PCT Day 17&18: Rest Day in Cashmere before Stevens Pass to Saddle Gap

 I spent the day in Cashmere. I did laundry at the laundromat. I had breakfast with my dad and Laura at a cafe. Mostly what I did was stay off of my injured foot. As I did not use it, I felt the feeling slowly return. It did not get back to normal, but it improved. I had the other insoles for my shoes, so I was going to give those a try. It may put more pressure on my Achilles, but I had to return the circulation to the right side of my right foot. So much for thinking ahead. I got to watch the Mariners game, only for them to lose. The main goal was rest and recovery and I felt bad for my company. They had nothing to do in Cashmere. We had dinner and then got to bed early. Part of the day was spent talking to my wife. 

She was insistent once again that there was imminent danger ahead that I would have no way of avoiding my untimely death. This time it was fire starts from the previous thunderstorms. I looked on the Watch Duty app and there were a couple right in the direction that I was headed. I could not believe that these fires that had been listed as 0.1 acres could really impact my trip. I checked the PCT closures app and it did not have anything about them. Consulting with everyone again, I decided to continue my journey and gain more information while hiking. So when the morning came around, we were up early and on our way to Stevens Pass. Dad hiked with me for the first couple of miles. The trail was flat in this section and it was good to have company for a little bit.

After he left, I realized how good I was feeling. It is amazing how much a day of rest can rejuvenate your body. Even though my pack was quite heavy, I was feeling really good. Maybe because this was my last section, I was feeling the excitement of each mile that I put away behind me. The weather was great being a little cool and a little overcast. A few miles after my dad left, I realized that I did not have my mp3 player. This was not that big of a deal, I just would not have any music for the next week. The people I talked to along the way seemed to not have had any issues with fire, except there was an unreported blaze occurring in a valley near the trail. I could see it, but within minutes, I had passed it by. 

This part of the trail was quite woody. There was a lake about 6 miles in, Lake Valhalla which had a slew of campers about it, which broke up that woodiness. There were also some high peaks to gaze upon, but for most of the day, I was in the forest. Having left a pass, it meant that I would need to do quite a bit of uphill on this day. It really was just a lot of up and down between elevations of 4000 feet and 6000 feet. Up to Lake Valhalla. Down to Lake Janus. Up to Grizzly Peak and down to Pear Lake. I talked to everyone I saw and they all just seemed so pleasant. They warned me of what was to come with the deadfalls around Glacier Peak.

I talked to one guy who had hiked most of Washington, but had actually turned around at the deadfalls because he did not want to go through it with his injuries. I felt bad for him, but he seemed in a good mood about it, so that was good. Mostly it was just a really pleasant day on the trail, pretty quiet, with lots of friendly people. I was feeling so good, too, that it didn't feel like work on this day. The views from Grizzly Peak were the best. I had enjoyed such great weather on this trip that it just felt so pleasant. Seeing Glacier Peak out in the distance made me realize the thing I liked most about the PCT. It was seeing a far off peak or area knowing that in a day or two, I would be there with just the effort in my legs. 

The meadows were amazing, though, not as many berries on this day. Around Pear Lake, I actually got lost for a little bit, which was rare. Usually the PCT is the most dominant trail in the area, but so many people had camped down at Pear Lake, that I just followed a trail to its shores. When I looked on the map on my watch, I realized that the PCT was actually above me. I chose to bushwhack rather than backtrack. This worked out okay with a little bit of fight through the forest going uphill. It wasn't long before I was right back on the trail continuing on my way. I thought when planning the PCT, that I would always want to stay at a lake. Given the chance to stay at Pear Lake, though, I continued because moving north became just so much more important.

On this evening, I made it to a campsite near Saddle Gap. There was a really nice campsite there with running water and I was in a very good mood. I had a great day. My legs felt loose, my pack felt light, the sun was out and everything seemed to be coming up aces. The terrain was starting to open up more with big sweeping views. My foot was feeling numb, still, but it was working just fine. It did not seem to be getting much worse with my original insoles in. I was looking forward to another big day tomorrow having packed in 22 miles or so on this day. But for the night, I was in a great camping spot and was ready for a full night of rest. A few people wandered by after I had set up camp, but no one else camped beside me.

PCT Washington Day 16: Deception Pass to Stevens Pass

I got an early start even though I did not to. Having tuned my body into the schedule of waking up early, I was now on that schedule for good or for bad. My foot was pretty sore still, but I was going to use a routine of taking it out of my shoe each chance I could to massage it. I was still kind of worried about it. It was now August 1st and I had been on the trail for 16 days. This was going to be my chance to escape for the day, though, because my dad and his wife Laura were meeting me at Stevens Pass. It was hard not to get too excited for a chance to sleep in a bed and relax for a little bit. I couldn't get too relaxed, yet, though because with a sore foot, I still had 21 miles to hike through difficult terrain. 

