Falling Down Causes Rain

Day 152-September 12th
Destination: Five Mile Camp
Miles: 26
Cumulative Miles: 2246

Last night, while hiking in the dark, Psycho stepped off trail falling down for the second time in the week. Two hours later, at camp, it started raining. It rained off and on through the night. In the morning we woke to a lack of rain. We packed quickly, and started moving just as it was getting light.

Half a mile down the trail, Psycho stepped on his gaiter, which had started to come off his boot. This tripped him up, causing him to fall to the ground, banging his knees and pulling a shoulder muscle in the process. About ninety minutes later it started raining again. We have concluded that since Psycho fell 3 times and rain followed shortly afterward, there must be a causation (or at least correlation) between the two. Apricots has advised Psycho to watch his footsteps more carefully for the rest of the hike.

We found the campsite we were looking for last night. It was about ten minutes past where we camped directly on the trail, if only we kept going last night. Of course if we had, we would have had to contend with the enormous downed tree we came across this morning. The nearly ten foot diameter tree had fallen across the trail, and reached 100 feet into the woods in both directions (when you considered the other tree of equal girth that had also fallen there). A small tunnel of sorts was dug into the ground under the tree, allowing us to crawl under it.

The next few miles, up to the Suiattle River, were riddled with downed trees. While it was not as bad as our experience a couple months ago on Girard Ridge, it certainly was trying. Four miles into our day we came to the Suiattle River. A flood a few years ago took out many of the bridges crossing the streams we have been crossing. Fortunately, trail crews have been hard at work rebuilding damaged trail, and adding bridges that have been washed away.

The bridge over the Suiattle River is supposedly built, but no trail to it exists yet. As such, we had to do a log crossing of the river. Sitting on a wet log, sliding our butts slowly across it with a raging river five feet below was more than unnerving. At one point we had to lift our leg over a branch, being careful not to shift our weight to far to the right, as we would fall in. A few feet later, we were forced to transition from a seated scoot position onto our hands and knees. Waddling on all fours with a loose pack atop our backs we inched closer to the other side. Then we dropped back down to a seated butt scoot for the final few feet. At this point the tree widened and we were hitting the root structure of the downed tree. We were forced to climb back onto all fours, and grab the roots to climb over onto the other shore.

Shaking with adrenaline on the other side, we hugged and continued our hiking. Psycho told Apricots (after the crossing) of the unfortunate drowning that occurred two years ago when a hiker fell off the downed tree. She in turn told him of one who fell this year, but survived. This southbounder decided that he was done hiking for the year, which is sad because this would have been his last difficult stream crossing for the remainder of the trail.

After crossing, we climbed up and over Suiattle Pass. The weather became nice long enough for us to take our rain jackets off. Ten minutes after we took our jackets off it started raining again, pretty much for the remainder of the day. The clouds never really lifted, but occasionally we would catch faint glimpses of what we were pretty sure was stunning landscape.

We trudged onward, sloshing through mud pits, stopping only once for lunch and once to fix the broken shoe laces on Psycho's left boot. Late in the afternoon the rain stopped. Unfortunately we were repeatedly walking through heavy brush, which dripped copious amounts of water down our bodies filling our boots with water. Our feet have been nothing but soaked for four days straight.

It's miserable at times, but we are very close to the end and will and determination is pushing us along. Tomorrow we get a town stop in Stehekin where we will get to dry everything out, and start the final leg fresh and rested.

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The Mysterious Miles

Day 151-September 11th
Destination: 2 Miles S. Of Vista Creek
Miles: 21.5 (plus approx. 3.5 mystery miles)
Cumulative Miles: 2220

The day started with a climb of a couple thousand feet. This was good, as it warmed us up. The morning temperature was not too bad, but as we gained elevation it became cooler, and started to mist and rain a little. The clouds still blocked much of our views, but as the day progressed more views opened up.

Midday, Psycho pointed out his shadow to Apricots. He thought it was gone for good, but it was just away on vacation, avoiding the nasty weather. As soon as blue patches returned to the sky, it came back. Both of us were ecstatic to see blue, even if small and distant.

