After a wonderful stay at Trout Lake came a wonderful stretch of trail. Between Trout Lake and White Pass, the trail started to CLIMB! I've mentioned my love/hate relationship with the trail in California when we'd spend days at virtually the same elevation, walking along a ridge line that never went up or down. In Washington, the trail actually gets steep sometimes. And that makes me happy. Sure, it's harder. But it feels like you're doing something, working for something. It's a fun challenge.

After a a day of going between lakes and ponds and creeks, I spent the night at Lava Springs with a large number of other hikers. Lots of flat tent sites, and really good, cold spring water.

The next day, we did lots of ups and downs and in the late afternoon, climbed up and over Cispus Pass. The day was starting to cloud up, and I was a bit nervous about crossing over the pass as bad weather settled in. Quite a few south bounders were going by, drenched and reporting rain at the top of the peak. I stopped and put on my pack cover and jacket. Which ensured that the clouds dispersed and the sun poked through. (Works every time!) So I got to enjoy beautiful views all the way up and down the pass.

The next day was by far my favorite day on trail. The trail climbed up steeply and then I took the alternate route over Old Snowy Trail- going up and the peak on a narrow, rocky edge. It was cold and windy and downright scary, but exhilarating. The trail then went over knife edge, which involved careful slow steps as you pick your way down.

The rest of the day offered warmer temperatures and beautiful views of Rainier before another fairly steep descent to White Pass for food, shower, and laundry.

clouds rolling in wn route to Cispus Pass

Old Snowy

Views of Mt Rainier

Peace, Love, and Trail Magic

originally, I had not planned on going into Trout Lake. I had planned on going straight through to Whites Pass. But after my 8 day trek into Cascade locks without a proper break, I figured I'd break up the next section to give my feet ample recovery time.

Several wondwrful things happened on this section. First, as the mile crunchers pulled ahead, I found myself in with a bubble of hikers who were slowing down. Seeing how close to the end they were getting, they wanted to extend the journey. And as I was getting my trail legs and able to handle 25 per day, we met in the middle.

Much of of the day I was hiking alone, as they could go at auch faster pace than me and my hobbit legs. But we ended up camping together at night. So I had a nice trail family with Baby and her dog, Luna, Proton and Dream Catcher, Youngblood, and others.

Also- plentiful water. It's nice to only have to carry a liter and a half at a time.

Best of all- HUCKLEBERRIES! Ripe huckleberries we're everywhere and I walked along, picking them off the bushes and popping them in my mouth. What a wonderful treat than just kept appearing.

And speaking of treats, when I reached the road crossing to Trout Lake, two trail Angels were there, Coppertone and Gary, serving up root beer floats. Fresh fruit, and other goodies.

I got a ride into town very quickly and found Trout Lake to be a wonderful little town. I guess lots of other hikers did, too, since all the lodging was full. But I found a nice lady, Jean, who rented out the spare bedroom in her house with an attached bathroom and laundry room. Jean is 80 and still cross country skis in the winter.

​So showered, laundry done, resupplied, and belly full of huckleberry shake, I hit the trail once again the next morning.

trail angel Gary

Coppertone

peace, love, and trail Magic!

The Bridge of the Gods marks the transition into the last state on the trail, Washington. It's one of the big iconic landmarks on the PCT.

I have looked forward to walking across it for so long!

I looked at at that bridge during my zero day in Cascade Locks and psyched myself up.

So on Monday morning, after a big town breakfast, I walked up to the bridge with Dreamer, Stretch, and Brandon.

I did not love walking across the bridge.

There is no sidewalk, you walk essentially on the road with the cars. It is a metal bridge; you look down through the grid to the water. And the wind blows straight up from the water. It blew my hat and sunglasses off, which fortunately did not fall through the grids to the water. But then I was paranoid that I would drop something- my phone, my poles, my sunglasses- and held everything in a death grip.

The bridge has a lot of flex and it bounced and vibrated as the cars drove past.

The bridge was much scarier than I had anticipated.

But cross it, I did and thus began to hike the last state. Washington, here I come!

peace, love, and trail Magic!

I am not a thru hiker.

Not technically. Not this time around. This time, I'm actually a section hiker. Which seems kind of ridiculous, since my first section was 1800 miles and my second section is 800. Isn't that enough to be considered "thru"?

No. It's not.

On the way to Cascade Locks I became very aware of the many ways that I am no longer in thru hiker mode.

Last year, I remember the feeling when I crossed into Oregon. After 1700 miles in that long, long, - at times breath takingly beautiful, at times mindnumbingly monotonous state - I felt the excitement of being 2/3 done. I wanted to just blast out the last 1/3 of the trail and be done.

I don't have that feeling now.

I I can see it in the thru hikers eyes, though. The desire to just be done. I want to enjoy Oregon. I want to take side trails and look at waterfalls and jump in lakes, not push big miles. I'm thinking like a section hiker.