The trail went uphill right from the start. There were lots of mosquitoes around to keep me company and unfortunately, many of my electronics were on the edge of dying. My inReach was dead, so my wife could not track my every move today. My cell phone still had about 60% charge left and my mp3 player was down to its last bar. That was okay, though, as being out here was what I enjoyed. The trail climbed toward Pieper Pass with the Deception Lakes coming into view to provide a break from the big views of far away mountains. I seemed to be moving pretty well on this day with a lighter pack than usual and the mosquitoes to motivate me to not stop for very long. 

I gained over 1500 feet to get up to Pieper Pass, then quickly lost it. The trail seemed rather quiet for being so near to a major road, but maybe not as many people came this way from Stevens Pass. I am not sure why not, though, because there were lots of interesting mountains to climb and amazing looking lakes. I talked to a few people, but mostly it was me out there putting in the miles. The trail seemed to either be going up or down on this day. There was no long stretches of flat terrain. I spent a lot of the day on ridges with large sweeping views that I thoroughly enjoyed. One of the best views of the day was Trap Lake. It seemed like an awesome place to spend some time with large mountains all around it. 

It was properly named as the water seemed to be trapped right on the edge of a big valley below it. The trail was even more quiet after this lake as there was an easier way in to this area than hiking the PCT. I wondered if the blue liners all went out that other way and only red liners were out here with me. After Trap Lake, it was downhill to Hope Lake, which wasn't much. Then back uphill. It didn't seem like much when looking at the map, but it felt like I was going over three passes today even though officially there was only one. There were soon salmon berries along the trail and they were getting bigger and redder as I hiked further north. The trail seemed to want to avoid Stevens Pass as it came ever so close to the road, but seemed to hook around to avoid it.

Soon I found myself in the ski area. It kind of wound around the power lines and chair lifts through open meadows filled with berries. There were a few people out here picking huckleberries and a lady laden with a large pack started to chat with me. She asked if I was Peter. I knew then that my dad was not too far away. It was only a few more bends in the trail before I ran into him. He offered to take my pack, but we walked the 2 miles back to the parking at Stevens Pass together. It was good to catch him up on all the happenings on the trail and I really appreciated the lift. This was not a short trip for him because it was 4 or 5 hours from his house to get to Stevens Pass. From there, we drove past the expensive tourist town of Leavenworth to the much warmer town of Cashmere. Here we had a hotel room for two nights. We got ourselves some pizza and had some ice cream and I settled in to catch up on the Mariners games and get some rest. 

PCT Washington Day 15: Escondido Ridge to Deception Pass

I slept very poorly. With the helicopter going overhead and the storms that were supposed to be developing and possibly coming down on me through the night, I just was restless. Besides that my foot was bothering me. I had this theory that if I slept on my left side, it would help it a little bit. So I made myself uncomfortable in the hope that the foot would feel a little bit better. It didn't actually seem to help much. I got some rest but 4:30 AM came really fast. I was the first one to start moving. This was supposed to be the day that all the thunderstorms were coming and I wanted to get to a safe spot before the thunder and lightning. The morning was very nice. The weather was comfortable and there were some clouds in the sky. 

The lighting was just really nice for photos and it was good to be up early enough to see the sunrise. This morning was smooth sailing as I really only had a little bit of uphill to be on the ridge. Then it was sort of flat for a little bit and then I started going downhill. I think I camped in the correct spot as up on top of the ridge would have been very exposed. You could see the scars from fires past and once I got off the ridge, it was just a lot of time in the forest. There were a few more spots, but none as protected as the spot I found last night. The ridge felt really long. It seemed like I was on it and going downhill for just an enormous amount of time. I think the number of switchbacks and the fact that I knew that I could take a shortcut if I wanted all kind of played into my mind of this being an unnecessarily long ridge. 

The truth was that this ridge could have been bypassed by just going from Pete Lake to Waptus Lake. It would have knocked off about 15 miles. Still, the views from up here were pretty exciting, but given that I had a sore foot in which every step made me question when the feeling would come back to my foot after I was done, made me a little antsy to be off this ridge. Still, I was happier to be going down then up and the people going up had a long climb ahead of them. Finally I made it down to the Waptus River in what seemed like a long amount of time. In reality, it was only about 9:15 and I had already covered 7+ miles. From here, the trail went back into the forest. 

