Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Ladies and Gentlemen- the homestretch

[This last section was probably the most annoying section. It is the longest section on the PCT (5 full days between towns), full of steep up and downs, bushes encroaching on the trail that you have to constantly force your way through, and plenty of logs across the trail to climb over or even crawl under. Wasn't exactly my idea of "fun"]

9/25: (16.9 miles) I packed up my stuff at the Dinsmore's this morning and Mr. Dinsmore took us to Skykomish to get breakfast. After fully stuffing our faces, I went over to use the library's WiFi because the restaurant's and the Dinsmore's WiFis were atrociously slow (rule of thumb- the library always has good WiFi). I hung around with the other couple hikers at the restaurant until about noon when I decided to finally pull myself out of the vortex. The Skykomish deli has a sign for hitching that reads "PCT HIKER NEEDS RIDE TO STEVEN'S PASS" in nice, big, readable letters. They call it a magical sign and boy, were they right! I hauled out the sign and my pack near the highway and by the time I had set down my pack to get ready to hold up the sign, a car pulled up offering a ride. Easiest hitch ever! I quickly ran back in to return the sign, then hopped in the car. Up at the pass, the fog was as dense as could be (we could hardly see where to turn left for the trailhead). Fortunately it was easy-going for the first bit of hiking. Then Washington's familiar ups and downs. When I was about 12 miles in, I was walking up a switchback when a black bear ran across the trail about 50 feet in front of me! 1st bear in about 1800 miles! By the time I was within 2 miles of my planned camp spot, it had been dark for a while and I had been walking by headlamp. But the headlamp wasn't doing me much good with the dense fog, so I stopped early. Got my cooking water from a rain puddle (desperate times) and set up camp in the drizzling rain.

9/26: (23.7 miles) Today I had to make up that extra 1.3 miles that I missed yesterday. Uphills and downhills were abundant! Today was mostly overcast but at one point the sun came out. It was around 1pm and I started to stop for lunch. About 25min into my lunch, some rain picked up (with a bit of snow mixed in) and I had to quickly pack up everything I had set out to dry and dash out of there. So today wasn't the best. I did make up the extra 1.3 miles but I was still camping at a high elevation and it was quite cold.

9/27: (22 miles) Today I will dub the "Day of Slipping and Falling". As I mentioned above, I was at high elevation and it was very cold. In fact, so cold that even after the sun had been out for at least half an hour, my tent was still covered in stiff sheets of ice. I tried to wait for it to thaw out but eventually I had to get going so I just did my best to roll it up (inevitably rolling some ice up in it). This of course made my hands freezing and every minute or so I had to stop to warm up my hands. At around 9:50am I was finally packed up and ready to hike. So far there has been plenty of mud on the trails due to the rain on the first day and this makes for some creative hiking where I have to walk on the side of the trail, hop across rocks, etc. Today was further complicated with the trail being literally frozen (in places the whole trail was just a big sheet of ice). So I inevitably slipped and fell on that a couple times. Also, a couple times I had to cross logs over creeks or climb over logs that had fallen across the trail. Turns out that wet logs are very slimy and slippery as well (so that accounts for a couple more falls right there). And, at one other point, I was walking along a ridge line and the ground under my left foot gave way and I nearly fell off the trail (but caught myself and instead fell on the trail). Finally, I took a shortcut (0.5 miles cutting off 1.5 miles) on the old PCT where a bridge used to be but got washed out. Crossing the river there was fine but the trail to the old bridge was washed out too and I did somewhat of a "controlled fall" and slid down the dirt embankment. Needless to say, I was not happy that I was hiking the PCT at this point.

