Week 2: Lunch With a View

This whole affair has been mighty luxurious as compared to last year. Being near home means that family and friends are near enough to get assists from, and I get to go home on my zeros. This really sank in this week while eating fresh apples, reading books and staring at awesome views of ridge lines. Lunch one was at Grasshopper Pass, about 5 miles SOBO of Hart’s Pass, and the view was worth having to sit fully exposed in the sun. During siesta on my second hiking day, a passing PCTer exclaimed with awe “You are carrying a book?!” That also really brought home that sense of how cushy my PCT has been this year.  

Not the exact view I had at lunch, but pretty close!

Gear Luxuries 

Now this has nothing to do with being in Washington, but I started out last week with some pretty well loved hiking socks. I realized pretty quickly that they weren’t doing enough to cushion the back of my heels from rubbing on my shoes. So, during my triple zero off of Hart’s Pass, during which I stayed at home, I went to the gear store and bought myself some new Darn Toughs. It’s kind of crazy how exciting a new pair of socks can be.  

I also picked up some camp shoes, which I hadn’t been carrying, and which are debatably a luxury item on trail.  

Finally, I also chose a book – with only a 2.5 day food carry, my pack was feeling light enough for some paper entertainment. I read Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton during the first section of the week. After that, my food carry was much heavier, so it was adios to physical books, and back to reading on my phone (next up was Carnegie’s Maid, by Marie Benedict).

Logistical Luxuries 

One of the stresses of normal thru-hiking for me was the need to hitchhike. I felt safer after doing it a few times, but it was always a logistical question mark. So far this year, I have not had to hitch hike. I drove myself to and from the trail for last weeks section (this only worked because tagging the Canadian border is an out-and-back hike from Hart’s Pass). Then to get back to the trail this week, a couple friends drove me back up to Hart’s Pass for a mini camping trip. They had never been to Hart’s Pass before and it was fun to show them the amazing view from the top of Slate Peak, with 360 degree mountain views. Of course, they had to pay for those views with a heck of a forest service road, so I am super thankful that they were game for the adventure! 

Adventure Friend One and I on slate peak. Photo credit to Adventure Friend Two. Thanks for the ride!

After a night with them at the pass, I hiked out headed SOBO. The next set of logistics were covered by my family, who picked me up after a short 2.5 days of hiking. I got to go with them to Winthrop for the night before we all hiked the next section together. After a shower, pizza, and a night in a hotel trying out my Dad’s sleeping mat (I still prefer mine), my parents, aunt, uncle and I headed out to the Mazama store for breakfast. As we drove up to the trailhead, the smoky haze coming from the wildfires south of us got thicker, and I knew that the beautiful views that I had had through the previous few days were gone. 

The Trail Provides 

Even when there weren’t views, the wildflowers were great, and the section after entering the smoke, I got to do in the company of family. 

Some of the many wildflowers that I saw this week. From top left to bottom right, is a cow parsnip (I think), paintbrush, tiger lily, heather, thimbleberry, and something else that I don’t recognize.

Not only did we see wildflowers, both days they hiked with me we saw bears! I have seen bears while hiking before, but never on the PCT, so it was very exciting. It also made me feel really happy about carrying my bear bin for food storage. The first bear was eating berries right on the trail, and lumbered off after a moment or two, and the other was a cinnamon black perched on a little island in the middle of Howard lake, a lily pad covered lake just before the road to Stehekin. Fortunately the bears we saw were far enough away for us to feel safe enough – which also means that none of the pictures really show anything other than a dark lump. But, I can attest, they are so very cute (especially when you are hiking with other people and are storing your food safely!).

We also had some very fun (bouncy? see through? maybe a little scary?) bridges, and because I was hiking with family, I could get pictures like this: 

Me, crossing the bridge over Bridge Creek, just outside the North Fork Campground.

Unexpected Impacts

The luxury is great, but it has also had some unexpected consequences. One major one is that at no point during these first two weeks have I really felt that feeling of thru-hiking. Everything thus far has been closer to what I would refer to as backpacking. In some ways that has been nice (see literally the rest of this blog post) and in other ways it makes it more difficult to see my hiking goals coming into reality. It certainly isn’t motivating me to do more than stick to section hiking. I still swing back and forth on sticking to Washington versus trying to complete my remaining ~1500 miles this season. And maybe not doing all those miles would be okay – my foot is far from perfect, and kinesiology tape seems to be what is holding my knees together, so doing less may be the best thing for my body in the long term. Either way, I am still having fun, and am looking forward to next week!