I could have chosen to hike right next to the lake as there was a trail that paralleled the PCT right next to the lakeshore. I figured that there might be more mosquitoes there and I was in a hurry to get as far as I could before the thunderstorms kicked in to gear. Besides the trail was not so bad. It was relatively flat and teeming with berries. I had to sort of control myself and only eat a handful every once in a while. Still, my fingers were turning red from the juices of all the berries I was trying to pick while continuing to walk. I paralleled the lake for quite some time before then climbing. It was muggy, hot, and the clouds were starting to build. Still, they did not seem like thunderstorm clouds and eventually it just started to rain. 

This was good to avoid the thunderstorms, but the vegetation was rather thick and I was getting a bit wet. I was moving pretty good, though, as the trail climbed quite a bit uphill. After dropping 2500 feet in the morning, I was climbing it all back up to Cathedral Pass. Around 12:30, I came upon Deep Lake. This had been a desired campsite in the planning stages, but there was no way I would be camping at 12:30 in the afternoon. I continued to climb. I had a little less entertainment on this day, as all of my devices were getting low on charge. I had managed them pretty well, but this was now my 7th day out from White Pass and I was keeping as much charge as I could. 

The rain seemed to come and go, but the weather never became threatening, so I allowed myself to keep moving. I climbed switchback after switchback getting up to Cathedral Pass. I decided that I really preferred switchbacks to long climbing. The switchback really accomplished the job quicker without as much work. There were numerous switchbacks to get up to Cathedral Pass, but I was still feeling good. Despite my foot being in bad shape, the rest of me was handling it just fine. I eventually topped out at Cathedral Pass about 2 in the afternoon. It felt a lot later because I had already put in 17 miles of hiking on this day. Having not slept well, I was aiming for just another 5 miles to get down to Deception Pass. 

Cathedral Pass was one of those places it would be nice to come back to and spend a few days peak bagging. There were many climbable, beautiful peaks here and it was a quiet area being far enough away from Stevens Pass. I didn't do anything more than take my hourly break here and then it was down the trail. After Cathedral Pass, I started to get some salmon berries. That was a good sign and I made sure to eat as many of those as I could. They were a good supplement to my diet of trail mix, beef jerky, dried mango, and protein bars. The trail went down and down until it came to a creek. I saw the word Ford on my map, but usually this meant crossing a log. Maybe there was one that I didn't find, but this time, I had to ford the creek. 

It was a healthy crossing too and given the foot pain and numbness, it took a while for me to prepare for and execute. I had to put on the camp sandals to get the job done. Once, I was in, it turned out just fine, but I also stopped to fill water. Even though I had been hiking near water sources all day, it had been quite some time since I filled up. This was kind of the norm for me, though, as I only seemed to have to fill up once a day. I ran into another hiker after this who seemed to not be in a very good mood about having to fill up on water at the lowest spot before his climb. It did not bother me too much as pack weight was not as big of an issue for me as I thought. I am not sure if I would have moved much faster than I already did even if my pack was lighter.

After the creek crossing, it was just a short climb to Deception Pass. It felt like a long time, though, because I was tired. My foot actually felt a bit better at this point and maybe taking it out of the shoe for a while at the creek crossing helped it. When I got up to Deception Pass, it was a dark place in the middle of a forest. There was no question about camping here, though, and there were even some small lakes to get water from. There were also mosquitoes around and eventually another group camped near me. I didn't interact with them at all, though, and instead went through my normal routine of eating dinner, taking notes, brushing teeth, filling water, reading a book, and getting to bed happy to have avoided any issues with thunder and lightning on this last day of July.

PCT Washington Day 14: Ridge Lake to Escondido Ridge

 I promised my wife that I was going to get an early start so that I had the option to quit early. So I was up at 4:30 AM. It was barely light at this time and I was barely awake. It was kind of nice to get going this early. The world looked different with different light. I was up on the ridge and I would stay there for most of this morning. The views were absolutely amazing. I knew that I was up early because for the first time, I was fighting the spiderwebs. The trail was pretty rough in this section with lots of loose rock and big dropoffs. My foot was feeling better than the previous day with the rest of three hours in the middle of the day yesterday giving me a bit of a reprieve. This felt like wild country. Here I was on this amazing trail with big beautiful lakes below me. 

I took a lot of pictures because the scenery was very photogenic. It felt quiet out. In fact, I seemed to be seeing more marmots than people. I was excited to see the marmots and they were good company out here. The few people that I saw seemed to be just as happy as me to be out there. I found out later that the people who had built this trail were used to building railroads. It seemed like they just carved this right out of the rock. The other huge benefit to this morning was that I was in the shade for a long period of time. I could see the sun in the distance, but I did not have to deal with it beaming down on me. The trail itself was not too difficult. It seemed to go uphill to get over a ridge and then downhill to get down the other side.