9/28: (20.9 miles) So that number reads "20.9" but if you mark my start and end points today, you'd see that I hiked about 27 miles today. Shortcuts are awesome. Today got going slow and within the first half hour of my hiking I wanted to be done. I was able to convince myself to push on and finally got to the downhill section. Today's big mission is basically a TON of downhill and a TON of uphill, then camp on the other side of that hill. But I noticed there was a junction where the old PCT used to go again (and again it was because a bridge got washed out and they built a newer one downstream). But this time, if I took the shortcut, I would spend 1 mile cutting off about 6 miles! Definitely taking it. So I forded a creek (took off my socks and shoes and all that) and had lunch on the other side. Fortunately the old PCT was easy to follow because it was still very worn (and I think some other people have had the same idea as me because some parts looked well-worn recently). I got through to the other side and the river where the bridge used to be actually seemed like a pretty dangerous ford (there weren't any obvious spots to cross and there was lots of water moving fast). But after about 20 minutes of hunting, I finally found a log to walk across (didn't slip and fall this time) and made it across to the PCT! Then from there on out I was able to put in ~3 mph up the hill and down the other side. Camping tonight was freaky. I was with two other tents in this wooded area and at around 9:30pm we heard big sounds right outside. There were at least 3 creatures and they sounded big. They were tromping all around our tents, breaking twigs underfoot, etc. One sounded like a bear trying to get someone's food in a bear canister. My food was in my tent with me and I was entirely freaked out. But in the morning one of the other hikers informed me that they were a group of stupid deer that where just walking around our campsite. < 100 miles to Canada!

9/29: (14.5 miles) I BOOKED IT today. I heard that the shuttle into Stehekin has changed to the Fall schedule so that the last bus runs at 3pm (turns out this was wrong), so I wanted to make it there by then. I hiked about 3.5 mph the whole morning, leaving at 8am and arriving just before 1pm. It averaged out to ~3.1 mph because I had to stop to eat or filter water a couple times. When I got to the ranger station I found out I had just missed the latest bus (the 12:45pm) by minutes. I was frustrated, but not too bad because I had planned on the 3pm anyway. But the nearby Stehekin Ranch picked me up in a shuttle and dropped me off at their place (only 2 miles away) where I could wait for the bus and use their molasses-ly slow WiFi. The bus came a couple hours later and I took it all the way down to Stehekin (it's about a 15min ride, but the bus stops at the famous bakery so that we can get some goodies). I hung around Stehekin for a while (hotel room was $135! so I camped for free), ate at the restaurant (very overpriced: $18 for an "ok" burger), and then set up camp.

9/30: (ZERO) Today the plan is to take the ferry from Stehekin down to Chelan (down the 54 mile-long Chelan lake), enjoy the ferry ride, then get a ride up to Winthrop from Chelan (Winthrop is the last town stop in Washington). I'll stay at the hostel in Winthrop and then get a ride to Hart's Pass (the last road access to the PCT before Canada) tomorrow (which will leave about 2 days of hiking to Manning Park, Canada). I'm skipping ~2 days of hiking between Stehekin and Hart's Pass because at this point I pretty much just want to be done with the PCT. If I was in California right now (and maybe Oregon), I'd probably just quit. But this closer to the border, I gotta finish it off. Here we go!

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Custom message from SPOT PCT Hawk

PCT Hawk
Latitude:48.30919
Longitude:-120.65741
GPS location Date/Time:09/29/2015 17:06:00 PDT

Message:I've reached a town! Here's where I'm at:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/R1gI4/48.30919N/120.65741W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=48.30919,-120.65741&ll=48.30919,-120.65741&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

PCT Hawk

You have received this message because PCT Hawk has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Ready for Adventure
FindMeSPOT.com

Monday, September 28, 2015

Check-in/OK message from SPOT PCT Hawk

PCT Hawk
Latitude:48.24304
Longitude:-120.95616
GPS location Date/Time:09/28/2015 20:12:35 PDT

Message:I've set up camp for the night! Here's where I'll be:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/R0HzO/48.24304N/120.95616W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=48.24304,-120.95616&ll=48.24304,-120.95616&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

PCT Hawk

You have received this message because PCT Hawk has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Ready for Adventure
FindMeSPOT.com

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Check-in/OK message from SPOT PCT Hawk

PCT Hawk
Latitude:48.17121
Longitude:-121.12617
GPS location Date/Time:09/27/2015 20:15:36 PDT

Message:I've set up camp for the night! Here's where I'll be:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/Q-lnT/48.17121N/121.12617W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=48.17121,-121.12617&ll=48.17121,-121.12617&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

