September 17

9/17

25 miles (2436 to 2461, Stevens pass)

September 16

9/16

26 miles (2408 to 2436, in the shadow of cathedral  peak)

it didn't rain today! Last time we checked there was a 100% chance of rain. We didn't get a drop. Hizzah!

The days are getting short. We wake up every morning at 6, just as it's getting light.  We start to look for camp around 6:30-7 before it gets dark around 7:30. We are pretty much at our max now at around 25 miles as far as daylight goes. 

It's getting chilly too. We have changed our camp routine to maximize tent time. We used to sit outside and cook and eat, do dishes, brush our teeth then get in the tent. In the morning we would get up and out. I would make coffe while clay broke down the tent. Now we do everything from the tent. Pick a site, set up tent, go to the bathroom and get in. This is ideal for me because I now get to eat 2 meals a day from the laying down position. 

September 15

9/15

18 miles (2390 to 2408, delate creek)

We did not want to leave our hotel room

 this morning. We slept in and procrastinated until we started to feel antsy. We ate at the food cart one more time on our way to the trail and started hiking around 11.  The day we were dreading was beautiful. It's not warm out but it's not yet raining. The mountains are   steep and bare, spotted with the occasional white mountain goat. 

Although there was a perfectly fine looking valley leading from town, the trail went straight up into the mountains. In the 18 miles of hiking we did over 6,000 feet of climbing. That's a lot. We ended up just about 1,000 feet above where we started, so many steep ups and downs in Washington. 

Clay has developed shin splints frustratingly late in the game. He elevated and iced it in the hotel but is pretty unhappy about it. Why now after 2300 miles of hiking? We are supposed to get rain tomorrow, hopefully it won't be awful. I've already booked a hotel room in the next town, skykomish, for Thursday night. 

September 14

9/14

16 miles (2374 to 2390, snoqualmie pass)

We couldn't resist the temptation of sleeping inside, warm and dry in an outdated hotel room. The weather for this week looks cold and rainy with a snow level well within the elevation range we are traveling, 4500 to 6000 feet. I don't want to go out there!

September 13

9/13

25 miles (2349 to 2374)

We had a big change in the weather today. It was much cooler and windy all day. We started the morning in a misty cloud and thought it was going to be a wet day. By lunch it had lifted, looks like it going to be the last of any nice weather. 

We got trail magic today! A thruhikers dad who hiked in 2009 camps out every year and makes food for hikers. We each had a hot dog and it was amazing! This afternoon we passed and abandoned weather station where we stopped to eat dinner and use the still functioning electricity. I looked up the weather and it does not look good. It looks like rain everyday for as far as the weather outlook goes. This is going to be a cold wet slog. 

September 12

9/12

26 miles (2323 to 2349)

September 11

9/11

31 miles (2292 to 2323, sheep lake just north of chinook pass)

We got up early today and hiked fast all day. We are trying to put in a few big days in an effort to take full advantage if the beautiful weather. The rain will come soon and we want to be out in it as little as possible. We think we should be able to finish in 2 weeks. The only worry is the weather, please don't snow! 

September 10

9/10

22 miles (2270 to 2292, hwy 12 white pass)

We woke up with a view of about 50 mountain goats descending from the top of the mountain down to munch on its grassy sides. As we hiked through goat rocks the rest of the morning we saw probably over 100 goats. Clay was so happy. The trail wound up to hike knife edge ridges with views of goats, glaciers, and mt Rainer. 

We got to our resupply at white pass just after the store with our package in it closed. The lady inside was super nice and let us get it anyway and buy a little extra food. We are on the ground outside the store and when it got dark, walked back to the trail and found a place to sleep. 

September 9

9/9

28 miles (7 miles of road walk and pct miles 2249 to 2270, reliable river in goat rocks wilderness)

Sunshine and beautiful scenery. I was happy today. The miles and day went by quickly. We entered goat rocks wilderness which is open, mountainous and amazing. We saw elk and mountain goats! I am mad at myself for not laying the sleeping bag out in the sun when we ate lunch, it's damp and it's going to be a cold night. 

