Mike Urich camp to camp site - 25 miles Total - idk we are on another alternate lol Woke up in the middle of the night to coyotes screaming for about 5 minutes straight. They were close though as I swear I could hear footsteps from a four legged animal on the trail next to us. Either that or in the meadow but it was in a 100 yards from us. Apparently there were some other noises that I didn’t wake up to including a mountain lion and elk in the morning. I’ve been wanting to hear a mountain lion as I hear it sounds like a skin walker or a girl screaming. I only want to hear it though when other people are also camping with me which last night were a ton. We got moving slowly this morning. I tried packing my pack differently with my bear can upright at the bottom. It kinda dug into my tail bone but not awful enough that I wouldn’t do it again. Marc and I cruised through the miles like usual. Mostly in a green forest with gradual climbs. We met chaps and stitious at some water and caught up with them. I really like them! I’ve said that about pretty much everybody but there are a few I haven’t liked but I won’t say their names lol. They told us about the elk and how they saw it this morning. After we left within 5 minutes we heard crashing through the forest which were two elk (one teenager and one mother). I am baffled how they didn’t tumble over on the steep hill and snap their legs. The rest of the day was kinda a blur. I turned on music because I wasn’t feeling it. Somehting about being so close to the border and finishing this trip and the anticipation is dampening my mood. It feels so close yet still so far. It’s about two weeks left. I know I am going to immediately miss it but I haven’t showered or did laundry or stayed at a town for a longer than an hour and a half so I’m getting a lil tired and less motivated. Plus the anticipation of having so much up and down in the coming miles is making me less estatic even if it’s pretty as I know I truly have to work for this shit. It’s not like it isn’t easy, I have the trail legs but I want it to be an easy finish. Though I will be more proud for a hard finish. Idk lots of emotions happening especially towards the end. These next two weeks will be the hardest for me mentally just with all the good and bad emotions. Anyways, my mood changed once I realized there was an alternate that cut off 7 miles and 5000 up and down. I brought up to Marc and we immediately agreed to do it. Puts us closer to snoqualmie pass for an earlier arrival and cuts off 1/3 of a day basically putting us closer to the border. We grabbed water 0.7 before and a whole bunch of people from the pervious nights camp showed up which I mentioned the alternative to. The girls agreed as well as smitty. Diddy and baby legs were not about it so they did the trail. The first mile of the road walk was glorious. We were chatting it up and doing Harry Potter trivia which I was horribly embarrassing at. After the bridge and the girls stopped for a late lunch it was all uphill on the hot sun. I was going for the shadows to protect my exposed legs and sweating my ass off. It would’ve been worse on trail but the road seemed way worse. It was graded fine but it felt like we were working for it. Finally we peaked, Marc, smitty, and I and we cruised to the water source that we found. Great flow and great tasting water. We stopped for a lil snack break where I introduced smitty to sweet tart ropes. His life was changed for the better. Then we got moving before a car came the other way. The minute it saw us it pulled a fast five point turn like he had a dead body he was trying to dispose and didn’t expect to see three dirty ass pct hikers walking the road. So incredibly strange. We pulled up on the only good looking campsite close to the road and called it a day. The guys went 0.3 to water and brought us back some so very kindly. I had started dinner which was horrid. Cheddar broccoli soup initially sounded great until it felt like I was just eating cheddar gelatin. So nasty that I stopped to just eat candy lol. Gonna dig a hole to dispose of it tomorrow or just do the walk of shame and carry the trash into town. Do not recommend whatsoever. The girls came strolling by, trying to decide if they wanted to stay or keep going. They decided to keep going and then 200 ft away flipped a coin, which turned into them turning around and setting up camp around us! I needed the feminine energy desperately. We all ate around a circle and chit chatted. It’s so nice to have some new faces at dinner. Makes it more interesting and way more fun. Marc is one of my besties out here but we can only talk about so much. The girls guessed our ages, initially thinking I was 26. I’ll take it mainly bc I always assume people are around my age when in reality they are like 27-29. Then it was time for bed lol. So incredibly tired and so ready to be done. The entire time on the road walk we had service so you know I was walking and scrolling lol. There are a ton of flies again trapped under my rain fly. I hate them. The white noise is not what I wanted. Flies are so fucking stupid. How do they get trapped so easily and literally just slam their head into any wall thinking they are gonna get out. I hope a spider gets a feast tonight. Still so much smoke. Ash was raining down on my tent the entire time at dinner. The smoke cloud seems to be swelling more in one big line. Idk how else to describe it.
Sand lake to white pass to Mike Urich cabin - 26 miles Total - 2350.2 miles (skipped) Rough morning. Everything was so incredibly soaked from the condensation. My tent has never been so wet on the outside and on the inside. Even when it rained. At 6:10 I got moving to indicate to the guys that it was time to move as well. Trevor was having a hard morning but he slowly got going. The 2.8 miles were easy and we timed it perfectly where I could eat two hot dogs before mom and dad showed up around 8:30 am to come save the day. They had brought cold pizza, cold drinks, and cobbler and mom was loving the hikers. She was giving away all the goods to anyone who came up to our car. We couldn’t fit everyone in the car to go up to chinook pass so rocklicker, Ben, Marc and I got in with mom and dad while Trevor and Nathan stayed back. The sky looked fine until we pulled up over chinook pass to find dense smoke in the valley. Some pct hikers were considering hitching up to snoqualmie pass which was about 70 miles ahead probably but I committed to hiking hoping the smoke would be less dense over the ridges. We planned 23 that day so again, I was hoping for the best farther away from the fire. It was still Labor Day weekend and everyone and their mother was wanting to hike. Can’t imagine why with all the smoke. We met some people that had done the section which said it wasn’t bad but today was so much worse for smoke. Sad to have skipped when we could’ve gone through but I don’t think I regret the decision especially for the guys. Mom gave out more snacks to any pct hiker that would stop and say hi. I loved it but we had to get moving especially since it was 10:40 and we had 23 miles to do. Marc and I said goodbye and then booked it up the climb. The smoke was horrible so I just wanted to get over the ridge but sadly even passed the ridge it was bad. Marc and I hiked most of the day together having a great conversation on the male loneliness epidemic which I personally don’t believe in lol. It was a great conversation. We cruised over multiple ridges before getting to the water source where a ton of people were lounging around. We were back in our original bubble which kinda frustrating as I just wanted to hike without worrying if I need to pass someone or they need to pass me. Plus we all kinda go the same pace now so it’s hard. We took like a 15 break before heading out before everyone. Doesn’t mean I didn’t feel like I was being chased lol. I peed and fell behind Marc and I tried to catch up as two hikers were behind me. They can pass me on a downhill but on an uphill that’s a big fat no. I was sweating my ass off but they didn’t pass me. Marc stopped to take a small break as his Achilles was hurting so I went ahead. At this point the music was in and I was bumping. We planned to go 0.2 passed the cabin as everyone was going to be camping there but once we saw how big it was we decided to stay. My tent was still soaking wet from the morning so I made a sad attempt to dry it off in the mediocre sun. It did not work so I went in with a bandana and wiped down the puddle that had formed on the inside floor. I was cursing up a storm which Marc informed me that I needed to calm down. He was right but never tell a woman to calm down. I’ll show you calm. We ate dinner around a stump. Smitty came into camp and stated how fast I was. Went straight to my head. He’s a fast hiker as well so it does kinda mean a lot. I like him though as he’s a great story teller and is hella energetic and funny. At dinner he told us about this guy that got temporarily kidnapped at hiker town in the desert. The owner offer to drive the guy to get coffee and somehow ended up at the port of San Fran to pick up a new car and had the hiker drive one of the cars back. The hiker left everything including his phone at hiker town so his trail family thought he got kidnapped especially since it was a 5 minute drive that turned into a 12 hour adventure. So incredibly scary if you don’t know what’s going on but hilarious now as he’s fine. I was in my soaking wet tent when he was telling this story. Stuff is slowly drying off but I did put my rain gear under my pad to try and keep some things somewhat dry. We will see tomorrow. Eventful day, and very tired. Next time I see my parents will be when I’m done with the pct. I forgot to mention that I now have a bear can again as the next 223 miles requires proper bear storage and I don’t wanna get fined. I’ve heard some people have gotten fined by rangers out here which is surprising as I didn’t think we had any of those left lol. Anyways, 6 days of food and a bear can makes my back fucking hurt. Not thrilled especially with all the up and downs coming up to the border. Shorter days with more elevation. UGHHHHHHHHHH! Mom smelled me today. Since we haven’t had a day in town and I needed to keep the guys on schedule the others did laundry and some of them showered but I didn’t get to. I smell incredibly ripe. 7? Days with no shower or laundry keeps everyone away. I can smell myself and I need to find a lake tomorrow. My socks are hazardous. I’m about to be hazardous.
