my god he is chatty as hell at 7am. Bro, please just hush.

My walk through the woods today was just that.. walking through deep woods with little ponds or lakes here and there and mosquitoes pretty much everywhere. They turn me into a self harming lunatic, constantly slapping my arms or whacking at my face and ears.. and this is with Picaridin and deet on, and a headnet, too.

At lunch I stopped by some other hikers at a lake and ended up in full rain gear and headnet just to sit down for a bit and rest my feet. I had eaten my snacks and whatnot while walking, but the toes were aching and I needed to be off of them for awhile. They were joking around with me and saying how the mosquitoes aren’t even bad right here right now.. and it’s like, sure, I get that-I know they get worse, but that doesn’t make the ones that are here and swarming my ears and biting my back suck any less..

I stayed a little longer after Margot caught up to me, but then I kept moving, because someone passing promised they get so much better in a few miles. They were right, it did get better.. and the forest was beautiful to walk through, soft pine needle and dirt trail, no rocks or real climbs to worry with. I got in my head a little bit, maybe because my brain didn’t have to focus on my footing as much or slapping at bugs as often.

I realize that I do tend to talk negatively to myself at times. I think I appear mostly positive on the outside to others, but inside, my brain is constantly swirling, constantly self-deprecating. Not to mean that I don’t talk positively to myself, too, but when I think back on the way some situations played out in my past, I tend to blame myself, assume I’m the one that created the problems, pushed people away, caused myself to be left alone, created the reasons I catch myself feeling unlovable. I don’t know why I got wrapped up thinking about these things today, but it definitely made the time pass.

I’d think through scenarios, wonder what things would be like now if A, B, or C had happened instead of what did. That would turn into wondering if I’m destined to always feel the way I do, not bitter, but definitely even more untrusting of others and way less willing to ever be caught being vulnerable again. I don’t like feeling like a failure, it’s part of why I’m so stubborn and strong willed, it’s where the majority of my determination comes from. And that works with a lot of things I enjoy doing, like these hikes, but not so much for relationships. I’m just not good at them.

Anyway. At some point I came across Marquis and lizard (not my AT lizard) sitting at a campground area. I sat too, and we waited for Margot. We talked and snacked and enjoyed the brief time without many bugs at all. When Margot got there, she sat and snacked, too.. then we started hiking towards our planned camp for the night. We got water from the stream just a quarter mile from camp, and when we came rolling through, every site was taken. Son of a biscuit.

I was irritated. We’d already gone 23.8 miles at that point and my feet were aching. Even still, nothing to do now but keep moving. Two miles and some climbing (albeit not much at all) later, I got to camp, just before 8pm. There are 2 other tents here and after we set up and started eating dinner, someone else appeared too. I’m not liking all of the current overlap in hikers.. I think I liked it better when I’d only see my friends at camp, and not 29374627291 other hikers. Maybe I’m still crabby about being woken up this morning.. day 55 and I’m still not a morning person, even if I do get up way earlier than I’d like every single day.

Anywho. I’m in my bed now and think it’s time to get some sleep. It’s already 9:30 and mostly dark. The father south we get, the less sunshine we have.. at the northern part of the state it was staying light until 10pm.. that’s no longer true. Ok, here’s to some shut eye, goodnight!