PCT Hawk

You have received this message because PCT Hawk has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Ready for Adventure
FindMeSPOT.com

Friday, September 25, 2015

Check-in/OK message from SPOT PCT Hawk

PCT Hawk
Latitude:47.87357
Longitude:-121.15685
GPS location Date/Time:09/25/2015 20:01:50 PDT

Message:I've set up camp for the night! Here's where I'll be:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/Qxb6m/47.87357N/121.15685W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=47.87357,-121.15685&ll=47.87357,-121.15685&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

PCT Hawk

You have received this message because PCT Hawk has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Ready for Adventure
FindMeSPOT.com

Thursday, September 24, 2015

"Cause I struggle with forward motion..."

9/21: (11.7 miles) Today I hiked out of Snoqualmie Pass. It was hard to get going and I was really getting vortexed! I finally got out of there around 2:30pm and started hiking around 3pm. Lots and lots of uphill ahead of me. I got going way too late and had to stop early. I was intending to do about 15 miles today but it was already dark and around 8pm before I found a good spot to camp. Because I was on top of a mountain, it was pretty chilly. Was really, really tired and didn't even want to cook dinner, so I just ate a spoonful of Nutella and went to sleep.

9/22: (24.6 miles) When I woke up today, it was so cold that the light mist had frozen my tent into stiff sheets of ice. But fortunately it warmed up soon. Today I had to make up for yesterday's "missed" miles. I hiked up lots of loose rock, then down the other side. Plenty of beautiful views today! Lunch was down in the valley before the next big uphill. The uphill was large and intimidating but I had podcasts on my side! Unfortunately, I only had two podcasts left (16 GB phone) and ran out before I reached the top of the hill. And I still had the next downhill ahead of me. So I hiked down the next big downhill as quickly as I could until I couldn't see where I was stepping. Then I put on my jacket and headlamp and kept hiking. Lots of nostalgic Relient K accompanied me down that hill (see this post's title). Camped near the Waptus River today.

9/23: (19.8 miles) Ah, an easy day. But, unfortunately, I didn't feel like hiking at all. My first break happened within the first 45 min of hiking and my second break was hardly an hour after that. I was eventually able to push myself to hike the rest of the way today. Slow going the whole day and I kept wanting to take a break (but there was no reason, nor time to do so). I made it to camp after dark at a wonderful campsite next to Deception Lake. Nice, soft grass everywhere. So appealing that I actually sat there for a moment, then went barefoot in order to set up my tent. Unfortunately, a nice water source and nice, soft grass comes with a price: mice. Lots of mice all around my tent and some crawled into my tent only to scurry around panicked for a few minutes because they didn't know their way out. Freaking annoying.

9/24: (7.1 miles) Ah, the day of shortcuts. Immediately from my campsite I took a shortcut that was a little steeper than the PCT (and definitely more rocky and treacherous on the downhill), but it cut off about 2 miles. Then, about a mile later, I took the wonderful shortcut to the highway. It was 5 miles of steep downhill (cutting off 9 miles of PCT-ness), but I hiked it with a couple of other hikers and we talked the whole way. We got a ride from a nice couple we met on the way down and they drove us into Skykomish. Here in Skykomish we got burgers and milkshakes at the Cascadia Inn & Cafe where the famous trail angel Mr. Dinsmore (of the Dinsmore's Hiker Haven) happened to be eating at the time. The waitress tipped us off and he's giving us a ride back to his place momentarily. Bed, shower, and laundry tonight!

