PCT SOBO WEEK 3

Day 15 – 20 miles

The alarm went off at 4:45 a.m. and it was entirely too early for me. I choked down as much oatmeal as I could, chugged a coffee, and we were off. Nick was such an amazing man to drive us back to Steven’s Pass, it’s people like him that give me faith in humanity.

It was cold. We parted ways with Jerrett (not before taking a pic together, he’s really grown on me) and started the climb. The trail was a bit rocky but nothing too bad.

Misty clouds poured over the crest of the nearby mountains. It was spectacular. I had a hard time not twisting an ankle because I just wanted to stare at it instead of the trail.

We took a lot of breaks today. I like taking breaks. The landscape is a bit different here. Raging rivers have been replaced with alpine lakes of blue and green. We take a short nap at Glacier Lake but are woken up by fighter jets flying low overhead. Peaceful.

We meet a new friend on the climb, his name is Duck Dynasty and he’s pretty cool. We hike with him for the rest of the day and we all camp together near a creek.

Ally tells us a lot about growing up in Australia and Australian culture. It’s really great to learn about other cultures, I find it all super interesting. She told me that baked beans is a breakfast food in her country, which sounds absolutely crazy to me, but Duck Dynasty who is from Boston agrees with Ally… so now I’m wondering if I’ve been doing it wrong this whole time.

Day 16 – 21.7 miles

The day started with some of the most pleasant trail I’ve experienced in all of Washington. No up or down, just flat. A bit rocky but nothing major.

Cathedral Peak towered above the landscape around us. I eyeballed a delicious little crack running up the side of it and wondered how it would be to scramble it. I miss peakbagging. Ally and I hear some rockfall on our break, and both agree this would be a shit place to camp.

We stop at a nice lil stream for lunch and run into Conway (who I had forgotten I met on my second day). We watch a squirrel nimbly hop rocks across the river, it was adorable.

The scenery is changing and I like it. The views are a bit less of a sprawling type of dramatic and more like just isolated dramatic peaks instead, which I’m really enjoying. We find some small trout trapped in a pool in a small creek, I feel silly and want to catch one with my hands – to no avail.

I listen to podcasts for most of the day. It’s really fun and I wonder why I haven’t done this sooner.

I feel really proud of myself today. I have a great attitude and I’m hiking well, despite my feet hurting, it’s very rocky here.

I end the day after a huge climb. The views were worth every step though. Clouds lingered around Cathedral Peak and the peaks behind it. I can’t believe I get to actually be here right now, I am just so lucky.

Day 17 – 22.2 miles

I woke up to the wettest cowboy camp I had ever experienced. Ally was right, it was a big dew. Such a big dew in fact that even my hair was wet…. I slept great, though.

Ally was off and running, she said “See ya later,” to which I replied “See ya at camp,” cause she’s fast and I never catch her.

The day was just wonderful. The scenery was amazing pretty much the whole day, and the trail was very pleasant to walk. Not nearly as many rocks as the day before. My feet were a bit sore from the day prior but I practiced not being a hypochondriac and decided to just let the day unfold.

I took a break in a sunny spot to dry out all my shit. I could literally wring the water out of it. I continued another few miles, and then ate lunch at a waterfall. The big climb of the day was big, but as long as it isn’t rocky, I feel like I could climb all day. My body feels great today and my good mood from yesterday hasn’t worn off yet. I fully embrace both.

The last half of the day became quite a bit more challenging, both mentally and physically. The trail turned into miles of loose talus, and I was reminded of the dreaded Mazatzals in Arizona. The rocks from the day prior had made my feet hurt, how the hell am I gonna get through this?!

…..with patience of course. It took me an hour forty five to hike three miles. Painfully slow, but my feet still feel ok regardless, even after my biggest milage thus far (24.3 according to my watch).

I reached the top of the final climb and the view made me cry. I cried because it was gorgeous, and I felt grateful and humbled and proud. I felt good. I feel good. I love trail me and I hope I can hang on to this once this is all over. I want to be this version of me in the real world too.

Camp was within three miles and the trail became lemony again (Billy’s way of describing a nice dirt single track, void of rocks). I picked up the pace, eager to be horizontal and there was Ally…. Not at the lake, which was my plan. She wanted to stop early today, understandable.