I was hiking with a bunch of people who decided we needed to do a minimum of 27 miles in order to get to the breakfast buffet at the lodge. I don't care about the breakfast buffet. ( a thru hiker would never say that) But when the temperature is in the 90's and my choices are to swim multiple times a day or go to the breakfast buffet, I pick swimming.

Besides, there was a lunch buffet.

Then, there was the mad rush to get to Trail Days. I don't care about Trail Days. Even when people doing back to back to back 40 mile days tell me it's the best party on the trail. If I want a good party, I'll go to Burning Man.

So I hiked into Cascade Locks like a section hiker. I took all the alternate trails to look at wildflowers

and waterfalls

and to commemorate milestones

To take pictures of sunrises

and to jump into swimming holes when the temperature reached 100 degrees

Then, when the herd was sprinting out of Cascade Locks on Sunday, as if they were going to set some kind of speed record, I was horizontal in the air conditioning, watching Usain Bolt and Mo Farrah show the world how it's done.

​Acting like a me a section hiker.

in the midst of the Mt Hood Wilderness, the PCT passes the Timberline Lodge, which is a welcome stop for food and rest and resupply.

Most at people know the lodge as the hotel from the movie The Shining. The winding mountain road, the foreboding stone facade and complex roofline- all the aerial shots of the fictional Overlook Hotel Are, in fact Timberline Lodge. And yes, as I hiked up in the late morning, popping up over an incline, the initial view of that roofline made my heart skip. "That's where all those crazy spirits are! That's where Jack Torrence lost his mind!"

Inside, it's nothing like the movie (the inside scenes were filmed in a different- and not nearly as nice- hotel) This place is spectacular! All stonework and exposed beams, gigantic fireplaces and wrought iron light fixtures.

it was very warm this day. I opted to spend the afternoon at the lodge, enjoying the lunch buffet, charging electronics, and resting until the heat of the day dissipated a bit

Peace, love, and trail Magic!

Oregon is awesome!

Last year, I alternated between loving and hating the PCT in California. On the one hand, I loved the wide open vistas, the diversity, the amazingly well maintained trail (PCTA volunteers are so dedicated!). On the other hand, I grew weary of the monotony, the long water carries, the totally exposed stretches, and long stretches of head scratching terrain (a dirt road next to an aqueduct, 100 miles of wind turbines, 80 miles of sand dunes).

This year, I am utterly and completely in love with Oregon. Oregon has the sweeping views, the striking mountain peaks, diversity in the form of alpine meadows full of wildflowers, countless lakes, volcanic rock, and -of course- the tall, tall trees.

I love over being in the trees. Some hikers lament about "the green tunnel", where all you see is trees. I love it. There is a very different energy in the trees. It's soothing, calming. And the silence is so thick and heavy and complete- like wet cotton. The silence feels alive. Sometimes I would stop hiking in my tracks and hold my breath to really experience that silence. It's strangely invigorating.

Oregon on also had some unexpected exposed stretches- over the past few years, there have been a number of forest fires. So there are large stretches of burned out areas, where you walk through the blackened remains of tree trunks, gradually becoming bleached out in the sun.

And theres swimming. On hot afternoons, it's so nice to jump in cold lakes or rivers and cool off.

Seriously, what's not to love about Oregon?

volcanic rock
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burn area
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alpine meadow
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mt Jefferson

lakeside campsite

LittleCrater Lake (temp 34 degrees) Did I jump in? You bet I did!

Mt Hood

Peace, love, and trail Magic!

Sisters was to be the site of my first zero. I had been battling a mild quad strain for a couple days, so it was well needed.

Mackenzie Pass takes you into Sisters, but many hikers opt to hitch 22 miles further into Bend, a larger, hipper town with more services. I chose ease and convenience.

Sisters is very small, and has this western, cowboy theme going on- covered wagons on street corners, raised wooden sidewalks, building facades. The Sisters Inn came highly recommended on the PCT Facebook group, but they were full when I arrived in town. Fortunately, the Best Western across the street matched the price and had a room. (Plus a pool and hot tub which I made good use of)

My friend from last year, Fainting Goat, came into town ms picked me up. We drove to Bend for breakfast and a trip to REI. It was good to catch up and talk about future plans!

Originally, I had been irritated at my late start, waiting for my backpack to arrive. Now, I was very happy with the timing, since it put me in town to watch the Gymnastics all around competition. Wow! That Simone Biles is something else! And like my previous thoughts on hiking, I'm sure Aly Raismen feels that the second time around was way better, too.

Good friends, good food, pool, hot tub, women's gymnastics, and Michael Phelps' 1000th gold medal- that's what I call a good zero day!

Sometimes things are better the second time around.

