Hiking the PCT meant freedom and new encounters every day. I got used to beautiful sunsets, landscapes that take your breath away. It was a pleasure to meet all these amazing people on trail – especially Cactass, Tinkle and Spirit Kick.
Thanks to my family, friends and former colleagues for their support and encouragement during the last months.
The last two weeks in Washington were the biggest challenge during the hike. We got soaked in heavy rain several times (where also my phone died), had snow several times. We were at a point to turn back and leave the trail due to the weather and limited food. But the weather changed and the sun dried our gear and motivated us to push on.
“The only impossible journey is the one you never begin”
PS: I will be updating the blog for the missing weeks in Washington with amazing photos during the next days…
Got a little earlier start at 7.30am. The vertical profile looked a bit easier for today. With weather still decent, we made it to the 2200 miles marker around noon.
We took our lunch break at Blue Lake. The clouds turned darker and the wind was cold – it was not easy to find a protected spot to lay down for a while. The lake however was popular with day hikers. It was really icy, we cut our break short and moved on.
Water at Bear Lake some miles later. And we had so much blueberries today.
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With many day hikers around, we ran into two mothers with 4 kids around 5pm. With the kids getting tired, they were getting desperate to find a campsite. We pointed them into the requested direction and moved on.
We had amazing views of Mt Adams just before pitching the tents around 7.15pm.
Had two dinners – hungry from the cold wind… and I need the energy.
It was still light rain when I woke up with first light. It was comfortably enough in the tent, but the thought of getting out into the rain, having to hike 28 miles through the rain to make it to Cascade Locks was not the most attractive one…
So we stayed in our tents during breakfast, hoping for the rain to stop. At least it changed to just a drizzle when we finally got out and packed our tents. While my tent had held up well during the night, I realized that I had pitched it in a small ditch last night. Water had collected right under the tent and pushed through the floor into the tent. I did not have too much water inside, but the tent itself was soaked with water and mud.
Another hiker’s tent after a night of rain
Still I had to pack it and get everything into my pack. We started hiking with rain gear – in my case just my thin wind/rain jacket and short pants and the pack protected by a rain cover.
With 28 miles to go and cold wind and continuing rain, we reduced the breaks to a minimum. It took maybe 30 minutes to get my feet inside the Salomon Ultra X shoes soaking wet.
The clouded sky stayed dark the whole day – walking through the dark forest foggy from low hanging clouds was really special. A new experience after 4 months good weather on trail. But thruhiking can not just mean good weather hiking I guess…
Despite being wet and cold in the beginning, I enjoyed the experience.
There were so many blueberry bushes along the trail. Eating the ripe blueberries washed by the rain was delicious… The only way I want to eat blueberries from now on… 😁
The rain finally stopped and with hiking fast, I was able to get warm even with just the thin rain gear I had. The thought of getting my better weather gear from a box shipped by my good friend Steven to Cascade Locks was helping.
The last few miles offered views onto Cascade Locks.
Today would be the last hiking day in Oregon. The PCT famous Bridge of Gods in Cascade Locks leads into Washington, the last chapter of my PCT journey. It was an amazing last hiking day that Oregon provided. Short before Cascade Locks, I saw a bear cub, a snake and a group of deer – as if the animals were wishing a farewell…
We made it around 7.45pm into Cascade Locks. Two rest days (zero miles days) are planned. Good to dry the gear and get some rest before heading into Washington.
Woke up 6.45am to make it in time for the breakfast buffet at the Timberline Lodge at 7.30am.
The food was really great. Half of the restaurant’s guests were hungry hikers. And we made good use of the buffet… I had two full plates of egg, sausages, potatoes, waffles, pancakes… And another two plates with fruits, pastries and cake. And at least four cups of coffee.
With the bellies full and power banks recharged we left the lodge around 11am.
Mt Jefferson
After the first miles, we ran into a volunteer from the USFS (US Forest Service), doing statistics on the trail usage and rewarding thruhikers with candy. We took an alternate for several miles – the Paradise Loop trail that MathMan, a thruhiker from 1975 had recommended to us two days earlier.
Skies were clouded most of the time. The great views from the morning on Mt Jefferson and the nearby Mt Hood didn’t last. The PCT close to the lodge was overrun by day hikers, so we moved fast and missed the 2100 miles marker. Not an issue – we created our own on the Paradise Loop trail with Mt Hood as background.
2100 miles done – 550 miles left to Canada
We walked in the afternoon with dark clouds and few rain drops. During a last short break at a forest road, I saw two day hikers having trouble to start their car. The battery was empty. We volunteered helping to push it on the street and down the hill to get it started – it worked! The good deed of the day. They were very relieved… With no cellphone service in the forest, getting help would have become difficult.
We pushed on to make it to about 22 miles today despite the late start to a tentsite with water. That would still leave 28 miles to go to Cascade Locks tomorrow.
We made it to the tentsite just at nightfall at 8.15pm, pitched tents and collected water with headlamp. With the night came rain… First real rain on trail. I cooked my dinner while sitting in the tent and ate inside.
Alarm 6.15am, breakfast, on trail at 7.30am. Cold in the mornings as we are getting more North and closer to Washington.
First stop after a couple of miles at Little Crater lake.
We continued on through the forest with a cloudy sky, definitely looking like rain is coming.
The climb to Timberline Lodge from 4000 to 6000 feet was strenuous, with the trail getting sandy. But the expectation to reach the lodge and with that getting dinner was motivation to push on.
Made it to the lodge at 6pm. We had pizza and beer at the Blue Ox bar.
When we left after dinner to find a tentsite in a small forest above the lodge, it had gotten really cold at our altitude of 6000 feet. We hurried with pitching the tents and got into the sleeping bags quickly. Some hikers returned after more beer at the lodge later to the tentsite…. one guy had fun playing loud music from his bluetooth speaker late at night…
The world is big 