Custom message from SPOT PCT Hawk

PCT Hawk
Latitude:47.70945
Longitude:-121.35970
GPS location Date/Time:09/24/2015 15:36:28 PDT

Message:I've reached a town! Here's where I'm at:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/QvcY5/47.70945N/121.35970W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=47.70945,-121.35970&ll=47.70945,-121.35970&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

PCT Hawk

You have received this message because PCT Hawk has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Ready for Adventure
FindMeSPOT.com

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Check-in/OK message from SPOT PCT Hawk

PCT Hawk
Latitude:47.63388
Longitude:-121.14258
GPS location Date/Time:09/23/2015 19:56:04 PDT

Message:I've set up camp for the night! Here's where I'll be:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/QuEUy/47.63388N/121.14258W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=47.63388,-121.14258&ll=47.63388,-121.14258&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

PCT Hawk

You have received this message because PCT Hawk has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Ready for Adventure
FindMeSPOT.com

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Check-in/OK message from SPOT PCT Hawk

PCT Hawk
Latitude:47.51696
Longitude:-121.20805
GPS location Date/Time:09/22/2015 20:37:35 PDT

Message:I've set up camp for the night! Here's where I'll be:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/QsdlR/47.51696N/121.20805W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=47.51696,-121.20805&ll=47.51696,-121.20805&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

PCT Hawk

You have received this message because PCT Hawk has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Ready for Adventure
FindMeSPOT.com

Monday, September 21, 2015

Check-in/OK message from SPOT PCT Hawk

PCT Hawk
Latitude:47.47587
Longitude:-121.32819
GPS location Date/Time:09/21/2015 20:24:12 PDT

Message:I've set up camp for the night! Here's where I'll be:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/Qr0bK/47.47587N/121.32819W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=47.47587,-121.32819&ll=47.47587,-121.32819&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

PCT Hawk

You have received this message because PCT Hawk has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Ready for Adventure
FindMeSPOT.com

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night...


9/17: (25.8 miles) Today I got picked up from the Packwood Inn quite early (7am) by a friend of the guy who picked me up from the trail and dropped me off here the day before. I had originally planned ~20 miles for this day, but it started raining/drizzling/snowing all day and (as I always do when hiking in weather like this)- I didn't want to take breaks. So I ended up hiking without stopping at ~3.2mph. About 12pm I was looking for a place for lunch (I usually have lunch around 1:30pm) and I found a nice big dry spot (it had been raining, but not too bad). I sat down and realized I had gone nearly 14 miles already! Way ahead of schedule! And the sun was peaking through a couple clouds at that point. So with the added Vitamin D (what I'd like to just dub "visible motivation"), I decided to add ~6 miles to today's total so that I can stay at the Mike Urich cabin tomorrow night (this is the only backcountry shelter on the PCT in Washington). I grabbed an extra Snickers bar from my food for lunch and kept hiking- basically only stopping once until Dewey Lake. I had to set up my tent in some light rain, but I made it!

9/18: (26.7 miles) It was a lot nicer today! When I got out of my tent around 8am, the sun was already dissipating some of the clouds. I left just before 9 and hiked up the next hill and 3.2 miles from my camping spot to Chinook Pass and highway 410. This is the entrance to Mt. Rainier park (which we've been skirting in and out of the border of for the last 10 miles or so). Just after the highway there were some pit toilets at a parking lot (which I took full advantage of). Then it was another long hiking of ups and downs (welcome to WA)- this time on lots of loose rock. The key to hiking for a long time while shrugging it off like it was nothing (what some might call "getting in the zone") is podcasts: lots of podcasts. The day was pretty nice and sunny till around 5 or 6pm when it started sprinkling. But by 7pm I had made a new distance record and was indoors! Mice inside the cabin too (that's pretty much a guarantee in a backcountry shelter) but I still slept reasonably well.


9/19: (19.1 miles) You know, I thought it'd be easier to get up earlier this morning because I wouldn't be freezing cold (causing me to spend an extra hour or two just laying in my sleeping bag). But it was still hard. This was definitely a vortex. But I started hiking just before 8:30am (which is probably an "early record" for all of WA). Today was a fairly nice day of overcast with a sprinkle of sunbeams. Water was scarce today so we had to do some larger water carries (2L at one point and 3L at another), but fortunately most of the day was downhill. As in the style of the PNW, it sprinkled on and off all day, but we got to camp at the nice and early time of 5:30pm! I was with 3 other hikers and we built a campfire and chilled till dark. It rained tonight and some water pooled inside my tent because the puddles near my tent splashed from the raindrops- but it was fine.