Psycho had heard the fording of Milk Creek was difficult, and felt a little anxious as we approached the rushing water. Fortunately a new bridge had been built over the creek which washed away the last bridge a couple years ago. Unfortunately, two extra miles of trail was added, which threw off our rhythm and timing for replenishing our water. We arrived at the creek a little thirsty, and there was no safe way down to the water to get some.

We had to hike four miles up a very steep hill before we found a tiny tarn to pull water from. After rehydrating, we walked across some of the most beautiful hillsides. Yellow-orange corn lilies covered the land, complimenting the multicolored granitic rocks which have slowly tumbled down the glacial carved valleys.

Towards the end of our day, we saw a bear in the field we were walking through. We tried to scare it away, but it just looked at us with those "I've-had-a-short-summer-and-I'm-hungry-leave-me-alone eyes". We cautiously trudged on, keeping an eye pointed in the direction of the bear.

As we descended to Vista Creek, the miles seemed to be extra long. We think new trail was added, entirely throwing off our camping plans. After hiking for over an hour with our head lamps, we chose to set up camp in the middle of the trail. Low on water, a little dehydrated, and beat from an exhausting day, we didn't like this option. Walking another 2-3 miles by head lamp was not a better option.

So, we camp directly on the trail. We will have to rise early, so that we can break camp before our tent blocks the trail for any hikers.
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A Better Day

Day 150-September 10th
Destination: Sitkum Creek
Miles: 23.5
Cumulative Miles: 2198.5

Our new gear kept us dry through the rainy night. It rained all through the night, but stopped by the time we crawled out of the tent. The only hard part about getting up this morning was sliding our warm feet into wet cold socks and boots. Once that was done, we moved quickly to start getting warm.

Low clouds and heavy fog dominated our morning. At one point, Psycho reached out to the cloud covered valley (or mountain for all we could tell) and told Shroomer and Apricots of the serene beauty that was down (or up) there. Miles later the fog cleared, and the clouds lifted. We were offered amazing vistas of long sweeping glacial carved valleys. The steep slopes were covered in lush green plants. The corn lilies broad pleated leaves were changing from green to yellow, creating hillsides of green and yellow. Other shrubs added splashes of red and maroon, rendering the hillside with a full spectrum of color, as the peaks disappeared into the clouds.

To combat the cold temperature, we kept ourselves moving, covering all of the distance with only one sit down break. It was our desire to do 27 miles today. Near hitting our goal of 27 miles for the day, we ran into the collective of thru-hikers we left the Dinsmore's with. Wolf Taffy came over and told us their plans to slow down enough to pull into Stehekin the morning after we were planning to. We talked it over, and decided that we had enough food. The weather seems to be getting better, and arriving at camp early sounded nice.

We sat around together eating dinner. Shroomer, who we met on day two of the trail, fried up fresh picked mushrooms to have as appetizers to our dinner. Also here is Johnny Law and Missing Link, fellow Portlanders who we met in the Sierras, Motor and Mike. Two more thru-hikers rolled up as this was written, bringing the total at this campsite to ten.

During dinner, Wolf Taffy played his ukulele and sang a song, warning us of the woes of giardia.

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Back to It

Day 149-September 9th
Destination: Saddle Gap (by Benchmark Mtn.)
Miles: 6 (plus a repeated 16.5)
Cumulative Miles: 2175

The weather called for a good day. Sadly the weather was mildly wrong. It certainly wasn't the torrential downpour we experienced last time we left the Dinsmore's, and we did have some blue patches early in the day. By ten miles, the sun was gone and the off and on sprinkles came.

Our better gear, and the company of other thru-hikers made the trek easier. Sadly, the landscape was shrouded in thick clouds and fog, so we were unable (for a third time) to see what we hiked through. As we head north, we will also be heading eastward, which means the rain should clear up.

We arrived at camp at dark. The last uphill trudge was wet, slick, and a little worrisome. We did not know if there would be a campsite, and neither of us wanted to night hike in the rain. Once we arrived, we quickly set up the tarp, and then set our tent up under it. So far, it seems to be doing the trick of keeping us drier, which means we are happier campers.