Campsite to white pass to pipe lake to sand lake lol - 17.6 miles Total - skewed but 2305.4 miles Lots going on today. Woke up to smoke and the sun being bright red because of it. We booked it down to white pass for all the treats. Marc had gotten up early and got to white pass before us. Pulled up to white pass to everyone we had been seeing the past couple of days in the huge bubble we have been in. Smitty greeted us and then we went straight for some treats. I got ice cream, Arizona iced tea, and some chips. The chip bag was open so they gave it to me for free and grabbed a second one. So clutch. I would make that trip into the store two more times, one for another drink and two for a corn dog. That corn dog tasted sooooooo goooooddd. I had to keep the guys in schedule as they don’t have trail legs so they can’t hike as fast or as long without breaks so we decided to leave within an hour and a half. People were unsure about the fire that was about a couple miles off trail, 20 miles ahead of us. I felt fine with it as it was only slowly growing according to watch duty and the PCTA hadn’t closed the trail. So we left leaving Marc and rocklicker behind. It was a cruisey 7 miles within the forest and passing by lots of lakes. Some looking a lil nasty but at least there were no mosquitos. We reached the edge of pipe lake before looking up and seeing a huge plume of white clouds. Thinking it was thunder clouds at first but quickly realized there were no other clouds in the sky indicating that it was a smoke plume. It was huge and growing. Initially again I wasn’t nervous but the huge smoke plume changed that along with the knowledge the wind was going to shift west pushing the fire and smoke closer to trail. I didn’t know what to do. Trevor and I talked about it while I texted dad. Nathan, love the kid, was not helping with the decision making. We decided to wait an hour to see if there were any updates. Marc had been texting me some but after 30 minutes of waiting he had informed me that the fire grew from 100 acres to 1000 very quickly which made up my mind that we would turn around back to white pass. We knew some people were ahead of us but with the guys there I didn’t want to risk it. We turned back and then when I got service I called dad and gave him the plan. The new plan was to hike back 4 miles and then camp and finish the last 2.8 in the morning to white pass where they could pick us up and hitch us past the fire to WA 410 chinook pass. They were planning on coming up anyway to pick the guys up after their weekend. We got moving to the campsite which was easy and quick. Probably for the best to turn around as the blisters were ding the guys in a lil. We got to sand lake and did the regular chores of setting up. We were in a dried up part of the lake outlet which I knew probably wasn’t the smartest but there weren’t a lot of options. We all ate dinner before heading to bed early to scroll lol. Lots of service at camp. Very eventful day. I was a lil torn up about the turn around as we passed more pct hikers but apparently it was a 50/50 split if people were hitching around or going through. If anything I can always come back to finish the 20 mile section since we are so close.
Sheep lake to campsite - 20.2 miles Total - 2292.8 miles Woke up around 6ish to Trevor’s alarm going off and him sleeping it only for it to go off 10 minutes later. I got moving to indicate to the guys it was time to start moving. Slowly we all packed up. I was the first one done and then Marc and then the boys. Rocklicker was sleeping in. We headed out and easily cruised up cispis pass. Nathan and I were trying to remember the goat rocks but it has been about 10 years since we’ve done them. I slightly remembered cispis pass but the meadow after it I really remembered. Not covered in as many flowers as last time but still gorgeous all the same. Coming around that valley and into the next I was struck with awe and memories. The shale covered cliffs and the snow all came back. We crossed the first glacier and initially I felt strong but the boot track became more slanted than I would prefer so I had to slow down. I also had one pole bc I gave my other one to Trevor who forgot his poles. I didn’t mind lol but I did feel less stable because of it. We passed that obstacle and climbed up and down the rock face. The next snow section was short but had a horrible boot track that looked barely used and very slanted. Marc and I made the call to do the short detour down in the large shale and around the small snow section. That worked out fine and wasn’t sketchy whatsoever. Rocklicker had apparently done the boot track and expressed to us how sketchy it was confirming my suspicions. We hiked along knife edge before finding a nice sunny spot over looking the entire goat rocks for lunch. I got burned for sure. It was a nice lunch. Trevor had cold soaked mash potatoes which seemed disgusting. We got moving quickly. I forgot to mention that both the guys have hot spots forming in their feet so everytime we stopped up until now (multiple times) they were fussing around with them. I had horrible tape so at lunch they switched to rocklickers and it held better. Around this time, I was obviously enjoying the views but timing wise we needed to pick up the pace. It was still slow going on the spine of the rock but I had them go a lil faster. It was kinda sketchy at times but I remember it way scarier the first time. We got down off the ridge into a meadow which I remembered fondly as I crashed out the first time I did this section ten years ago. I was trying to push my parents to go further and they said no. Anyways, We filled up on water and that’s where Marc was also feeling to worry about time so he went quickly and way ahead of us to camp. I pushed the pace on the guys more through the meadow and forest section as I wanted to get to the lake water source around 5pm putting us into camp around 6-6:30. Trevor and rocklicker was behind us while Nathan and I were in front talking about future careers for me as that was one of my goals to figure out. I’ve got nothing. Did not have any epiphanies so far. Really wish I did. I’ve thought about it a lot too. Anyways, we filled up at a frog water source and I continued to push them. This is when they started feeling it. The suffering started. Which I still think is really good as we were 16 miles in probably at that point. It was more uphill into camp. The guys came sea level to 6000 feet and then hiked 20 miles second day with 5000 ft of elevation gain with no trail legs. Couch to pct. Damn impressive. Rock and I felt great. Easy day for us which was probably annoying to the guys but they understood the situation. The guys truly weren’t getting enough calories in especially Trevor. I had mentioned to eat dinner at the lake so we can carry less water to dry camp and I knew they needed a break and food to regenerate some energy. Energy was incredibly low. We got to the lake and Trevor forgot his pot and stove so I boiled the water for his meal. Everyone had mountain houses besides rock. Nathan was just chilling in the cold water for like ten minutes. Crazy man. We all ate and the mood shifted significantly. They both had energy again. I filtered everyone’s water besides rock lol. Trying to make their lives easier as they are suffering. We got moving again around 6:30 and finishing off the last elevation and two miles. Marc was happily at camp as we rounded the corner with the cutest dog from a weekend hiker. We all set up and then chilled around the tents smoking while Trevor and rock drank the bourbon Trevor brought. First time smoking in a long time. Immediately got hungry and started munching on my snacks. It started sprinkling and we called it a night. Trevor I think talked the entire day. I also talked a lot. We would pair off into two basically. Nathan and I most of the time but Trevor talked to Marc a lot at the beginning and then rocklicker towards the end. There is also two fires ahead of us. Pct isn’t closed but stuff might change tomorrow. It’s about thirty miles ahead and 55 acres. Not growing quickly.