9/20: (9.1 miles) Had to pack up in the light rain today. That's always annoying. Probably more annoying than setting up camp in the rain because my tent is one of the first things that has to be packed in my backpack- so everything else has to sit outside while I tear down the tent. But I got going around 9:20am and struggled up the first hill. Rain pants and a rain jacket protect you from getting wet via water from the sky, but up big hills they don't prevent you from getting wet via your own sweat (they don't breathe well). But by about 10:30 or 11:30 the rain had mostly stopped. At 11:45 I took a break and was consulting my maps when two things happened: I got 3G and I found a shortcut! The original plan was to hike another 22 miles today, then 5 into town tomorrow morning but this would cut it even shorter! When I got to the dirt road where I was going to break away and head down to I-90, I saw about 5 other hikers that I had been hiking with and a nice trail angel that was cooking taco soup, beer bread, cookies, etc for everyone! Score! And, because of hunting season, the traffic was pretty good on this road! So instead of hiking 4 miles down the dirt road to the I-90 on ramp, I hitched here and got a ride from some more mushroom hunters all the way to Snoqualmie Pass! Stayed in the Summit Inn last night in a hotel room! Dried my gear out all over the room and definitely took advantage of the hot tub! I'm now a day ahead of schedule. Canada, here I come!

Photos Uploaded

Just updated the photos folder:

https://drive.google.com/folder/d/0B_-6KdFaC6WiZDdZaE5zaE9TdFE/edit

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Custom message from SPOT PCT Hawk

PCT Hawk
Latitude:47.42265
Longitude:-121.41188
GPS location Date/Time:09/20/2015 19:20:00 PDT

Message:I've reached a town! Here's where I'm at:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/QpOeB/47.42265N/121.41188W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=47.42265,-121.41188&ll=47.42265,-121.41188&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

PCT Hawk

You have received this message because PCT Hawk has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Ready for Adventure
FindMeSPOT.com

Friday, September 18, 2015

Check-in/OK message from SPOT PCT Hawk

PCT Hawk
Latitude:47.08941
Longitude:-121.39577
GPS location Date/Time:09/18/2015 19:21:09 PDT

Message:I've set up camp for the night! Here's where I'll be:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/QmCEH/47.08941N/121.39577W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=47.08941,-121.39577&ll=47.08941,-121.39577&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

PCT Hawk

You have received this message because PCT Hawk has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Ready for Adventure
FindMeSPOT.com

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Winter is approaching

[These posts will be a bit shorter than usual as I am once again forced to use my phone. And, also, I'm pretty tired (and am leaving early in the morning)]

9/13: (10.4 miles) This morning I had breakfast at the Country Inn and after a shower and a final packing of supplies, I got a ride back to the trail. At the trailhead there was a nice couple waiting for a hiker friend of theirs with treats and goodies (which they invited me and some other hikers to take part in). Chocolate bars, ice cream, fruit! I started hiking and camped on the side of Mt. Adams. It got quite cold this night!

9/14: (21.6 miles) Got going late this morning as it was REALLY cold. I left camp around 9:45. Soon after starting it began to snow. Very light, harmless snow but around 11am it was cold enough (and snowing hard enough) to start coating everything. I quickly put on rain pants and headed out. As I dropped in elevation, snow turned to rain and eventually the rain stopped altogether. But it continued to be freezing cold all day long. I camped around dusk at a spot that had much less water than I would like (but still enough).

9/15: (21.6 miles) Again, going late because of the cold. No snow at all today, just freezing cold all day. Today was plenty of uphill. Had to go over Cispus Pass (not too hard. Just lots of work uphill). Also, Goats Rocks and something called the Knife's Edge. Yeah. VERY freaky. Walking over lots of loose rocks and snow on steep uphills/downhills where the path is about one foot wide and either side is a steep drop off. And did I mention the freezing wind? Yeah, the freezing wind. (See the picture below for "freaky factor"). After all that I rushed down the rest of the hill to get to my planned camping spot (next to a lake).