All the while with these spectacular vistas with these pristine mountain lakes below me. This was an amazing day and my favorite day so far. I chatted with the few people that I saw. It seemed so much easier to have conversation in such a great spot. Most people were not PCTers, but were just out for multiple days. One group of older guys had just made it up a very steep hill and were in a pretty good mood that they had made the climb up from Spectacle Lake. I was taking a break under a tree. They chatted for a while. I then proceeded down this steep hill. I had heard that Washington was so much more difficult than Oregon because of all of the ups and downs. So far it had not seemed that way. 

Now, though, I was starting to see those big elevation changes. Yesterday, I had to earn it up the hill in the afternoon. Today, I would be descending quite rapidly toward Spectacle Lakes. Looking at it from above, I could see why so many backpackers were spending a few days exploring this area. The lakes looked very inviting and the craggy peaks looked fun to scramble. I wouldn't mind spending another couple days out here on another trip. On this trip, though, I would have to continue moving forward. Today was marking two weeks of hiking and I was doing alright. It was also the halfway point of the whole trip as Spectacle Lake was the last big section on my map. I would move on to the second map after passing this area. 

It was downhill for a long time. I saw some kids about boy scout age and their out of shape leaders heading up the trail to Spectacle Lake. They seemed overladen with gear and struggling to deal with the steep hill. I was feeling pretty good just coasting downhill. I went past a waterfall and struggled to find a place where I would have a shady spot to rest. This area was burned over and the sun was becoming hot. It still did not seem to be threatening thunderstorms, but the heat was definitely warming up the air. As I was dropping elevation, it just kept getting hotter. It was about this time that I missed the trail. The PCT was really easy to find most of the time, because I would just follow the most impacted part of the trail. When I did this in this area, though, I realized that I went the wrong way. For some reason the trail out to Pete's Lake was very obvious, but I missed the PCT. Looking at my map, though, it was about the same distance to keep going the same way I currently was going. So I just kept going. There was a stream to cross without a bridge, so I put on my camp shoes for this section. I made the crossing and then continued on the trail until I ran back into the PCT. Being nearly out of water, I backtracked to the bridge. The trail seemed to be in great shape, so I was not sure how I missed it. 

I got below the bridge and filled some water. This is where the weather seemed to change pretty quickly. Up until this time, I was enjoying the nice sunny day. As I started up what I thought was going to be a pretty challenging hill, I could see the dark clouds start to build. There was absolutely no place to camp right now, though and given that it was still mid afternoon, I did not feel like camping anyway. Actually, I was feeling pretty good and the looming thunderstorms only seemed to motivate me more. I was actually getting in a pretty good groove charging up the hill. My pack was not incredibly heavy at this point and the switchbacks seemed to not be too bad. That is when the thunder started. I looked for lightning, but was not seeing any cloud to ground stuff. It was actually kind of funny because in one direction I was heading toward blue sky. As I turned the other direction, I was heading right toward thunderstorms. I hoped that the trail would go toward the blue sky instead. My wife was very paranoid of thunderstorms and lightning. Even though she was not here, her presence was felt and I moved forward with the thought of finding a place to camp as soon as I could. The ridge really didn't seem like the best place to be in a lightning storm, but so far I was still below the ridge. 

This is when I saw a group of tents. Right near them, were a couple of older guys coming back with some wet swim trunks. They said something about going for a dip and I asked casually if there was a lake right there. They sort of gave me some attitude which was rare out there on the trail. It was funny how kind almost everyone is out there. You really get to be away from judgment and unhappiness out on the trail. Almost everyone is pleasant and in a good mood. It was surprising to see these guys grouchy. Still, I did not let it deter me and I still found a place to stay and a nice tent site right next to the trail. All the while, there was thunder of in the distance and a little bit of moisture from the sky. It was only 4:30, but camping seemed the right choice at this point. Once again, it turned out to be a little under 20 miles, but I was holding my end in the agreement. Once the tent was set up, I set out for a dip in the lake. It was kind of funny jumping in a lake while it was actually raining, but the water turned out to be the most comfortable on the entire trip. I enjoyed the dip and then went through the typical motions of my nightly routine. A freeze dried dinner, pumped some water, had some small chat with my neighbors, and after brushing the teeth, settling in for the evening. I hoped there were no fires above me and I awoke about 10 pm to the sound of helicopters over me. That was not a good sign, but given the amount of tents in this spot, I figured one of my neighbors would let me know if flames came down the ridge and I let myself get back to sleep. 

