This is one of my favorite days! We had a beautiful descent into Cascade Lockes, down an alternate route (technically not the PCT) which cut a few miles off and took us past Tunnel falls, this amazing huge waterfall you get to walk behind.

We then finished our 24 miles into town, immediately getting soft serve, beers and burgers. The camping area in town was tent city, and we aren’t even in the hiker “bubble” from the wildfire.

Unfortunately we heard over dinner that our friend Chewy got hurt on trail, and we had to wait anxiously for any news with the knowledge that search and rescue had gone at least 6 miles up trail for her with a stretcher. We take great care to be safe on trail, but this definitely brought into focus how dangerous hiking can be.

We decided to push big miles for the next few days before Trail days (when we will return to cascade Lockes!) we are so excited for Washington!

Another lovely day:

Coffee at the Thirst Cafe in Cascade Lockes, followed by the walk across and photos on the Bridge of the Gods. This is such a momentous crossing for us, as everyone knows this point as where Cheryl Strayed ended her hike. We think that was a huge mistake because WA is supposed to be one of the best sections of trail!

So we started off into Washington, and pretty quickly we climbed 4000 feet, dropping down again, and climbing back up and back down to our final camp spot. I must note, today we climbed 7,100 feet, descended 5,900, to put the day into context. That’s probably similar to the climb and descent we did the day we hiked Mt. Whitney. Who knows. All I know is it hurt and we got into camp very late (7:45 ?‍?)

But our moods are very high being in a new state. We can’t believe we have just 530 miles left!

+6,400, -3,200 feet today nearly killed me today. We knew pushing the miles we’d been hitting in Oregon was going to be WAY tougher in Washington and that would be correct. 29 miles today HURT(!!!) mostly my ankle, which has been acting up for a couple of days now particularly on the climbs.

What we do like about Washington is how green it is ✅, that there are few insects?, and there is lots of water?! What I don’t like as much at least right now is how much climbing there has been. Overall though, happy to be here, looking forward to Trout Lake tomorrow and some warm food again!