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. 

PCT Washington Day 9: White Pass to Two Lakes

 I woke up at 6 AM like usual in a nice warm cozy bed. I was all packed up, so after breakfast, we were in the car. Mom and Carl drove me back to the White Pass trailhead. They dropped me off across the street at the trailhead and soon I was back on the trail. It was a late start of 9:15 AM, but I was not too concerned. I had a full pack and the trail was not going to be too difficult today. It was uphill through the forest at first, but there was only about 1000 feet to climb. There were many lakes around also which meant that there were also a lot of mosquitoes. I stopped at one to put on some bug spray and talked to a northbound hiker passing me by. When a northbound hiker passed me, I knew I would never see them again because they were probably moving too quickly. 

For the most part, though, the trail was fairly quiet. There were many times that I had to turn on the GPS on my watch because there were very few PCT signs and the trail just seemed extraordinarily quiet. I was moving pretty well despite the 7 days of food in the pack as the trail was fairly easy to follow. I knew I had a ford to cross on the Bumping River. I was sort of excited to cross it because as kids we went to Bumping Lake so often. I also think that I crossed the Bumping River on a previous backpack and I was imagining this extensively large, deep river. Instead, it was pretty mild and there was even an easy log crossing right near the trail. After the ford, the trail began to climb again. 

Here I would have to climb almost 2000 feet in elevation over a little more than 4 miles. This still was not too bad and there were some beautiful lakes and meadows. I had intended to stay at Crag Lake, but when I was near there, I still felt pretty strong. I got water at the Crag Lake outlet and ran into some more PCT hikers there. It always seemed like the water sources were the place where the masses congregated. I  talked with them for a little bit and then I was on my way still climbing. The water source hikers passed me by easily as I was slowly plodding along getting my 2-2.5 miles per hour. It was getting late, though, and I was thinking that sleep might be the right thing to do soon. 

Once it was after 5 pm, I started to look for the right place to camp. The views, though, were just starting as I entered the very eastern corner of Mt. Rainier National Park. There were big views of meadows and mountains all around. There were not many views of Mt. Rainier, but when I got one, it was mostly covered in clouds anyway. Eventually after climbing for some time, the trail leveled out. My goal was to find the Two Lakes trail and go downhill to the lakes to camp there. When I found it, I was surprised to see someone was camped right at the junction. I took my stuff and went down to the actual lake. When I got there, another tent was already there. I didn't see anybody home, so I set up a little bit away from the tent. 

It was a nice quiet spot that really let me spread out a little bit. There was a stream running behind the campsite and the lake beckoned. Given that it was now approaching 7 pm, the lake was now in the shadows. I still managed to muster the strength to take a dip, though it was a very cold lake. I got myself all changed and ate some dinner. After dinner, I went to get water and the other campers were back. They were southbounders from New Jersey and Idaho. They were really friendly and we talked for a while during our water fill up. Afterwards, though, I did not see them anymore as it was time to get some rest. It was a nice quiet comfortable spot and I was happy to be back on the trail enjoying the cool evening.