9/16: (12.3 miles) Nice morning. Got up at 7 and couldn't see my breath so that was a good sign. Got going by 8:30! Today is town day so I was eager to get there. In fact, so eager that I only took one break in the 12.3 miles of hiking today. I got to the highway right at 1pm and got picked up within the half hour and taken down to Packwood, WA. Paid $65 for a hotel room and I've been chilling in here since. Gotta head out early tomorrow!

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Check-in/OK message from SPOT PCT Hawk

PCT Hawk
Latitude:46.54362
Longitude:-121.41795
GPS location Date/Time:09/15/2015 19:54:10 PDT

Message:I've set up camp for the night! Here's where I'll be:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/QhN85/46.54362N/121.41795W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=46.54362,-121.41795&ll=46.54362,-121.41795&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

PCT Hawk

You have received this message because PCT Hawk has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Ready for Adventure
FindMeSPOT.com

Monday, September 14, 2015

Check-in/OK message from SPOT PCT Hawk

PCT Hawk
Latitude:46.38870
Longitude:-121.45128
GPS location Date/Time:09/14/2015 19:21:32 PDT

Message:I've set up camp for the night! Here's where I'll be:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/Qfm5v/46.38870N/121.45128W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=46.38870,-121.45128&ll=46.38870,-121.45128&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

PCT Hawk

You have received this message because PCT Hawk has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Ready for Adventure
FindMeSPOT.com

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Check-in/OK message from SPOT PCT Hawk

PCT Hawk
Latitude:46.21315
Longitude:-121.56805
GPS location Date/Time:09/13/2015 19:57:27 PDT

Message:I've set up camp for the night! Here's where I'll be:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/QeFhG/46.21315N/121.56805W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=46.21315,-121.56805&ll=46.21315,-121.56805&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

PCT Hawk

You have received this message because PCT Hawk has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Ready for Adventure
FindMeSPOT.com

4 months of this thing

So I've been doing... whatever this is... for 4 months now. I'm in Washington and so far it hasn't rained a single drop here yet. If no disasters strike I should be in Manning Park, Canada on the 5th of October!

Motivation status: zero (or close to it). Stopping by home for a while pulled me out of the hiker state of mind and the snow directly after that discouraged me even more. But after talking to Shameless and Pudding, I think all us hikers are down here at the bottom of Motivation Canyon- we just want to be done. Every day ends with "I don't want to do this anymore. Maybe I'll just go back home when I get to the next town." But I keep reminding myself that I'm in Washington and can't quit so close to Canada. Again, I think that's what's on every hiker's mind at this point.

Fires look like they've cleared up pretty much everywhere that's important to us- Stehekin, Mt. Adams (immediately out of here at Trout Lake), even the closure at Crater Lake is open again.

As to the ~100 miles I just skipped from about Ollalie Lake to Cascade Locks: if I'm still up for it (and the weather looks to be cooperating) I'll come back and hike it after I reach Canada. It should only take me about 6 days or so.

And here's an update on what my beard looks like now (I got a haircut in Bend):

Hiking is full of up and downs

9/8: (5.9 miles) Because of the bad weather I experienced in Oregon, I decided to jump up to Cascade Locks and start Washington. I spent the night with my aunt in Portland, then headed out the next afternoon to Cascade Locks. At around 5pm I hiked over the Bridge of the Gods (a freaky, all-metal bridge with no room for pedestrians). I started my hike out of the Columbia Gorge and it was beautiful! I was more or less hiking through a rainforest (minus the rain). It was the most lush, dense, and "undergrowth-full" forest I think I've ever seen! Around 8pm I set up camp and went to bed.

9/9: (14.2 miles) It's SO HARD to get up early when the sun is muffled by the thick tree canopy. The light is dim and the air is still cool (even around 9am). Because I did part of today's miles yesterday I didn't have quite the rush this morning (so I got up at 9). Unfortunately, getting out of the gorge isn't just one big hill and you're done. Washington is notorious for its big ups and downs. For the next couple days I'll be going up and down 2000 feet at a time (it's like the Sierras but at a lower elevation). Fortunately most of today was spent in the shade thanks to the dense canopy (see above), but Washington still gets plenty hot (it's pretty humid). I camped tonight at a nice creek but got "attacked" all night by tiny mice. Eventually (about 1:30am) I threw my food outside my tent (it's in a rodent-proof bag) and slept. Now I probably have close to 10 half-dollar-sized chew holes in my tent. Yay.