FS Road 5603 to sheep lake - 18.4 miles Total - 2272.6 miles This might be the first morning we have slept in for awhile. Dad and mom planned to drop Nathan off around 8am so I woke up naturally around 6:20am. Latest I could do. I chilled in my tent for a lil until 7:30 when I needed to do my business. Rocklicker was cowboy camping so I couldn’t go where everyone else had gone down a close side trail. I had to walk allllllll the way down the road a lil to do the business. I got back and started packing up as I wanted to be all ready to go when Nathan arrived. 8:05am I heard a car coming and I knew it was them. Ah love them so much. Mom had made pumpkin scones and brought drinks which was very much needed. They brought our resupplies and most importantly they brought the man of the weekend…Nathan fucking sinks. We had some hikers show up and my mom was handing out more drinks to them and some scones. They were eating it up lol. Great trail angels honestly. They even took peoples trash. Eventually nathan and I had to get going bc I didn’t want to show up to camp at 8pm. We were on schedule and I was going to make sure Nathan followed it. I led to set the pace which I kept asking if it was good and he reassured me it was a great pace. We basically chit chatted the entire was up. At 4.7 miles we took a small snack break to rest his legs and also get some water. Apparently I looked like a high energy dog staring at him to get going. I thought I was pretty subtle. We had a small uphill for about 4ish miles and stopped for lunch. During this we ran into LLAMAS. I had seen these llamas on some else’s story and I was hoping to run into them. Manifestation works baby. The lady gave us some lil snack packets of healthy shit🤮🤮. I want candy and candy only. I’m joking!!!! I definitely needed some nuts in my life as I haven’t bought any since the desert. Whoops! They also had some dried fruit which was very tasty. We then had lunch on top of the climb when Marc caught up. I think Nathan being here has made me a lil too comfortable as I was RUNNING my mouth omg. I am not chill. Someone needs to sedate me. Anyways everyone was laughing tho. I keep joking that I want to have a dinner party and the theme be pct hiker food. It’s a three course dinner party. I start by giving everyone a pop tart and two bars as a first course for breakfast. Second course is two tortillas, Thai chili tuna with cheese a mayo. The last course is the best. Instant mash potatoes (four cheese obviously) with tuna, and salami. Then similar to Olive Garden I ask if they want cheese and if they say yes, I hit them with the bite and spit method from a warm sharp cheddar block and tell them to say “when”. I think it’s a lovely thought and really gives the people everything that they have been wondering about on my trip. There’s a high chance I do it. I kinda ruin the surprise by me writing this out tho. We got moving and stopped again at a close water source where we met smitty. I met smitty about a couple days ago. His hike has been insane with a lot of night hiking, 40 mile days, and racing from tehachapi to Kennedy meadows. We got to talking and ended up hiking the next hour with him. It really was just me talking and Marc and Nathan listening like we were a podcast and would chime in their two cents every thirty minutes. I had a wonderful time. He’s funny and a talker! Could tell ya what we talked about but somehow we got from doping to chess boxing. Highly recommend people look it up. New sport for me but I can’t wait to get service to watch. Eventually I needed to give Nathan another break so we chilled at an intersection for a lil bit. Smelled like ass there but not bad enough for us to move. More hikers that we had been in a bubble with passed by us and we chit chatted with them. Smitty had gone ahead at this point but before he left I had been joking that I was going to break Nathan this weekend. I wanted his legs to be shaking. Smitty called Nathan Bambi and I’m trying to make that Nathan’s trail name lol. Lil wobbly on the legs. We eventually finished off the last 4 miles to sheep lake that we were planning on staying at. I scoped out a campsite after we had got there that was across the lake from where we initially came into. We set down our packs and immediately got into the water. It was a Great Lake, no slit just sand so it didn’t feel like leeches would grab onto you and suck the soul outta ya. Nathan was the first in and swam to the middle of the lake while it took me a lil longer to gain the courage to drop my balls into the water. Worst part obviously for a lady like me. Marc soon followed. Pit stop a woman we met a couple of days ago started to swim over while rocklicker had just waxed in just past his knees. As she’s swimming she yells out “get in the water you pussy.” I think rocklicker likes the bullying honestly. Within seconds of her yelling he had dove in. We hung out in the water for a lil bit chit chatting like always. It’s been awhile since we have swam. It was nice especially since I smelled so incredibly bad. We dried off and then did the regular chores of setting up our tents and getting dinner ready. Nathan was a lil behind so as I was soaking my meal, I went to check on him. Everything was too perfect that something had to be forgotten and that thing was stakes for his tent lol. We made some sticks and rocks work so he’s good but if it rains he might be a lil screwed. He found one stake that someone left behind and Marc offered up three stakes if he needs them. We all ate dinner together like usual and then we waited for Trevor to make it to camp. He got off work around 3 and drove all the way up to walupt lake to hike 4 miles in to meet us. He got to the trailhead around 6:30 and made it to camp around 8:30pm. Trevor was making monkey sounds to make him known to us so we could direct him to the campground.