It is a little cold, and we have a long day tomorrow.
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Zero at the Dinsmore's

Day 148-September 8th
Destination: Steven's Pass (Dinsmore's Hiker Haven)
Miles: 0
Cumulative Miles: 2169

"I call it the morning dose of self-loathing."
--Johnny Law on Pop-Tarts

Today, we reassessed our plans to move forward. We are not giving up this close to the end, we just needed to figure out how to move forward, without putting ourselves at risk. This meant getting some more gear, drying out our existing gear, and waiting out the rain while we developed our strategy.

Psycho's parents came to Baring, to take us into an REI to up our rain protection. We bought pack covers and a tarp to pitch over our tent to help keep our bags drier at night.

The benefit of our return was coming back to a small herd of hikers. After all our jumping around, we have hiked the majority of the hike outside of the culture of fellow thru-hikers. Now, as the good weather returns, we will be hitting the trail with a collective of hikers we have known for a long time, but not hiked with in several months.

The ten of us (or so) here, all have roughly the same goal time for hitting Monument 78 at the Canadian Border.
This means that we should all be hiking roughly together, which will be a nice change up from our rather solitary hike we have had for most of Oregon and Washington.

Tomorrow we will hit the trail at Steven's Pass, covering the 16.5 miles for a third time. This time, however, the weather is supposed to be better, and we should be able to see the very scenic section of the PCT. While our decision to turn back set us back 2-3 days, everything that has resulted seems to be working out. Things work out on the trail. They always do.

We are probably going to be without phone reception for the next 8-9 days, so take care. See you all after we get to canada (lest we find some random place with a signal).
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Rewind and Retreat

Day 147-September 7th
Destination: Steven's Pass (Dinsmore's Hiker Haven)
Miles: 0 (plus 16.5 repeat miles)
Cumulative Miles: 2169

Our tent dripped profusely on us through the night. We woke with wet sleeping bags, and a decision on our mind. Retreat, or forge on. As we hit the trail junction we had a decision to make. The difficulty of the decision lent itself to possible regrets in either direction. If we continued on the trail, we might regret arriving at camp with wet sleeping bags. If we headed back to town, we would possibly regret heading out prematurely.

In the end, we have no real regrets. We made the decision which carried no ill-effects to our health and well being. We could possibly face hypothermia if we continued, so we have decided to retreat back to town to dry out our gear, and visit a store to purchase a better tent, some pack covers, and better rain jackets.

It is annoying that we had to hike the same miles back, and may have to hike them a third time. It is annoying that we are further behind schedule now. It is, however, not annoying that we have a warm dry bed for the night. The Dinsmores are hosting close to 20 hikers here tonight, and we are all feeling pity for those out in the rain.

We of course will have to face it soon enough.
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500 Mile Countdown

Day 146-September 6th
Destination: Wenatche Pass
Miles: 16.5
Cumulative Miles: 2169

"There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear."
--Some Pompous Rich Outdoorsman

I don't generally write our blogs in the first person, but I think I will do so for this one, because it will be a lot of my emotions. I cannot fully speak for Apricots' emotions.

It is exciting to know that we are 500 miles from the end of this long journey. Sadly though, fall is here in the Northwest, and there is no denying it. We have had several bouts with rain, and it's not letting up. This morning we debated on whether to hit the trail or not, but we felt we should despite the bad forecast. If we waited around for good weather, we would be waiting until next August.

It is important for us to finish Washington quickly, so we can get back to the Sierras before fall sets in down there. As it stands, we are already behind our desired schedule by several days, maybe even a week or more. As such, despite our anxiety, and the weather forecast, we chose to hit the trail.

I was okay with this decision at first. I am no longer okay with it, probably because I am miserable. The first half of the hike was cold and misty, but not bad. We were moving, so we were warm. All our gear was still dry. This changed.

The further we got from Steven's Pass, the worse the weather got. We are now in a tent, and the rain is pounding heavily on the tent. Some of the seams are leaking, so we're getting the occasional droplet getting in on us. My temperament was positive pretty much all day, but that changed once we slid into our tent, and I discovered that my "dry clothes", which are strictly for sleeping in, had become damp.