For some reason, I was feeling like a maniac and carried on regardless. I’ll see her in town.

It wasn’t necessarily that I wanted to see the lake (although it was just gorgeous, as they all are). I was just enjoying hiking today and wanted to 1) do my longest day yet and 2) join the mile high club (what I call climbing over a vertical mile in a day). Which I am proud to say were both accomplished.

We’re going to town tomorrow and I feel spoiled that it’s so soon, although I’m not complaining.

Day 18 – 6.5 miles

Ally somehow timed it just right and rolled up right as I was finished packing up. Not even half a mile up the trail, we spied a random off-leash dog, no owner in sight. He was a smaller fellow, some pug looking mutt with one eye and an underbite. He was following us and we weren’t quite sure what to do. I decided to call him Pete, and we were now not hiking to town, but rather, on the hunt to find his owners.

It was around 7:00 a.m. and we found a large gathering of weekend warriors. Waking them up seemed fucked, but not as fucked as not reuniting someone with their pet. I broke the silence and asked if they had a dog. He had escaped the tent of his owner when she had left for a hike early in the morning and the group had no clue he had busted through. They were thankful to have him back, they said his name was Oreo, I’m still calling him Pete.

As the day progressed, the mist that we woke up to had turned into sprinkles. My favorite weather…

Hordes of hikers appeared, the trailhead was close! I ran into trail magic, and let’s just say I shouldn’t chug IPAs ever again.

Ally was at the trailhead waiting, I apologized in advance that I was a bit drunk, she said she couldn’t notice which I dunno if that’s a good or bad thing.

We went to the diner and Ally was blown away by American diner food, it was her first diner experience. We checked into the hotel and enjoyed showers, beds and Wi-Fi. We’re heading back out tomorrow, but for sure going to sleep in.

Day 19 – 18.3 miles

We left town at 11:00, I packed out a buckwheat pancake and Ally a breakfast burrito (which she also couldn’t believe).

It was a bit rocky, but so green and nice. The trail was also steep at times, but the good parts of trail made up for it tenfold.

We hiked together all day, which was fun. I like hiking solo, but I also do like hiking with a buddy sometimes. Ally and I don’t spend the whole day together, we just sorta meet up at random points and then usually camp together, it’s a good system.

The trail is super busy today, loads of hikers. We had a hard time finding a decent uncrowded camp, so we decided to push on.

We found the shittiest campsite ever and made the best of it. On a rocky slanted dirt road. I got creative with a cowboy camp, and I’m actually loving this camp spot. And there’s Verizon service to boot.

Day 20 – 23.8 miles

Today was generally lackluster in terms of views. The trail was a lot nicer, very smooth and rock free. Unfortunately, my bone spur has worn a hole through my insert and it became very painful, I patched it up best I could but it’s not ideal. Thankfully I have new shoes at Trout Lake, the only thing that sucks is that it’s about six more days away, so those days might be pretty rough.

We climbed a metric shit ton today, over 6k in vertical gain, the most on trail yet. It definitely felt like it. For the first time in a long time I smoked some weed during the day, and it made the last five miles a lot less painful. I distracted myself with some 80s music and managed to still get to camp in good spirits despite being in considerable pain for most of the day.

My avocado is finally ripe, so I’m excited to eat that tomorrow. Camp got interesting again, we’re definitely in some sort of bubble and it’s super crowded here. Thankfully, someone tipped me off to a nice secluded spot deep in the bushes, I thought I was going to have to forced cowboy camp, which I was ok with doing, but this is certainly better (and hopefully drier).

Day 21 – 22.2 miles

I limped throughout the day. My bunions were feeling better after getting creative with my insoles, but now my lower shins were killing me. I guess it’s always gotta be something, right?

Because of this, I never did find Ally today.

Despite the physical challenges I faced, I still was able to not get in my own head. I can still hike, and I’ll have new shoes soon. It’ll all be alright. I pre booked a place to stay at Trout Lake to give me something to look forward to, and boy, do I!

I also thankfully found a decent camp despite none being listed on FarOut, and I’m enjoying the solitude tonight.