Trout lake creek to FS Road 5603 - 27.2 miles Total - 2254.2 miles So I fucked up the numbers so we had to do more than originally intended making it a long day. I was planning on waking up at three normal time but people started leaving camp around 4:30am. Which was crazy bc they were all going into trout lake via shuttle which came at 8:30am. It won’t take you 4 hours to do 5 miles. Idk I was just trying to sleep in a lil but I couldn’t bc people were rustling. Quietly but just enough for me to wake up. I got going and pretty much hiked the entire morning alone. Marc and rocklicker left camp a lil later than I did. Marc had a rough morning in the sense he didn’t want to do 27 bc I had initially baited him with 19. He got over it quickly. I passed everyone at the road and met this nice lady and man who were finishing up section hikes. We hiked and talked for a lil before I parted ways. The guy was from camas so we bonded over small towns losing their charm to big industry and chains. All morning I had views of mount Adams. Forgot how pretty she is. Her glacier is absolutely insane. I’ve climbed it before but there was a lot more snow so it was cool to see the exposed glacier and rock. I stopped for lunch in a shady area next to a chocolate milk stream before Marc caught up with the lady I met earlier. We sat and chatted before I left after an hour to get the last 12 miles done. Initially I was going to stop earlier to take a break but I ended up pushing to a lava rock spring which was 10.5 miles. Morale got low and I wasn’t having much fun until I put in music and then I was singing my lil heart out while looking behind me to make sure no one could hear me. I had to cross a broken bridge which was initially very sketchy as the wood was slippery but catching an edge was easy to give me some grip. I arrived at the lava rock spring and the water was so tasty omg. Sierra water is still on top but this was a close second. I munched on some snacks and waited for Marc. He was close behind. I had a lot of munching to do as my dad is dropping off my brother tomorrow with my next resupply. Good to get the calories in. After Marc and I chilled for a bit we were ready to top off the day with 1.5 more miles. I got distracted following him as the huckleberries have been eyeing me all day. They were so ripe and tasty. We passed some fresh bear poop so hopefully that’s not a problem later tonight. Don’t got much food for him anyway. It’s an early night like usual. Rock didn’t make it dinner so it was just me and Marc and the thousands of little bugs with white butts. Stretch and spooky passed us and we said hi to them. Her partner is coming out for the goat rocks similar to Nathan. Poor Nathan. I mapped out the mileage and I’m giving him a nice ass shopping for his birthday for what I have planned. He’s young, he can do it. Good thing he works a desk job on Tuesday. His legs are gonna be sore. My wasp stings ARE SO ITCHY!!!!!!!!!!!! I itched both today. It felt sooooooooo goooooodddddddd. Today as well I felt some fatigue in my legs. I would stop and getting started again felt more difficult. My legs just felt heavy. Tomorrow we get to sleep in though so I hope it gives them a lil break. And with Nathan we will be doing shorter mileage (maybe not shorter days) and probably more breaks so I can gain my strength back.
Dirt road and trailhead to trout lake creek - 26 miles Total - 2227 miles Last night I asked Marc at dinner if he thought it was going to rain as we heard thunder in the distance getting into camp. He confidently said no so I did not put on my rain fly as last night it was so hot. He was wrong. 1 am rolls around and I wake up to small droplets making their way through the mesh of my tent. I quickly spring into action and get my rain fly on before everything gets soaked. Luckily it was just light rain but it didn’t stop all night. When I was out I saw rocklicker. He had got into camp when we were asleep but had set up on the picnic table as he usually does when there are picnic tables around. He had to quickly set up his tent before his shit got drenched. In his hurry, he didn’t realize he set up right on trail lol. It was a shit show for sure last night and it was all Marc’s fault as he said it wasn’t going to rain and why would he ever lead me astray. I got moving when it was still a lil dark out and I have ptsd from when I heard the story of the mountain lion stalking the hikers so I was constantly checking behind my back. As cruised for 9 miles basically seeing no one before getting to the last water source for ten miles. I did find a dollar on trail so now I’m at a net profit from this trip. I finally made money while walking. I got to the lake and filled up water and grabbed a snack before Marc caught up to me. We snacked and he apologized for leading me astray as he should. It had been drizzling all morning basically and all the plants were drenched which meant we were drenched. After snack break, we cruised some more but within five minutes I was so cold that I put on my rain jacket for the warmth. It did start raining a lil harder after so I was happy with my decision. About 7ish miles from camp I decided to stop for a lunch break at a projected picnic table by a road. I pulled up to it and saw that it was in use with a whole fixing of food with people hanging around it. I didn’t want to assume it was trail magic so I signed the registry and kinda poked my head around to see. Marc showed up and he couldn’t tell as well. I don’t want to just ask some random strangers if they are providing food for us. Seems rude. As we walked a couple waved us down and told us it was trail magic. I was so excited. It’s been awhile since a proper trail magic. They had all the fixings. Immediately they asked me what type of sandwich I wanted and I put in an order with a big fat smile on my face. We sat down and started munching on cookies, fruit, chips, whole peaches, drinks, donut holes, and salad. As we sat it started to pour rain but luckily they had a tent set up. It was perfect timing. More and more pcters showed up. Some were people that passed us when we set up our tents last night so I was confused on when we passed them as I saw no one for the entirety of that morning. We finally got to officially meet some of them and chit chatted. I forgot how fun it is to meet new people especially on trail as I am so used to just being alone with Marc and rocklicker all day. Everyone was super nice as per usual. We chilled there for awhile before heading out with the masses. Only 7 miles left and I cruised through all of them. My new shoes are giving my feet a run for their money as they fucking hurt. You would think they would be tough by now but everyday and every morning they hurt. My muscles in my feet are being put through the ringer. I just need to break these new shoes in so I can walk like I don’t have a stick up my ass. I got to the campsite around 4:20, wincing as I went. The shoes came off immediately and I felt way better so I set my tent up. Everything was still kinda wet from the rain from last night and all the few droplets falling into my shoes so I needed to try and get things to dry off. I did wash my socks off in the river for a lil laundry day and finally rinsed my feet off. Marc and rocklicker joined. I realized earlier in the day that my wasps stings had developed hives around the area so rocklicker gave me a Benadryl to calm that down. It’s so incredibly itchy but I haven’t itches it once like the brave girl I am. I just can’t catch a break. Inconvenience after inconvenience. We ate dinner before more people started setting up. Funny ass crew. Bec, yo, leukotoes?, treats, and Barbie all joined us around the campfire ring and ate with us. Yo is easily one of the funniest people I’ve met out here. His one liners are gold and it was just enough that he didn’t take over the conversation. Bec apparently is a lil famous on Instagram and YouTube. She’s from Australia. Yo is a danish guy, and then leukotoes is from Sweden. Wish we met them earlier as I would’ve tailed them for a couple days as I was just giggling my lil heart out at everything. Cool ass group but they are going in and out of trout lake so maybe we will see them again! We talked and chit chatted with them for about an hour and a half before heading to bed. It’s a busy campsite so I bet we will be hearing lots of movement tomorrow morning. We are going to be camping at a road tomorrow in order for my dad to drop Nathan off to join us. I had been saying it’s only 19 miles to the road. Wrong. So incredibly wrong. Math is so hard. Marc was so excited for an easy day and to wake up late and cruise and get a nap. I checked it at dinner and I was 10 miles off. So now we have a 29 mile day to get there. Marc is not enthused with me right now. But with Nathan here we will be going slower anyways so it’s fine. He will still get his slow days in. He also wants to do 23s until the end. I don’t wanna do that as we would be done around 1-2ish with so much downtime. It initially sounds nice until we get bored. I like our 25-27 mile days. Anything more feel more like a push. lol like tomorrow. Sorry Marc!!!!! This is also the section where I think my family did 100 miles so I’m starting to remember some things. Very faint memory though. Today was also Nathan’s birthday!!! Forgot to add that there were so many tiny little frogs on trail. Like dime size. I was trying not to step on them but I probably killed a few sadly.