PCT Washington Day 13: Mirror Lake to Ridge Lake

 Although I made it to sleep at a reasonable hour, I had a rough night. My foot pain came back during the night and made my sleep uncomfortable. It was always looming over me and my mind could not escape the fact that this may impact my whole trip. I thought that loosening my shoe would help, but the main thing that it did was cause me to roll my ankle more frequently. I knew there were going to be some residual effects of this after the trip was over, but I tried to ignore it. I knew the problem was being created by the new inserts that I put in my shoe. I was just going to have to decide if it was worth it to keep going. I thought about taking a break at Snoqualmie Pass, but once I got moving again, I felt like it was not going to impact my trip too much. 

I only got moving at 7:15 AM. This was a late start for me as I seemed to have trouble moving very quickly on this morning. I was hiking just fine, though, as I had a little bit of uphill in the morning and then it was all downhill after that. I knew I only had about 9 miles to go to get to Snoqualmie Pass. From there, I could make different decisions on what to do about my foot. The walk there would really tell me. I moved along just fine with a couple of through hikers passing me in the morning. There were a lot of huckleberries around on the open slopes, so that gave me a little bit of fresh fruit. As I got closer to Snoqualmie Pass, the day hikers started to come out. There were not nearly as many as I expected, though. 

Given the trail's proximity to a large metropolitan area, I was surprised. Maybe this area was just viewed as less scenic than the north side of the trail. It gave me something to look forward to. The trail wound through open slopes and forest when soon I was on a ski hill heading downhill into the town that housed the ski area. I asked some people if they knew the town well. They said they did and recommended the grocery store to the left for fancier food and the gas station for packaged food. So I walked over to the fancy grocery store. There I took a break to get some charging done and talk to my wife. She was in a rare mood and seemed determined to take me off the trail to wait out an impending thunderstorm that was on its way. 

I am not going to lie, it had me all confused. I trusted her judgment, but thought that she was overreacting. I talked to both of my parents and we agreed that I would just hike early and try to camp earlier to avoid being in a bad spot during a thunderstorm. This is what I told her. She still was not convinced. The funny thing about the conversation is that it seemed to make up my mind about my foot. I would go forward because that was what I was planning to do. It took me a while to get through all of that. In the process, my electronics were charging very slowly. I ordered myself a burrito. I had lunch with a very nice Canadian couple. The guy was a teacher and a former cross country coach. I walked over to the gas station to buy some extra food in case I needed to stay out an extra day. 

It took me about 3 hours to get all reorganized again and to set out on the trail. It was 1 pm by the time I was heading out. This meant that I was going to be on the trail during the heat of the day and it was going to be a hot one. Also, now my pack was a little bit heavier considering I had bought a little more food and all my water was filled. I had a lot of uphill to cover as the trail gained about 2500 feet from about 3000 feet in elevation to around 5500 feet. I was feeling pretty good, though. The three hour rest was sort of a luxury and now my foot and my energy level seemed to be at a peak. I was feeling pretty good with my ability to get up the many switchbacks. I was passing lots of people coming down as this was the more scenic section from Snoqualmie Pass. Just as I was feeling really good, a northbound thru hiker came behind me. I got off the trail for him to pass. We chatted for a little bit. He was covering 40+ miles a day. He was from Canada and said that his favorite part of the trail was Oregon. I appreciated that. He and I talked for a few minutes and then he was gone, never to be seen again. I continued to fight my way up the switchbacks doing my best to stay cool. I took my breaks every hour and soon I was approaching more open country. There were tall, pointy mountains all around. 

I had been viewing these mountains for many days as I hiked through the endless forests south of Snoqualmie. Now I was finally there. I really was enjoying this section of trail. I knew, though, that there was a dangerous section that loomed up ahead. I was nervous about what I read about the Kendall Katwalk. Here was supposed to be a very narrow, very exposed section of the trail. When I actually got there, though, it turned out to be a walk in the park. Not only was it not narrow, but you could have fit two people wide on that section of trail super easy. Sure, there was a large drop off, but it would have been nearly impossible to actually fall down that. 

Once I got passed the Kendall Katwalk, I realized how tired that I was. I knew that Ridge Lake was up ahead and it would be really nice to camp at a lake. I was hot, sweaty, tired, sore, all the things that a lake could help me improve. But Ridge Lake would leave me with a day of only 16 miles. This seemed like too small of a day. Still, when I got to the lake and saw its cool inviting waters, I decided that this would be my destination for the night. There were other groups already camped there, but I found a nice big site to myself that I could stay at. After putting down my tent, though, the ground was a little bit too dusty for me. So I grabbed the tent and moved it down the hill. 

Here I had a campsite right next to the water. I put up the tent and then went for a swim. It was a little muddier than I was hoping for, but eventually I got to the middle. It was pretty comfortable conditions, but I still only stayed for a few minutes. It dropped my body temperature down and got me clean pretty quick. I made myself some dinner and pumped some water. While I was pumping water, a couple swam with their dog all the way across the lake. I ended up talking with them later. They were interested in hiking the PCT. I encouraged them to go for it. You too can have a numb foot. Actually the foot wasn't too bad and I think that 3 hour break was pretty good for it. I got myself to sleep early because the plan was to get up early to beat the thunderstorms. 