9/10: (19.7 miles) More up and down today. In fact, until lunch I had about 2000 feet to go up then down the other side. On the way I met up with a hiker I've known for a while- Pudding. We hiked together down to the bottom of the hill and had lunch down there where Pudding's hiking partner Shameless met up with us. We leapfrogged the next 5 miles or so to the Panther Creek Campground and I left them to continue up the next hill (but not before filling up an extra 2 L of water for the night). I set up next to a dirt road and put my food bag outside this time. I then proceeded to sleep like a rock tonight!

9/11: (21.9 miles) About 45 min after leaving my campsite this morning (I got up around 8 and left around 8:45) Shameless and Pudding caught up to me again. Which is good because I can pretty easily slack off when hiking by myself. Pudding and Shameless hike pretty close to my pace but they take way less breaks than I do. We met some people from Portland out on the trail with their llamas (I uploaded a picture to the Google Drive of them). They were just out for the weekend. We had lunch at a dirt road and "parking lot" where there were picnic tables and a pit toilet (locked, of course). After the nice long lunch I headed up the next hill by myself and fortunately this one I didn't have to go all the way down the other side (we more or less stayed up). I met lots of weekenders from Portland (no one from anywhere else- strange) around Blue Lake and Lemei Lake on the way to the campsite. I pushed past my campsite and camped with Shameless and Pudding at Deer Lake.

9/12: (10.0 miles) Again, hard to get up this morning. Shameless and Pudding left just before 7am and I didn't get out of bed till 8. Today was town day and I had 20 miles till the "proper" road to hitch into town. But since I'm a little lazy, I went 6.2 miles to a "parking lot" and gravel road. After an hour I'd had a couple cars stop but no one going to Trout Lake. 3.8 miles later I stopped at a paved road for lunch. After half an hour I had seen only one car going my way (not far enough) but they said there were a few cars at a parking lot next to a lake a couple hundred feet down the road. I walked there and there was one woman who said they were mushroom hunting for the next couple hours and were all going down into Trout Lake! So I sat and read my kindle for the couple hours and during that time one car pulled up and gave me a chocolate bar! The group got back and the leader (a retried mycology professor who does these outings a couple times a year at $50/person- donating the money to charity) gave me a ride down to pick up my box and find me a place to stay. All the rooms everywhere were booked for an event this weekend but a woman named Mary who bakes the desserts for the Country Inn put me up at her barn which is fully renovated for barn dances, weddings, and other parties. It was marvelous! Back on trail tomorrow...

Photos Uploaded

Just updated the photos folder:

https://drive.google.com/folder/d/0B_-6KdFaC6WiZDdZaE5zaE9TdFE/edit

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Custom message from SPOT PCT Hawk

PCT Hawk
Latitude:46.00206
Longitude:-121.53922
GPS location Date/Time:09/12/2015 16:16:00 PDT

Message:I've reached a town! Here's where I'm at:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/QcY10/46.00206N/121.53922W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=46.00206,-121.53922&ll=46.00206,-121.53922&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

PCT Hawk

You have received this message because PCT Hawk has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Ready for Adventure
FindMeSPOT.com

Friday, September 11, 2015

Check-in/OK message from SPOT PCT Hawk

PCT Hawk
Latitude:46.02311
Longitude:-121.78673
GPS location Date/Time:09/11/2015 19:34:23 PDT

Message:I've set up camp for the night! Here's where I'll be:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/Qb3Rl/46.02311N/121.78673W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=46.02311,-121.78673&ll=46.02311,-121.78673&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

PCT Hawk

You have received this message because PCT Hawk has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Ready for Adventure
FindMeSPOT.com

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Check-in/OK message from SPOT PCT Hawk

PCT Hawk
Latitude:45.82828
Longitude:-121.83601
GPS location Date/Time:09/10/2015 20:05:57 PDT