Dirt road to dirt road and trailhead - 25.5 miles Total - 2201.1 miles Last night had about 7 tents at our campsite which is the most I’ve been around in a long time. Very strange. Love it and hate it mostly bc the people that get up super early always wake the others up despite them trying to be quiet. Got out of camp around 6:05am and started hurting immediately. The feet and shoes are not breaking in like I want them to. Within a mile I had poop. This is where it goes south. I locate a great space where I do my business and as I am walking back after becoming lighter, I feel a stinging sensation on my wrist and then my ankle. Two little fucker wasps had got me after my most sacred time. There was a huge wasps nest that I passed earlier but I was no where close to that so I’m guessing I stepped on their stupid little fucking house and they had to retaliate. It hurt but I gotta keep going. What a start to the day. Marc pulled up on me cursing and informed me initially he thought he was going to see his first bear but it was just me. So not only did I get stung twice but I disappointed Marc. We got moving together on the downhill but then he pulled off to use a privy at a trailhead while I kept going to the water. Someone had left a bag of perfectly ripe pears at a road crossing which I ate, juice dripping down my mouth and hands. Before I hit the water, I walked upon the cutest lil fluffy dog and its owners. Initially barking at me until I did the classic puppy dog voice before it came running up to me smiling asking for pets. Which of course I gave. I am not a monster. The owners then offered me a small candy bar which I happily took with a big thank you. Very unexpected trail magic today but did make up for the wasps stings earlier. I got to the water and filled up and had a lil snack waiting for Marc. He pulled up and then rocklicker came as well. He got out of camp at 6:45 so it was surprising to see him. He’s booking it. He mentioned that the pear left by the road might’ve been the second pear he’s ever had so I of course had to flame him. He’s never had a nectarine before I gave him one so I hit him with the question if he ever had fruit as a child. He then named fruit he had had before. My rage bait worked. It was lengthy uphill after the last water so I got moving. Sweating my ass off once again, soaking my shorts this time instead of my pants. Trying to avoid the name change of piss pants since the sweat always looks like I pissed my pants. I put in music which was delightful and made the climb go quick. It was about 10 miles uphill with 3000 ft of vert of something like that. Grades very nicely though and it wouldn’t be as hard if it wasn’t so goddamn humid outside. So much better than yesterday though. Cruises up it and got to the water source. I chit chatted with a guy who started may 17th. He seemed crazy in a good way. He apparently did 40 mile days in the desert at different points and then he and his group raced from tehachapi to Kennedy meadows south. He got 5th place out of the eight and he did it in 4 days. 1st place did it in 2.5 days. Mind you it’s like 140+ miles from tehachapi to Kennedy meadows south. That’s insane. It’s also one of the direst sections and most hated sections I believe. Truly impressive but incredibly stupid. He was cool though. We hung out at the campsite/water source for a lil bit since we were ahead of schedule. Rocklicker needed to find service for his fantasy football draft. It’s so cute when a group of guys come together to play their lil fantasy game. Such fan girls. So Marc and I pushed on to the next water source and the last of the day before camp to fill up. We chit chatted with the people there before pushing the last couple of miles. We heard thunder in the distance so hopefully nothing catches on fire especially since we are so close to the goat rocks. Got to camp at a very reasonable time of around 5. Set up and used the privy before eating. I think I’m hitting my limit with mash potatoes. I had to choke them down a lil. I cannot wait to never have to eat one of those things again. Then it was straight to bed lol. 6:30 and I’m not complaining. It’s going to hot like last night which I hate. UGH. Just a green tunnel today. Cannot wait for some views!!!!
Cascade locks to dirt road - 25.2 miles Total - 2175.5 Elevation gain was 6,700ft with 4,500ft down. wtf Brutal day. Woke up and basically hit the road since dad had to be at work. Lame. He drove us very kindly and dropped the guys off in cascade locks to mail their resupplies while he dropped me off across the bridge where I left off. Hard goodbye but knew I would see him so soon! The first 6 miles were okay but then we hit the long long up. I’ve said this a couple times on this blog but I actually mean it this time when I say I have never sweat so much in my life. I was dripping consistently for a couple hours. My pants looked like I peed them until they got so soaked that they just looked dark grey. I would’ve worn shorts but there was so much poison oak that my dad warned me about and was right (easily avoidable though) that I didn’t want to risk it. My shirt was damp all day. My hood on the sun shirt was my sweat rag for the entire day. It truly was diabolical and I’ve never felt so incredibly disgusting in my life. I was clean and normally I can’t smell myself until a couple days in but immediately I smelled like a wet dog. I took a break at a water source which was the last one in ten miles which I didn’t know lol. I talked to raccoon who I had met before as well as a new girl named savage. Very nice people as pct hikers usually are. I ate my lunch which was a calzone before heading out and sweating some goddamn more goddamit. I eventually caught up to yeti again who looked just as miserable as me in the wet heat. We talked a lil before heading to the water source which I had stupidly only had a quarter of liter for the last 6 miles. I got there and washed my face and dunked my head to try and cool off. I chugged a liter to make up for the lack of water I had consumed during the previous long climb. I ate a lil to get some salt in me before going in my way for the last 6 miles. Again all uphill. What a brutal day. I grabbed some water at the last water source before camp. Everyone there was going through it. No one wanted to dry camp but we had to. No one wanted to carry extra water but we had to. And everyone was sweating despite not wanting to lol. I passed them and got going as I was going a tad bit farther than them to our camp. At the top of the climb Marc finally caught up with about a mile left in the day. He had been hurting all day basically. His quad is still bothering him and only getting worse despite three days off trail. It’s only on the downhills but eventually it probably will get worse if the flats just like last time. I’m trying to do everything in my power to keep his spirits up and him on trail. He can suffer for three weeks? DUH. He can’t leave me. He obviously wants to stay on trail but if it’s a tear in the muscle or an overuse injury that will take some time to recover he doesn’t want to risk it. I want him to risk it. Jk I don’t want him to get worse but I do want to finish with him. Hopefully it gets better. We eventually got to camp, sweaty, and got straight to setting up and getting dinner going. His was down for dinner and I tried to cheer him up. Right as we finished rocklicker caught up and his ankle is doing good but his body hurts since he’s been off trail for about a week. Always hard to come back on trail after time off. That’s why I only limit it to 3 days max and we haven’t even done that all that much. I’m tired so I got to bed early only to catch up on blogs for about an hour. I’m ready to get some shit eye. I feel disgusting and I can still smelll myself and it ain’t pretty. There’s a pretty big fire around the bend area in Oregon. The smoke all blew into the area recently so now everything is smoky. Hopefully it gets better as we move north as I want to see some views!!!!!