PCT Washington Day 12: Near Tacoma Pass to Mirror Lake

 I didn't sleep as well as I had been sleeping on the rest of the trip. I had a problem for the first time. My right foot was experiencing some numbness. It was making sleep very difficult. I actually was trying to sleep differently to help it out. It was hard to stay asleep without thinking about my foot. I still got enough sleep, but it wasn't as restful as the rest of the trip had been. The beginning of the hiking today was all downhill. It seemed like a funny concept to have to go downhill to get to a pass, but that was how it often was. I was going downhill to reach Tacoma Pass. When I got near there, there was a creek. Quite a few people were camping around the creek. One of them even told me how to get access to the creek, but since it had not been very warm, I was doing quite okay with water. 

I thanked them, but continued on my way. Once I got to Tacoma Pass, it was mostly uphill. I continued on spending today going back and forth between listening to Audible and listening to some music. It was a lot of forest time and while it was a beautiful day, the forest was my main friend. Sometimes I would pop out and get views of Mt. Rainier or the peaks around Snoqualmie Pass, but for the most part, I was in the forest. Around 10:30, I found a spring to get some water and I filled up. The trail went up and down quite a bit and there were some open sections with lots of sunshine. I continued to practice my strategy of taking the trail one hour at a time and it seemed to help. Luckily there were quite a few berries along the way.

I had to control myself because I would lose all forward momentum if I stopped to eat too often, but I also could not let the big, juicy huckleberries go by just walking past. I made some good progress and soon I was crossing Stampede Pass. I talked to another hiker around here who was sadly disappointed with the scenery as we crossed a large field under some large power lines. It made me hopeful for the way ahead because the scenery here was rather similar to the scenery I had been seeing for quite some time the last couple of days. Today, though, I seemed to have a goal. I was wanting to make it to Mirror Lake. It sounded great to have a bath in the lake and it sounded prettier than what I was currently looking at. So I continued. I had to work hard to get to Mirror Lake. At this point, my foot was not feeling that badly. I figured when I got to camp, though, it would because I am sure another 23 miles on it was going to wear me out a little bit. I kept pushing, though, and even though it was later than I was hoping to get there, I pulled in to Mirror Lake at 6:24 pm. There were a lot of campsites taken and I had to scour around to find a decent one. I was lucky to find one relatively close to another person who I never say emerge from there tent. I made sure to get all set up, but my first order of business was a dip in the lake. 

Even though the sun had passed behind the trees, this was still a worthwhile endeavor. It cooled me off quickly and cleaned me up a bit. I never stayed in long having accomplished my two goals rather quickly. I ate some dinner after that and frankly I was tired. My foot was feeling not so bad and I wondered if I had helped it out by loosening my shoe a little bit. It seemed like it was less sore, but it was still numb. I did my best to give it some rest as I made my best attempt at getting to sleep as soon as possible.

PCT Washington Day 11: Martinson Gap to near Tacoma Pass

It had been a cold night which meant that I slept great. There were times where I was close to being cold, but it was nice in the tent and the warm sleeping bag. Getting up and out of my bag was a little bit harder this morning. Once I made it out of the tent, I realized why it had been so cold. A misty fog had settled on to Martinson Gap and everything was shrouded in clouds. The people around me were very noisy and were talking loudly before I even got out of my tent. There were definitely more social people than me out there on the trail. I was content to pack up my stuff and head out though. It would be foggy and cold today. The forest was less than exciting because many sections of it were burned over. Still, the terrain would be rather easy and I knew I could make a lot of miles.

I actually still had quite a bit of water, too, so I was doing just fine. With the cool misty air, I was not losing much to sweat, so that made the hiking much easier. I ran into the same guy I seemed to run into often. This was the last time that I saw him. He had a crazy story about wandering around until 2 AM after he got lost looking for water. I talked to him for a little bit and said I was sure I would see him again, but I never did. Hopefully he made it because he was sure putting forth a lot of energy toward this trail. I went past Louisiana Saddle and Rod's Gap. I was listening to Silent Spring by Rachel Carson on Audible and I will have to say, that book was pretty depressing. There were also some moments when the clouds would pull away or the burnt forest would become more tree cover that made this day better, but for the most part I was just packing in the miles.