September 8

9/8

15 miles (2226 to about 15 miles into the mount Adams road walk reroute)

There has been a fire near mount Adams. After all the rain we've been getting it is 97% contained.  Basically it's out and it's no longer a threat to the pct. While in trout lake there was a lot of rumor about the trail reopening here and clay confirmed that with a call to the ranger station. Thy said they just needed to file the paperwork and it would open today, tomorrow, or Thursday by the latest. 

It sucks to walk on the road for 25 miles while skipping a beautiful part of the trail, especially when we know it's going to open soon. We procrastinated leaving town and contemplated zeroing here but the weather is nice, finally, and we feel like we just gotta keep moving. 

Trout lake was good to us. The town was about 3 buildings large surrounded by open farmland with astounding views of mount Adams topped with snow. Very beautiful and very friendly. We stayed at the valley inn, rode the rental bikes for free, had a great breakfast, dried out and cleaned our gear, and slept like champs.

September 7

9/7

17 miles (2209 to 2226 forest service road 23 to trout lake)

We walked with purpose today as we neared the road to town. There was little traffic and it took about 45 minutes for our ride to pull over and silently motion for us to hop in the back of the pickup. It took no work on my part to get clay to agree to a hotel room, he wanted to stay for two nights actually. 

September 6

9/6

29 miles (2180 to 2209)

More rain, seriously!? We are beginning to think that this is just what Washington is like all the time. Feet will be soaked and sleeping bags damp, rain gear on all day everyday. The forests are lush and full of ferns. Today we passed by a few very beautiful clear blue lakes. I just would like a little sunshine to dry us out and warm us up. We have been trying to make it to trout lake tomorrow, a small town where we shipped our next resupply package. We realized in our tent tonight that our perfect planning to get there mid-day Monday doesn't work when it's a holiday. Maybe I can talk clay into a hotel room...

September 5

9/5

26 miles (2154 to 2180, Panther creek)

We set up in the rain last night, it was on and off all night. This morning it was cold damp and windy. Come on sun! It was hard to motivate to get out of the sleeping bag this morning, but it's never as bad as I think it's going to be. 

The pct where we hiking today was host to a 50k run. We moved out of the way for, cheered on, and were entertained by about 50 runners. Then more rain. Sigh. 

September 4

9/4

15 miles (9.8 of the eagle creek alternate to mile 2154)

We walked the rest of the eagle creek trail and then a bike trail into cascade locks, a small town on the Columbia river gorge. The town is cute and scenic with large green mountains surrounding it. The river is beautiful and huge and on the other side of it is Washington, finally! Washington is about 500 miles long with over 100,000 feet of climbing. We are worried still about the weather and probably always will be, but although we still have a long way to go, it is feeling so doable. 

We ate two big meals, showered, and did laundry and headed back out on the trail. We crossed the bridge of the gods officially putting us in the last state of our long long walk. We hiked up 10 miles and back into the rain. We almost stayed dry for a whole day. The rain has done some good for us, today a trail closure that had the PCT closed going into canada due to fire, reopened. Let's hope we make it there. 

In other news, a stupid little woodland creature chewed a hole into my backpack last night. 

September 3

9/3

26 miles (2109 to mile 9.8 of the eagle falls alternate route)

It was cold this morning. We stayed tucked in our sleeping bags much later than usual. It had rained hard yesterday so we didn't stop and collect water before camping as we usually do because it was carrying a lot of sediment. We packed up our wet tent, put on wet clothes, socks, and shoes and headed out into the damp. We stopped at the next creek to make coffee and eat breakfast in the rain. Then mid morning, something beautiful happened, the clouds lifted and thinned and we saw the sun! We stopped and exploded our packs laying out all our gear to dry. It's so nice to be dry. The weather held for the rest of the day. We hiked an alternate route towards cascade locks, a cool trail in the eagle creek gorge, reminds me a lot of Ithaca. Tomorrow, Washington!