Zero day at home!!!! Woke up and did nothing but scroll lol. Glorious. No brain cells needed. I did make Marc and rocklicker a pathetic breakfast of eggs and left over brauts like the good hostess I am. After a good solid 3 hours of scrolling, Marc and I planned basically the last resupplies of this entire adventure. CRAZY! We all then got in the car to hit grocery outlet to buy 4 resupplies in one basically. I did give them a tiny tour of the town before hitting grocery outlet. Grocery outlet was a hit. I went in with literally no plan despite making one as mom has a ton of stuff already so I kinda just bought what my heart desires which was a ton of candy and snacks. No meals lol. After we went to Fred Meyers and finished off the resupply. I joked that I was going to buy all the Thai chili tunas and that put rocklicker in a frenzy lol. He tried to race me to the aisle. He beat me only bc he ran. A lady doesn’t run in a store. Clearly he’s not a lady. All jokes of course. I grabbed some groceries for pizza night and then we made our way back home. Immediately we got to organizing for the four resupplies. I put all mine into bags with labels to make it easy for my parents to grab and go. It was for when brother comes in trail, brother leave trail, current resupply, and the one to mail. It was a lot of work. The parents were working on the pizza night which we then transitioned to once emily came over. We were rolling dough and chopping up shit. Rocklicker and Marc had a lot of improvement to do when we got to rolling out pizzas. Emily and I were golden getting tons of compliments from the chef aka mom. Emily got a couple of perfects which went straight to her head as she bullied rocklickers technique which was completely fair as it was horrible. Eventually we got to making the actual pizzas and eating them. Emily, Sophia, and I had a lil gossip sesh to catch up while eating before Caden showed up after Trevor. We then all caught up and started playing wavelength. Trevor could not grasp it at first but eventually it hit him how to play lol. It truly was a ton of fun. People started to slowly trickle out. Emily was tired as she and Emma got to drinking tequila early in the night. Very funny and very strong drinks. After everyone left, we all headed to bed. I organized some of my stuff before and then had a snuggle/gossip sesh with my mom of course as she got in from her flight around 2 and immediately got to work on pizzas. Very very very grateful for her and all that she did today. We didn’t have much time to catch up so that was our little time to do so. Love that woman. Then we all headed to bed! Omg also I got to see Cailee and she brought me some stuff back from Japan. The cutest purse but the one gift I literally am so excited for was the chopsticks that she got engraved with my name as well as my name in Japanese. Literally would not shut up about them all night. So so so incredibly sweet. I literally love her. Yes dad….literally. Secondly, the amount of groceries we had was absurd. Like 10 paper bags filled. Truly chaotic.
Campsite to cascade locks - 20 miles (I took an alternate route) Total - 2150 miles The night was filled with wind but that didn’t matter for noise bc I had ear plugs so I slept goooooooddd. That was the main reason why I wore them but the second reason was to block out any sounds that might make my mind race since I camped alone for the first time. It worked. I woke up around 5:40 and got to packing up. I slowed it down as it was still pretty dark in the forest and I realllyyyyyy did not want anything jumping and surprising me. The first five miles were easy and had some great views. I was slower as my feet fucking hurt. Definitely time for new shoes as these have 1000+ miles on them. Time for retirement for sure. I got to the split off down the alternate route that leads you to eagle creek and tunnel falls. The first half was Indian creek trail and that was steep with tons of rocks and dry dusty dirt. I had to catch myself from falling multiple times as well as climb over some blowdowns on the steep climb down. All I kept thinking was why the fuck would anyone do this trail. I passed some people and I had to make a comment of wtf is this which they all nodded in agreement. Finally that trailhead met up with the eagle creek and I cruised down it at lightning speed passing lots of people going up and down the trail. I made it to tunnel falls which was gorgeous and everything that I expected. I still had one thing on my mind and that was dad coming to pick me up. I zoomed down the last 7 miles. It felt so long though as I was trying to conserve battery as everything was dying or dead so no music until the last two miles. I was passing people left and right and as I got down to the bottom probably 0.5 miles a meat head man would not let me pass. Everytime I came up to him he would skip down? As well as quickly side shuffle as if he was trying to be non chalant in literally the most chalant way possible. It made me giggle. He also seemed to be trying to outrun his Girlfirend or something. I eventually passed him on the road asserting my dominance once again. I caught up to little peak who started the trail at the same time as me. She was a day ahead and I caught her in the last 2 miles. We hiked together the last two chit chatting it up before we split up at cascade locks. They were going to a coffee shop and I was headed across the bridge to Washington. A toll bridge but free for people who walk across. Very pretty views and I couldn’t stop smiling as I was so close to being home for the first time in four months. Insane!!!!! Very sketchy though as the two lanes were small causing the cars to come close to me. The wind also was hitting my pack in just the right way that it was causing me to be pushed towards the edge of the bridge barrier. When I finally crossed it was kinda anti-climactic as I beat my dad there lol. I waited for about 15 minutes before my dad, rocklicker, and Marc pulled up with drinks. I obviously had to crack a few jokes stating that I was the only one to walk into Washington and they should try it sometime. Poor guys, both very injured. We offered some beers to the other pct hikers and after we were done we got going home. A stop to killer burger was needed and I put that thang DOWN. So good. Got home and lounged for the rest of the afternoon before I headed over to Sophia Clinton’s birthday!!! I got see everyone as well as Brenda who was there. I caught everyone up but I will say it was super overwhelming. Lots of people talking which I’m so used to the silent forest and only my thoughts that I had to really focus on my own conversations. This must be how people with ADHD feel bc my god it was hard. We played a kahoot all about Sophia before I headed home with some groceries for brauts. We cooked those up and watched easily one of the worst movies I’ve watched in awhile. I’ve only seen two movies these past four months: Superman, and whatever the fuck that shit was. I already forgot the name of it. Thank god honestly. Then we all went to bed. My blow up mattress was limp but I was too lazy to blow it up so I just curled up into a ball and fell into a deep sleep.