It was around 11 AM when I made it to Camp Mike Urich. This was an odd place along the PCT. It was a cabin in the woods that opened up to a large meadow. There was a creek running through with a bathroom that smelled strongly of the odor of needing a thorough cleaning. The bathroom reminded me that I was not supposed to drink the water here, so I was going to have to find the spring that would be the last reliable water source for quite some time. As I was leaving Camp Mike Urich, there were a group of people that came upon the cabin. They looked as if they had not hiked more than a mile in many years. Sure enough, when I came around the corner, there were a whole slew of jeeps parked there. 

It was a little bit of a culture shock and I thought of the masses going about their Sundays and enjoying the day to go home and sleep in their warm beds. Meanwhile, I was here putting in the miles hoping that I would get a good 25 miles further up the trail so that I could do the same thing again the next day. Leaving Camp Mike Urich, I ran into some south bound PCT hikers who were very friendly. That put me right back in the mood to be on the trail again. I was excited because it was Sunday and I was near enough to Seattle to hopefully pick up an FM radio station with the Mariners game on it. I listened to 97.3 which gave me a little news before finally giving me the Mariners game. Unfortunately, they were to lose the game, but it still provided a few hours of entertainment for me. 

The scenery today was a lot of going in and out of new growth forests, crossing logging roads, and a little bit of distant views to get me excited for the future. There was a spring I could not miss, though, and I asked some people if it was easy to find. Sure enough, when I came upon it, there were many thirsty people gathered around the watering hole. I spoke very little because there was a guy there trying very hard to impress the girls that were there. I also realized just how smelly I was when I was around some others. I filled my water and I was off upon my way. I was starting to have some trouble with my foot. I changed my inserts in my shoes before I left for the PCT and finally on Day 11 it was starting to catch up with me. 

It was really just my right foot. Until now, it had been a little bit of numbness. Now, though, it was starting to feel swollen. It felt like there was a big lump in my foot that I had to walk over. It made walking uncomfortable. I tried to ease the stress on the foot by taking off my shoes during my hourly breaks and massaging it. I think it helped because I would feel better for a bit. The truth was that I needed to stop walking, but that was not going to happen. I continued through the forest and passed the many roads. At times, there were exciting views that gave me a preview of things to come. Most of the time, though it was me in the trees. I had my only significant uphill of the day after Green Pass and then I would look for a place to camp. 

As I got to the Saddle north of Blowout Mountain, I knew there was a campsite soon. When I got there, though, it seemed taken. I did not always feel comfortable about invading another person's camp spot, but I would if I had to. I did not have to, so I continued. It took me another couple of miles to finally find a camp site. It was at the end of a dirt road. It felt a little bit ominous there, but I was just happy to get the pack off. I got some dinner and was still able to get to bed early. The foot pain was an issue and it was going to affect my sleep. I tried sleeping differently to make it better on my foot. Either way, it was nice to not be walking for a while. 

PCT Washington Day 10: Two Lakes to Martinson Gap

Slept really well again. Really enjoying these many hours of sleep. If there is one thing that hiking all day does for your body, it makes you tired enough to get a lot of rest. I got up at 6 AM like usual and the other campers were already gone. The PCT takes quite a bit of dedication to get up that early and be moving before 6 AM. They were doing the whole thing, though, so those extra hours can add up. I got to push it up the hill to start the morning. So far my achilles tendon was doing well, but my right foot was starting to ache and experiencing some numbness. The hill was not easy, but then after that it was really fairly flat. There were some rolling hills and definitely some big views around corners, though. I enjoyed getting to see Mt. Rainier. 

It was shrouded in clouds most of the time, but there were some instances when it would peak its way out. Though less snow on the mountain then when I was a kid, it was still rather majestic and deserved respect. I would be on the border of being in and being out of Mt. Rainier National Park. It was like the Park Service could not decide if they wanted the PCT in the National Park, so they gave it the border. You can feel like you are in Mt. Rainier National Park, but you are not really sure whether you really are. I also got to see the largest animal on the PCT so far when I viewed a couple of elk in the morning. We had elk at our house often growing up, so it wasn't that big of a deal, but it is nice to know they are still out there. 

The trail was fairly quiet at first. I saw one backpacker before the American Ridge trail junction. He was in a great mood. Then before Anderson Lake, I saw a family that was out backpacking. After Anderson Lake, though, the multitudes started to appear. I remembered that it was a Saturday, so I would probably see a few more people out and about today. Once I got to Dewey Lake, a few was a complete understatement. Dewey Lake was packed with tents. It seemed like almost all available spots were taken up. While it was a very beautiful lake with blue water and big views to the surrounding peaks, it wasn't that remarkably different than other lakes I had seen. 