Last year, there were record numbers of fires along the PCT- along the entire west coast. For the last few hundred miles of trail before I exited at Crater Lake, I had no views. From high up on the ridge lines, I looked down into valleys filled with smoke. Always smelling smoke, often tearing up from smoke (depending on which way the wind was blowing), always wondering if we were hiking right into a fire or away. I didn't realize how stressed out I was.

This is year is a completely different story.

The skies have been clear and blue, the sun shining, the views spectacular and smoke free. I spent a few days leap frogging with a group who had been on trail since Campo: Butterfly, Turbo, Sweetpea, Juice, and Spreadsheet. We often camped together at night , like at Elk Cove Resort, where we stopped for dinner.

Ultimately, I got off trail 20 miles before they did at Mackenzie Pass, where they were pushing on to Santorium Pass- both leading to Sisters and Bend.

​I would see see them again, though.

campsite between to lakes

early morning lakeside

​Peace, Love, and Trail Magic!

Shelter Cove was my first stop this hike, where I would pick up my re-supply box and get cleaned up. It is a lakeside campground with a store, boat launch, RV sites, and cabins. I only had a 14 mile day into Shelter Cove, ski was hoping to get in early. Unfortunately, I had a lot of downed trees to contend with, so those 14 miles took almost as long as the previous day's 21 miles. The entire way, I fantisized about jumping in the lake and eating a big cheeseburger.

When I got there, I discovered that there was toxic algae on the lake and they had no cheeseburgers! Denied! On both counts!

i settled for a shower and a hot dog. All and all, pretty good.

A fair number of hikers, both section hikers and thru hikers were at Shelter Cove, and we hung out in the hiker section, talking, eating, and bonding.

Ridiculous was a former AT hiker who was doing the Oregon section with his dog, Pearl. They were doing low mileage, as Pearl was struggling. By contrast, Canadian Bacon stopped on for a bite to eat after hiking 17 miles in, and planned another 17 that afternoon.

We all camped in the hiker area to a COLD night and cold morning. I had a nice hot chocolate and muffin, goty supplies organized and relaxed, reading in the grass until afternoon. A nice restful day, though not a full zero. Not just yet. I have many more miles to go yet.

When I think about backpacking, I remember the good stuff: the majestic views, the sounds of the early morning forest as I move through the mist before sunrise, the bracing cold of an alpine lake on a hot afternoon, the simplicity of a day filled with breaking down camp, walking, eating drinking, and setting up camp. I never remember how painful the first week is.

I mi suppose it didn't help matters that I was following my hiker friend, Mama Goose on Facebook as she finished up some sections of the AT and PCT. After the rocks in Pennsylvania and the Whites in New Hampshire, the PCT was cake for Mama Goose.

Not or so much for me.

I started out right off the bat with a 26 mile water carry (20 excluding the fire closure I had to hitch around). Followed by a 16 mile water carry. My pack was HEAVY! I had to stop every hour on the hour for 10 to 15 minutes.

Plus, right when I started, I ran into a couple day hikers who had run out of water. ( I was able to direct them to a water cache) Afraid of running out myself, I was "conserving" water- taking small sips frequently during the day but never really drinking. Which is how on day two, when I had planned on camping at Maidu Lake, I reached the trail juncture and was simply unable to make it the .6 miles down to the lake. Shaky, dizzy, headachy and nauseous, I looked at my water and wondered why I had so much left. I set up my tent rightatthe juncture and pounded a liter of water, ate, and went to bed. (Too bad, a swim would've been really nice)

That's how it is the first week back on trail- slow, lots of rests, spending time getting used to the equipment again and waiting for the pack to settle in on your back. Painful feet, painful hips, painful back, painful neck. Hot feet. Early blisters that must be tended to as I wait for my feet to toughen up. And that weird time when I am burning so many calories but don't feel like eating- having to force myself to consume my dinners before sleep.

I never remember this part of backpacking.

That's probably because all the initial discomfort is overshadowed by the wonderful people on the trail. Like the nice couple from Pennsylvania who gave me a ride around the fire closure. And the day hikers who I hiked with once they got their water straightened out. Camping that first night with Ready Betty, Lego, and Camel Socks. Eating lunch with Snacks. Getting water with Honey and Obi Wan. And the people at the horse camp who gave me apples.

Painful arches don't seem to matter with views like Diamond Lake from above on Mt Theilson

Or looking back up at Mt Thielson from Theilson Creek

Amazing sunrises and sunsets

At Windigo Pass, I opted to take the Oregon Sky Trail Alternate, which offered far more water and lakes

But also mosquitoes and fallen trees to contend with

And so it is, those first few days back on the trail- taking the views with the pain, the cameraderie with the mosquitoes, the beauty of nature with the difficulty of climbing over downed trees. A great start to an adventure.

peace, love, and trail Magic!
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