Campsite to timberline lodge to campsite - 27.9 miles Total - 2125.5 miles I woke up around 3:30am to a subtle voice echoing throughout the mountain. Initially I thought it was a guy talking to himself whil doing the oregon 24 he challenge but it never stopped. The same cadence and it sounded like he was repeating the same words over and over again. I ended up putting earbuds in and falling back to sleep. In the morning around 6am, it was still going on. I was utterly confused to what it could be. Did timberline lodge forget to turn off speakers? As I started hiking it hit me…it’s the hood to coast race and runners start at timberline lodge. That means runners have been going since 3:30am. What the actual fuck. Don’t they know there are tired PCTers on trail??!! Also why do you need an announcer that early. All I could think about was the poor people I had met the day before telling me how they planned to camp right behind timberline to get up late to go to the all you can eat buffet around 8. I know for a fact if I could hear the announcer two miles out that they got no sleep whatsoever. I hiked in to timberline intially planning not to go in but all my shit was dying so I had to charge. I sat around for an hour charging just enough to make it to cascade locks and chit chatted with the poor pct hikers who camped at timberline last night. No one got sleep. I felt so bad. After everyone left for breakfast I headed out. It was a gorgeous windy morning but I could tell the heat was coming. I passed a ton of timberline trail hikers and they all commented on how fast I was going. I have been hiking for over four months straight but it was nice to hear the compliments lol. It was a lot of up and downs all day. The elevation has came back. Oregon has been so flat that I’m now not used to the straight ups. They were small though. I cruised all day. This is my first time hiking truly alone without one of the guys. Same with camping without the guys. It’s peaceful but I do miss talking to at least someone throughout the day. I passed a ton of day hikers as well. They all smelled wonderful as usual. I stopped for lunch which was quick as again, I have no one to talk to. Just me and my own thoughts. I could do this for a good amount of time but I don’t think I would want to hike the whole trail alone. I know I would have opportunities to talk to other pct hikers but nothing beats talking to a person that you feel so utterly comfortable with. I don’t feel like I have to act a certain way for them to like me, or all nice and shit. It’s nice to be around people who know you and get you. That’s what I’m missing now after 24 hours of being alone LOL. It is nice though to truly be on your own schedule and stop when you wanna stop and do whatever you wanna do. It’s a mix bag of feelings right now. I continued up a steep uphill sweating my ass off. Then it was just slug all the way to camp. Don’t remember much as I was head down just wanna be horizontal mentality. Great views of hood all day but mostly in the trees in a green tunnel going up, down, up, down…repeat. I had to take a couple of snack breaks as my feet have been hurting all day. My shoes are falling apart. They have 1000 miles on them and have so many holes and my feet can tell that the shoes ain’t good anymore. I have new ones at home which I will get tomorrow. I grabbed some water before heading to camp. Leaf technology is amazing. The campsite isn’t marked on FarOut so I will be camping alone, all by myself. First time for everything. Too bad it’s the first time in 2125 miles and in the last four weeks of my adventure. Kinda ironic honestly but I’ve been saying I want to do it at least once. Here’s my opportunity. I ate two dinner tonight. Rice and chicken and then mash potatoes with tuna and added cheese. Mainly I just didn’t want to carry them anymkre especially since I’m going home tomorrow for a zero. I definitely need the calories as well. After dinner all by my lonesome, straight into bed. Very windy tonight so hopefully that goes down so I can sleep peacefully and get up early to make my way into town and cross into Washington! Last state best state!!!!!! My tonsils and lymph nodes are slowly going down so that’s a win. I got texts from dad saying Marc looks extra happy going into the hot tub this morning. Very jealous. Tried my anti chafe stick today for the first time. No chafe! I know you guys were dying to know.
Warm springs river to campsite - 29.9 miles Total - 2097.7 miles I decided since I was so miserable yesterday to sleep in till 6 which I tried but Ben from Boston had other ideas for me. He had an alarm at 5 and 5:30 which he silenced both times. The man knew he wasn’t gonna get up so why even set the alarms. I KNEW he wasn’t going to get up. So I was in and out of sleep for that hour. I was still feeling awful this morning and knowing that I popped ibeprofen to counteract the pain in my throat. One of the tonsils had stopped hurting but my left was still very prominent. It helped a ton and the pain mostly went away for the rest of the day and I could just cruise. I didn’t see Marc until lunch but I had a good morning of hiking. We passed by a big lake which I stopped at and had a snack overlooking it. Fish were jumping on the calm lake and people were just starting to get on boats across the water. Eventually I got moving and made my way along the lake to the outlet where I met Marc. Up until then, it was just a green tunnel which I wasn’t mad at. He was in pain. His quad is bothering him and he decided in 8 miles he was going to hitch to cascade locks or somewhere to try and heal up before we enter Washington next Monday after our zero at my house. We ate lunch and he described the pain which must have come from an overuse injury. So strange for it to happen now all of a sudden. I then got moving as I decided I was going to push three more miles to make my day into cascade locks even shorter to have as much time at home as possible. I came across a group of older ladies and one was on the ground. She had apparently taken a tumble but she was okay besides the cut on her head. I asked if I could do anything but they had it handled so I moved on. I got to the next water source and met two guys, one of which had done the 24 hour challenge and got 62 miles. But we were at the same place at the same time and I feel great so whos really winning lol. I pressed on and got service so I called emily for like two hours I swear to god. It made the miles go by so quickly along with all the uphill. I came across some trail magic which provided me with a cold Gatorade, a chocolate pie, candy, and nutter butter all providing glorious calories. I chit chatted with some of the other hikers as well there. It’s crazy now that I’m not with the guys I feel kinda like the new kid at a new school. I have to make friends again which I’m not used to. I’ve always had someone else there to do all the talking at first or initiate the conversation and now that I am on my own, I don’t have the confidence like I did with a group. Marc ended up getting a hitch quickly into portland and then my dad went to go pick him up from the bus stop to bring him to our house. Cant believe he’s there before me but I rather have him for the rest of trail so he needs to heal up quick. After trail magic, I headed out for the next five miles. I called emily for a bit and then I called Emma and camille. I cannot wait to see everyone in the flesh. I miss all those girls so much. I love them so much and they are so supportive. I also cannot wait to be around more women. Love the guys but no one can replace a woman’s love and friendship. Again, the uphill and miles went by quick as I was gossiping away to them. I got to camp and got a prime spot. Did my chores and sat down for dinner. So strange to eat dinner and not have anyone to talk to. First time not camping with one of the OGs and first time camping basically alone. Another pct hiker showed up as I was getting in my tent so technically I’m not alone but basically I am. Just gonna get a good nights sleep, kick ass tomorrow and get into town as quickly as I can on Saturday to get home.
