#ThrowbackThursday
This is part of a series of journal entries I have made while section hiking the Pacific Crest Trail since 2013 over on Trailjournals.com. I am moving them here to Must Hike Must Eat and updating them with photos (and maybe fixing typos). Look for them on Thursdays or you can head over to Trailjournals.com and read as many as you would like!
http://www.trailjournals.com/journal/entry/427288
Destination: White Pass
Today’s Miles: 0
Start Location: Trout Lake
Trip Miles: 82
Okay, last entry until White Pass.
Spoke to my son last night, sounds like he’s having a good time on his mission trip. Miss him.
I got up this morning and walked up to the Trout Lake Country Inn for breakfast about 8:30am. Cute little place, a local hangout. Walked into a small room withe two tables filled with the older crowd starting their day. The women were all at one table and the men at the other. Very nice, one got up to get the owner for me. I had huevos rancheros for breakfast and filled out some of my previous posts. Chatted with the locals and owner a bit.
Headed back to my room and packed up my stuff. I was thinking about staying another night (I am on vacation) but if I head to the trail today I don’t have to be in a hurry to White Pass. The elevation gain in this next bit gets me to 7000 feet, should be fun. The famous Goat Rocks Wilderness.
I am going to eat again at the cafe, less food to carry that way. The only thing I’m dreading are the mosquitos, I don’t have much more blood to spare. The natural bug stuff just isn’t cutting it. I stood in the store deciding between 30% and 98% DEET. I know, I know.
http://www.trailjournals.com/journal/entry/427793
Destination: White Pass
Today’s Miles: 66
Start Location: Trout Lake
Trip Miles: 148
I left out of Trout Lake [via a hitch] and got back on the trail about 1:30pm, July 25. I was able to hike into mile 2149, about 12 miles by 7pm. You can see from the pictures this area is mostly burn and lava rock. There was a cool little spring with a bucket, fun way to get water. I passed about 3 folks heading south. When I got to where I planned to camp, there was another northbound hiker there, Walter “Dreamlaugher” Sharon. We didn’t chat much because we were both tired but I caught that he was finishing his final section of the whole PCT, up to Stevens Pass. He had done 21 miles that day, not stopping in Trout Lake. It was a very buggy spot, so we both headed off to bed.
I got up the next day and was gone by 5:45am. It looked like he was still sleeping, I figured I’d see him later in the day. Friday was spent mostly making my way around Mt. Adams. I stopped for lunch at a mystical place called Lava Spring. It was here where Walter caught up to me. From this point, he ended up being my hiking partner until White Pass. We made it until 2269 that day, 20 miles.
Most PCT thru hikers fall into two groups. College aged kids just starting out in life and retirees on their post career adventures. Walter embodies the second. He spent his youth working with the USFS planting forests and retired from Intel as a CPU designer. Lived in a converted school bus to currently owning 3 homes in Oregon, Richland, and Nevada. A man of many ideas. I’m guessing he ended up hiking with me so he could have someone to talk to.
Some highlights: “You wouldn’t happen to have a lighter? Mine ran out and I need some ‘medicinal’ smoking”, “Did you see that movie Burlesque? I have had that one song running through my head, ‘I am a good girl’, for miles now”, and the many ways Reagan was the worst president ever. What a hoot! BTW, Burlesque is one of MY fave movies.
On Saturday we made it 14 miles by 1:30 and stopped just shy of Snowgrass Flats for lunch and naps. Since the next section meant going over high elevations and snow, we ended up staying here for the night so we could start fresh the next day. Being the weekend and a popular hiking area, we saw plenty of folks today. Less bugs!
I don’t know if I can even begin to describe Sunday’s hike, our last 20 miles into White Pass. It was both physically and emotionally draining. You can see from the pictures it was breathtaking. Most of the snow fields were no big deal but one was a little slick. Walter was fearless and practically ran over them while I was careful with each step. The harder parts were the section with loose rock and shale. On the sides of the mountain! I had to keep telling myself, if a 9 year old can do it, so can I. (Sierra and Heather Hike, a mom and daughter who did the entire PCT last year).
The last 10 miles were rough, I was exhausted. Walter was in a hurry and ahead of me, he had told his wife he’d be out at 6pm. There was a point near the end when my GPS told me I was off trail when I wasn’t and I must have had to pee at least 6 times in the last 2 miles. It was sheer happiness to see Walter, his wife Cheryl and dog Rex waiting at the trailhead! Walter is heading home for a day or so, so they dropped me off in Packwood where I found a place to stay for the night. I ate a big steak dinner and blissfully fell into bed.
First post: Snuffy’s 2013 Pacific Crest Trail Journal July 20 & 21, previous post: Snuffy’s 2013 Pacific Crest Trail Journal July 22, 23, & 24. Look to next Thursday for more of my journey on the Pacific Crest Trail!
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