It was just close to Chinook Pass, so I prepared myself for the onslaught of people. Any preparation that I had was blown out of the water. As I approached Chinook Pass, it seemed like there was a group of people every 30 seconds. Me in my disheveled condition was not in the mood to see so many hikers. I knew I didn't smell that great which was confirmed when I heard another hiker say something about me being spicy to someone else. The funny thing to me is how different they smelled. With the freshly laundered clothes and their once in a blue moon hiking outfits, I could definitely tell the difference between the PCT hikers and the weekend warriors.

It really became slightly absurd how many people there were as I approached Chinook Pass. It was a bit overwhelming to me to be so many days into this thing and then have this flood of humanity. As I got closer to Chinook Pass, I could see why. There were cars parked everywhere along the road for what seemed to be miles. There were so many different places to hike. This trail being close to major population centers on both sides of the Cascades led to this flood of humanity. I kind of had the blinders on as I walked on down the line when I saw a van with a table set up. There was fruit, cookies, a charging station, some chairs. That is when I realized that this was trail magic! I asked and they said yes, but I felt sort of like an outsider because I was not doing the full trail. I definitely took advantage of it but I was not into trail culture. Most of what the conversation was about was all the long distance trails they had hiked, so on and so forth. I don't know if I can get into the whole I am better PCT hiker than you competition. For me, I just want to do it for myself and I could care less if I impress anyone. I stayed for as long as I could handle the scene and then I went on my way a little fuller in the belly with my electronics a little bit more juiced.

The trail sort of hugged the road for a while and there were still a lot of people. When I go running in a busy place, often the runners acknowledge other runners and not the walkers and the bikers. It is sort of like that with PCT hikers. I still greeted the other hikers, but in this section I only had conversations with other PCT hikers. The topic would definitely be the trail magic as it was nice to give some other hikers something to look forward to. The trail turned toward Sheep Lake. This was probably my fourth Sheep Lake so far, but it was by far the busiest. There were people all around. I was glad I did not need water, because I am sure there was a bit of bacteria in that water. 

After Sheep Lake, the trail climbed quite steeply and it was becoming a rather warm afternoon. It was a little bit disconcerting to have other hikers passing me by while I took a break to fuel up in the shade. I felt a bit like an outsider here with all of the day hikers. Still, people were friendly and I talked to quite a few people. As I approached Sourdough Gap, I was happy to see the trails diverting. The way that everyone was going was more uphill and my way went downhill to a more open section. After this junction, the trail became much more quiet. There were still PCT hikers, but the day hikers were all heading over Sourdough Gap to Crystal Lake. 

The trail eventually became a little bit more exposed. It was a narrow trail, very exposed both to the heat of the day and to the potential for long uncomfortable falls for missteps. Most of the time the PCT was smooth sailing, but this was definitely a section that I needed to watch my step. What was nice is that during this section, I actually had some phone service, so when I took a break under a shady tree, I gave my wife a call. She was just getting out of the shower, so really just starting her day when I was getting near the finish of mine. The trail continued its hot, exposed course as views down into the Crystal Mountain Ski Resort entered my view. 

Personally, I had never been skiing there, but plenty of people did. Judging by the parking lot that I saw below, there were plenty of people there today for whatever summer activities were offered. It was about this time that I ran into the same guy that had camped near me by White Pass. He was asking another group for water. They were so kind to him and were offering him even more than he was taking. I try hard to not be judgmental, but I was really afraid this guy was not going to make it. Asking for water is a red flag because it means that you are not prepared. I think rule one of backpacking is to take care of yourself. I still chatted with him, but luckily I was not asked to give up any of my water. 

It was a bit of a walk before the next water was on the map. It was also very exposed and somewhat warm. I was in pretty good shape, though. About this time, though, the topography changed just a little bit and the trail seemed to go in and out of a burned zone. This added to the difficulty and decreased from the scenic beauty. Still, it did not last the whole time and there were definitely plenty of wildflowers. I made it to the water spot and this one was really nice because it was coming right out of the side of the mountain. I was able to pull it right out of there without treating. That meant I saved 5 minutes and was able to keep moving. I was heading toward Martinson Gap. This was going to be about 22.5 miles on the day.

Not sure there was anything special about Martinson Gap. There was no water there and there was just camping on the map. I was ready to camp on this night and I put the spot into my GPS. I used my watch a little more than normal and soon I could see the area full of unburned trees ahead was my spot to camp. I had a small uphill to get there. When I arrived, some of the choicest campsites were taken. I am a strange one on the PCT, because I would rather camp near people, but not in there business. So I found a nice site about 100 feet away from the main area. It was right under some trees and was just flat enough for my small tent. I went through the typical motions of the nightly camp. This night there was no refilling the water bottles, so I made dinner, ate it, brushed my teeth, got in the tent, read for a little bit, and take some notes on the day. I was able to get to bed early which is just so important. There was another day tomorrow where I had to do it all again.