I have a little extra clothes that was dry, so I am not entirely miserable. This rain, however, is supposed to last for three days. The trail is a slick mud already, and I slipped once today, catching myself on a high embankment. It's only going to get worse.

I find myself walking down the trail, asking myself "Why am I out here?"

I chose to do the hike for several reasons. First, for the enjoyment of it. Second, for the scenery. Third, for the challenge of it. I have come to realize that this rain takes away all the joy, and makes it impossible to see the scenery. It is a serious challenge, but I would be lying if I said that I came out on the victory side of all the challenges I have faced.

Tomorrow morning, I want to hike the 16.5 miles back to Steven's Pass. From there, I wish to get our way down to the Sierras, and knock those off before fall and winter sets in down there. We would miss about 175 miles of washington, making it an incomplete thru-hike. We would have to come back next year to finish these miles, but it would give us a "Monument 78" (Canadian Border) finish to our hike, rather than some strange unmarked middle point.

I have to reconcile these wants with Apricots, my love and hiking partner. She tends to be in higher spirits than me...at least while in the tent.

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Ten Days

We have about ten days to the border...bad weather forecasted.

No reception points until then.

See you all on the flip side.

Pray for us.
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Wet... What's New?

Day 145-September 5th
Destination: Stevens Pass (Dinsmore's Hiker Haven)
Miles: 8.5
Cumulative Miles: 2152.5

It was raining all through the night. Our tent was situated in a place where puddling occurred, resulting in a very damp tent floor. While our sleep was fairly warm, our gear did get a little wet through the night. Fortunately, we were heading to town. We packed our gear, donned our rain coats, and hit the trail.

It wasn't long before we were uncomfortably wet, but it wasn't much longer before we hit the road. Standing in our dripping wet gear, we held our thumbs out for about an hour before a nice couple picked us up for the ride down to Baring, the tiny town that plays host to our fabulous hosts tonight.

Arriving at town, we immediately changed out of our wet clothes and went into the store for a hot coffee and an excellent breakfast. It wouldn't look like it, but the breakfast were some of the best we've had on the entire trail.

Now we are drying out our gear and relaxing at Hiker Haven. Gerry and Andrea are providing much loved accommodations. Gerry just cooked up a dandy meal of burgers, and while gorging ourselves on meaty goodness another hiker arrived. He was picked up in Glacier Peak wilderness by Heather "Anish", someone who Psycho hiked with in 2005.

Psycho looked at her and said, "You look familiar." When she looked at him, recognition clicked, and Psycho said her name. Hugs were given, and catch up was had. It was nice to see someone from his 2005 hike.

The weather looks grim for the next three days, and we are going to sleep with high levels of anxiety about the next leg. This section is very remote, very difficult, and the weather is certainly unfavorable.

Anxiety...what a miserable emotion.


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Was that a bird? Nope just Pikas and Marmots.

Day 144-September 4th
Destination: Hope Lake
Miles: 22
Cumulative Miles: 2144

It was a cold morning, and thankfully we started with a good healthy 1000 foot climb. Naturally this was followed by dropping about 1000 feet only to climb 2000 feet, drop 1000 feet, and climb another 1000 feet before descending a little over 1000 feet to camp.

The guidebook described a stream crossing as treacherous, and suggested an alternate route. We chose to ignore the guidebook, and head towards the treacherous waters, only to find a relatively difficult but completely manageable stream crossing. We did take our boots off to ford the water, but it never went above our knees and only sounded intimidating because of the fierce rapids above and below the crossing point.

After crossing, we made a 1000 foot climb up to Deception Lakes, where we found a stunning campsite to do lunch at. The sky was patched with clouds, but there was enough sun for us to dry our slightly wet gear.

Marmots and pikas were abundant in today's hike. As we passed over large fields of white and black granite, we heard the whistling of the marmots. We had thought until recently the whistling was some sort of bird, but now we have seen the marmots whistle. Also the "eeep" or maybe "eeeek" or perhaps "peeeeh" of the pikas, we had thought were birds. Now we have seen the small mouse like mammal peer at us over the granite and make the sound. All through the crossing of the granite boulders and rocks, the pikas chattered all day long.

