Day 51 – This is Washington?

Even though I hiked only 6 miles yesterday, I felt like I accomplished a lot (for me). The camp site was cozy and I slept well, waking only 5 or 6 times to turn over. Today the trail is closed to camping between miles 14 and 24. I am going to go the longer distance. I feel good. If I can just stay focused! The camp site tonight has been a kind of crossroads for Nobos and Sobos. There could be several hikers there. That is exciting, too.

Trout Lake is my next stop, and I can make it there in four days if I hike at least 20 miles a day. I can do this, but it is not what I prefer. Right now, though, I feel like anything is possible.

Upwards

I get out of camp at 5:45. Today is going to require concentration and stamina. Along with the 24 miles is 6000 feet of elevation gain in two climbs. The first climb starts right out of camp.

As I climb, I pass several people still sleeping. One is in a hammock by the trail. Two are a little ways down a hill from the trail. This guy is camped out under the power lines.

I am crossing paths with more hikers lately. It is fun but slightly disorienting, like turning down the aisle of a library and finding a group of people looking for the same information as you.

Adornments

The mountain flowers are out in the sunnier sections of the trail. This yellow flower is new. And the one after it is what the yellow one looks like after having gone to seed. They are everywhere on both sides of the trail.

Every hiker organizes their time differently. I tend to start and finish early. Others start early and finish late. And some start late. “Slugs,” I think. And then one appears one the trail! It’s the most enormous slug I have ever seen.

As I look back toward Oregon, I see Eagle Creek. It was such a magical place, I expect it to look special in some way. But you can see from the photo, it looks no different from any other valley.

Lunch mate

I take a 15-minute break every two hours. It is during my second break, that some of the slumbering hikers pass me. One of them is Stumbles – the guy by the power lines. His tendency to look around, causes him to trip a lot. Hence his name. I can relate. All the hikers I meet today are Northbound (Nobo) thru-hikers that started near Mexico. They can smell the border and it affects their demeanor. Conversations are short. Nobo hikers often look distracted as you talk to them. Not Stumbles. He seems to like chatting with strangers.

By noon, I have gone almost 14 miles. I have decided to eat lunch and fill my bottles at Rock Creek. When I arrive, I find Stumbles is already there. I join him by the water. He is laid out on his foam sleeping pad munching on some potato chips. What a life we hikers have!

When I ask him why he is hiking, he says “COVID”. He teaches high school environmental science in Pittsburg. Teaching Zoom classes has him so burned out that he went on Sabbatical and wound up on the PCT. He comes out west every year anyway, but this is his first thru-hike. He packs up and leaves me to finish lunch by myself. It’s a beautiful spot. For the last few weeks I have been trying to eat my lunch at picturesque places like this. It is part of my evolution as a hiker, and it sure makes hiking more fun.

The Pacific Slope Trail

The vistas that I enjoyed in the early morning have disappeared by 10 am. The forest closes in around the trail and stays like this until the end of the day. It is not pleasant. My knee has started hurting for the first time in weeks and my toes are feeling hot from being jammed into the end of my shoes for hours as I make long descents.

The trail is not acting right. The Pacific Crest Trail is supposed to follow the mountain crests, but today the trail goes from mountain top to bottom to top. Hikers tell me to expect a lot of this in Washington. This does not console me. I want the hiking to be easy! This trail is smooth enough, but I feel like I am in a tunnel most of the day either hunched over my poles as I go up, or taking calculated baby steps as I go down. What kind of life is that?

Flowers in this green tunnel are rare. What you end up with are either berries or some strange fungus.

I manage to scavenge some materials from beside the trail to mark a milestone.

Camp mates

About a 200 yards from camp I run into this guy sitting on a rock by the trail overlooking a trickle of water. I expect him to say he is from the Shire, or that his name is Bilbo. But no, his name is Nico. That is his real name, so maybe he is from the Shire. He did not want to hike Northern California because of the smoke, so he flew from Lake Tahoe to Portland and now he is back on the trail here in Washington. It goes to show that the trail experience can be highly fluid if you want it to be.

I get to camp at 6:30. I meet a man named Still Will huddled in his tent. He wants to leave camp early tomorrow and hike 20 miles. That is what I want to do too, so we agree to hike together in the morning.

Not long after that Presto joins our camp. I met Presto in the Cascade Locks post office two days ago. He had been stung by a bee, and since he is allergic to bees, he had used his Epi-pen and got a room at a motel to monitor his condition. He hiked 30 miles today to make it to our camp. His lip is still pretty swollen, but he is in good spirits. He is from Washington so he fills me in on some of the news about fires in This state. There is a definite chance the fire could close parts of the trail ahead of us.

Conversations have a way of getting me out of my funk. I feel better after talking with Presto even though his news is disturbing. Tomorrow is another day. Thankfully, the creek is close to my bed tonight. The peaceful sound of water flowing over rocks is a powerful tonic for anxiety. The creek speaks with many voices all at once – babbling, whispering, growling, popping, thrumming. It is nature’s Tibetan throat singer. I lie back and listen to the voices in their ancient language as I did on day seven near Cabin Creek. Much has happened since then. And while much has been difficult, much more has been delightful.

Guide my waking, O Lord, 
And guard my sleeping. 
That awake, I may watch with Christ,
And asleep I may rest in peace.

• July 22
• Starting mile: 2154
• Ending mile: 2178
• Daily PCT miles: 24
• Total PCT miles: 806
• Animals: a garter snake