Message:I've set up camp for the night! Here's where I'll be:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/QZOwB/45.82828N/121.83601W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=45.82828,-121.83601&ll=45.82828,-121.83601&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

PCT Hawk

You have received this message because PCT Hawk has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Ready for Adventure
FindMeSPOT.com

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Check-in/OK message from SPOT PCT Hawk

PCT Hawk
Latitude:45.76889
Longitude:-122.02455
GPS location Date/Time:09/09/2015 18:55:36 PDT

Message:I've set up camp for the night! Here's where I'll be:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/QXcGl/45.76889N/122.02455W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=45.76889,-122.02455&ll=45.76889,-122.02455&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

PCT Hawk

You have received this message because PCT Hawk has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Ready for Adventure
FindMeSPOT.com

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Check-in/OK message from SPOT PCT Hawk

PCT Hawk
Latitude:45.66640
Longitude:-121.97092
GPS location Date/Time:09/08/2015 20:36:19 PDT

Message:I've set up camp for the night! Here's where I'll be:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/QW0U1/45.66640N/121.97092W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=45.66640,-121.97092&ll=45.66640,-121.97092&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

PCT Hawk

You have received this message because PCT Hawk has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Ready for Adventure
FindMeSPOT.com

Saturday, September 5, 2015

BLIZZARD! (and not the Dairy Queen kind...)

9/4: (13.7 miles) Last night we had travelled to Salem, OR to see my sister and this morning we were on the way back. The car was packed with my dad, step-aunt, and I plus our packs and a bunch of stuff to take to Bend from Salem. I got my free birthday Starbucks and we headed out. About 2 hours later we reached the trailhead at Santiam Pass. My dad and I put on our packs and started off. Most of the day was a nice jolly hike with just the occasional sprinkle of rain, but a couple miles before our planned campsite the snow started. It wasn't too bad until we got near the lake where we were camping- then it really picked up and it was freezing. We quickly set up our 2 person tent and jumped inside. After about half an hour of "relaxing" we made dinner, then argued about how we were going to sleep in the tent (fortunately there ended up being plenty of room). We were both shivering in our sleeping bags and didn't sleep very well.

9/5: (~15 miles) We got up around 7:20 (pretty late for us because we usually get going at 6:30) and slowly started packing up our stuff. It was still snowing and VERY cold. My dad decided to skip breakfast while I made breakfast in the tent (he was standing outside because..... actually I still don't know why). We begrudgingly folded up the tent (which is very hard to do with numb hands) and went on our "merry" way. Almost immediately we were walking along the top of an exposed ridge (with only lifeless trees for cover) in a couple inches of snow where the freezing wind was blasting our left sides with snow. Fun times. We finally got cover in some woods and that was most of the morning. We heard from a couple other hikers about a possible campground ahead but it would turn a 20 mile day into a 24 mile day (that my dad wasn't feeling capable of). But we saw a sign later with a map of a limited entry area containing Pamelia Lake. My dad remembered that you could get to Pamelia Lake from Highway 20 and I knew that the junction was in only ~5 miles. So we texted my step mom and she picked us up at the Pamelia Lake Trail at 3. Now I'm back in Bend after a shower, sleeping in a bed again, eating BBQ, and doing many things I NEVER thought I'd be doing when I was hiking this morning.

[Future Plans]: While this storm was supposedly a freak storm and the weather should be fine, in the next couple days I'll be skipping up to Portland, then to Cascade Locks and starting Washington. The weather looks like it'll cooperate and I can always come back and do this section of Oregon (especially since my parents live so close to where I got off).

Friday, September 4, 2015

Check-in/OK message from SPOT PCT Hawk

PCT Hawk
Latitude:44.55266
Longitude:-121.80374
GPS location Date/Time:09/04/2015 19:54:06 PDT

Message:I've set up camp for the night! Here's where I'll be:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/QPtFp/44.55266N/121.80374W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=44.55266,-121.80374&ll=44.55266,-121.80374&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

PCT Hawk

You have received this message because PCT Hawk has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Ready for Adventure
FindMeSPOT.com