All total for the day, we climbed roughly 6700 feet, and dropped the same. While this is not a large number for a day, it is significantly higher than your typical day on the trail. The rain is starting to fall on our tent, tomorrow may prove to be another wet monstrosity. Fortunately we are only 8.5 miles from town.

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A Warm Day in Washington

Day 143-September 3rd
Destination: Deep Lake
Miles: 24.5
Cumulative Miles: 2122

This section is particularly difficult. We have great climbs, and great descents. The trail is often along cliff sides, or across steep slopes of talus, where the rock slides have created difficult footing. Yesterday we had a 3000 foot climb.

Today as we reached the summit of a 2000 foot climb, we ran into two section hikers. The couple was 84 years old. We were impressed. Further down the trail, we came to the realization that they had braved the torrential downpour that we experienced a few days ago, and after arriving at their destination, they have turned around to hike all the way back to where they started for a total of 152 miles.

The morning started with a simple descent down to Delate Meadows. By some unfortunate oversight, we found ourselves down a side trail into Lemah meadows. Fortunately, the trail reconnected with the PCT, and we didn't gain or lose much mileage. Unfortunately, we had to ford a stream, rather than walk a bridge across it. The stream had split into two sections, and we both agreed that the second section had to be several degrees colder than the first. Afterwards we donned our boots for the 2000 foot climb.

Stopping briefly at a mountaintop tarn to grab water, we met an injured hiker who was slowly waddling her way back to Snoqualmie Pass. We asked if she was good on food, she was. She, however, said she was low on toilet paper. Psycho offered up some, as he seemed to be carrying an abundance this leg.

Carrying on, we made our descent down the other side of the mountain. Our timing was great today, as our long ascent was in the shade, and we crested the hill around noon, allowing for a largely shaded descent down the other side. When we made our final 1500 foot climb, it was late enough in the evening that the heat of the day was not really a factor. It was somewhat bizarre having a warm, almost hot, day in a state which has been largely gray and overcast.

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Alps in Washington...Who knew?!

Day 142-September 2nd
Destination: Delate Creek
Miles: 19
Cumulative Miles: 2097.5

"In all, this section will challenge your legs, lift your spirits, and probably confirm your reasons for backpacking"
--Wilderness Press PCT Guidebook

Our legs were challenged, our spirits are renewed, and undoubtedly today was easily in the top five of the entire trail. The hike started with a relatively arduous 3000 foot ascent, starting first in fir and hemlock, before reaching the higher unforested ridges. The descent was equally difficult, almost a mirror image of the climb, but the views were ever changing.

As we made our climb, we had stunning views of Snoqualmie Mountain and Red Mountain. It wasn't too long before we could look south to Mt. Rainier, and north to Glacier Peak. Exiting the forest, we began a long on-again-off-again crossing of talus. The views opened up, the Hemlocks became smaller, and vast valleys swept away under the steep slopes we trod across.

Looking up we saw craggy peaks of many shades and colors, matching the talus we walked across. Looking down we saw fir filled valleys, filled with shrubs starting their autumnal color changing. At times the hillside was so steep, we actually walked on a trail blasted into the cliff face. Hiking along the flank of Alaska Mountain, we could peer down into the blue green depths of Alaska lake, its perimeter highlighted by rock slides scattering into its crystal depths.

Taking a tight chute down the mountains in the evening, we made at least 40 tight switchbacks before reaching a beautiful waterfall at Delate Creek. We are camped at a tiny campsite just before the waterfall, and will have the pleasing sound of the cascading river to lull us to sleep.

Our camp is being visited by a small mouse, or perhaps it is a Pika. Hopefully the critter doesn't chew its way into our tent. On a side note, Psycho's spider bite from two days ago has caused his leg to swell a bit. It looks as though he is trying to grow a softball just above his sock line. If we see any other hikers, we're going to see if they have anything that could help, because he notices a subtle pain with every step.

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