Campsite to ollalie to warm springs river - 27.7 miles Total - 2067.7 miles What a day that I can barely remember. I couldn’t write this last night bc I was so ill that all I could think of was sleep. We woke up in a cloud which drenched everything which is always fun to pack up. It was cold too so we started hiking in puffys under the brilliant sunrise. Immediately got too hot and took them off after 30 minutes and cruised the rest of the way downhill to a service road where we found yeti! He said he was taking it all the way into ollalie to cut off a mile which we of course agreed to. It was pretty rocky at first but it quickly evened out. Anything was better than the actual trail. I was worried I was gonna hit the deck at some points. We got to ollalie resort and found Ben sitting in peace. Immediately I went inside and grabbed two drinks and a small resupply (only cash, thank you mom). It was two extra breakfasts with some more snacks which I ended up munching on before we even left. We dried out our tents and sat around catching up with some familiar faces that we haven’t seen in a long long time. Probably since Kennedy meadows north! Well over a 1000 miles ago. We then headed out to do another 19 miles around 10:30. We intially missed the pct turn off so we had to back track but then we were on our way through a burn zone. We were in and out of burn zones but mostly in the green today which was nice. The next 10 miles were a blur but I was still feeling good. We got to the water and met up with a lot of the crew that was at ollalie but left before us and we chit chatted while eating a late lunch. The last idk how many miles were brutal. I felt so feverish, my tonsils are so swollen along with every single lymph node in my neck, my feet hurt and I was ready to be done but we needed to get to camp. I slowed significantly and was probably the most miserable I’ve been on trail. I got to camp and expressed all this to Marc. It took me ten times longer to get my tent up. I ate chicken and rice freeze dried meal with my peach cobbler to bring my mood up which it did and then I went to bed. I couldn’t even write my blog bc I felt so miserably sick. I got 10 hours of sleep though. I was drooling everywhere and my throat hurt all night so I will be taking some ibeprofen to mitigate that tonight. I forgot to mention while at ollalie we had a brilliant conversation with these two guys. We were talking about how we want a rat to actually use us to do useful things instead of just cook like in ratatouille. Someone said how to change a tire or something and then another guy said quoted “I want a rat to teach me how to trade crypto currency kinda like wolf on Wall Street but rat on Wall Street.” Apparently the two guys had been trying to find a sequel for two unrelated movies as well which they finally found their answer to.
Campsite to campsite - 32.5 miles Total - 2039.2 miles Woke up around 5:50 to it being light out. So disorienting as I’m not used to that on trail. I can’t recall a time where I have slept that well on trail and it was glorious. I was warm, and cozy and I couldn’t be happier to wake up at 5:50 instead of 5:30. My body was feeling better as well. I still have a sore throat and my lymph nodes are swollen but I can see an improvement which made me happy. Today was all about mount Jefferson and boy is she a beauty. The entire day we got closer and closer. I was taking picture after picture. We hit a bunch of lakes throughout the day which were gorgeous. Marc’s feet were hurting him all day though and you could tell based on his pace. He was miserable and I felt so bad. The blisters are on the bottom of his soles so it’s hard to bandage them up. I didn’t want to push him but I thought 1. Getting closer to Ollalie resort would be smart for tomorrow and 2. I was feeling good. I felt it out and he wanted to push. We tacked on 7 miles to our original plan of 25 as there was a no camping zone right towards the end of our day making it a lil longer than I would’ve liked. We were in and out of burn zones along the base of mount Jefferson. The mountain made the burn zones worth it. The last 7 miles were all up hill. 2000 ft of elevation gain which seemed hard at some points and easier at others but we finally made the push all the way to the top before finding a camp 0.4 short of our goal. That was fine though as I was tired and it was getting cold. The climb also was gorgeous as it had phenomenal views of mount Jefferson from different angles as well as the streams and flowers made it magical. I was dying nonetheless only wanting to be horizontal but I did take multiple moments to appreciate it. Don’t know how I’m supposed to go back into real life of concrete when this has been my reality for so long. Like I’ve said, the depression will hit hard. The huckleberry bushes are also filled with berries, so I had a few of those. Actually learned they were huckleberries and not blueberries today lol. Other than that I’m fucking tired and we are in a field of rocks for camp. On sand but still in a field of rocks. Easily one of the most gorgeous days we’ve had on trail since the sierras!
HWY 242 to campsite - 21.4 miles Total - 2006.7 miles!!!! Holy shit 2000 Woke tired with a sore throat. Not a horrible one but one that still doesn’t feel good. Mom had a dentist appointment at 3 so we had to be on the road by 8:30am to grab Marc and yeti by 9ish. Got ready and organized. Mom had fully resupplied me the night before. We called Mummi and vaari to give them a proof of life and give them updates! Always great to see them even through a phone. Then we got going. Again, I felt like shit. My body was hurting and aching which it hasn’t done since the first days of trail. Not in a good mood. We picked the guys after a quick stop to chase bank for rocklicker. I distributed the cinnamon rolls which were a hit this weekend. We had to drop yeti off at the sisters post office and then mom would pick him up on the way back to drive him to the other road that leads into bend. We were on the first road. We pulled up just as this older pct lady got to the road asking for water a she didn’t have enough. Mom outfitted her with some water, iced tea, and snacks. The woman named sweeping beauty was so happy and kept saying how lucky I was to have her as a mom. Which of course I am! We then took pictures before heading out. So sad to see my mom go but I know I get to see her in 6 days and then about three weeks after that as I will be done with trail! Insane to think about. Within 5 minutes of walking, rocklicker hits the ground HARD. It was all lava rock and he tripped and then as he was trying to catch himself he tripped again. Luckily no head injury but his knee hit hard and he twisted his ankle badly. He had to stay down for awhile and we asked what he needed. Time was his answer. I made him move his ankle and his knee to make sure it was somewhat okay. We also made sure there wasn’t initial rapid bruising which there wasn’t. He said we could move on as he said it was okay. He lied and downplayed it. He stopped about 300 meters later to rest and we didn’t see him for the rest of the day. He admittedly texted me he downplayed it and it’s really swollen and he wouldn’t be hiking today. He stopped at a cooler which had ice and he was able to ice it, elevate it, and take ibeprofen pretty quickly after the fall. Just sad to see someone get injured but it happens to the best of us. I told him to keep us updated. He didn’t want to go into bend or sisters but I said it’s probably better that you do just in case things get worse. By the end of the day he was in sisters. Hopefully it’s a speedy recovery and we see him soon. The first half of the hiking day sucked as it continued on lava rock. Couldn’t look up as you didn’t want to fall but the views were so pretty especially as the clouds rolled in creating fog. I was just aching though. My entire body hurt. Not awful but enough for me to notice. We cruised for 13 miles before stopping for a quick break. I was slow and steady. We filled up water at the next pond before doing the last 6ish miles to the campsite. We passed 2000 miles but I couldn’t appreciate it as my entire back was on fire from the 5 days of food I don’t need to be carrying as well as me just being sick with body aches. I powered through and finally made it to the campsite just past the second highway all up a steady incline through a pervious burn zone. The wind was going and I was worried we would have to camp with it but we got prime real estate. I told Marc that I just needed to lie down and eat in my tent tonight. So I immediately got in around 6:30 and had a cheese, mayo, sausag bagel before starting to catch up jn the blogs. It’s an early night for sure. Marc and I also agreed to push back our wake up time as we don’t want to start in the dark in the morning anymore. So 6am it is!!! I got a text from yeti and my mom that they found Ella in sisters and gave her a ride to trail as well. So fun for mom to meet people that I have made friends with on trail:) I just want to be home with my mom babying me. I don’t want to hike sick. It’s again not bad just I don’t like feeling like this on trail knowing we are still 5 days out from a zero.
Zero day in bend All night I was sweating my ass off and coating the sheets with my sweat. So gross. I woke up with a headache and a slightly sore throat but I thought it was just from me yapping all of last night. I ended up taking some ibeprofen which helped a lot. Mom went to grab Starbucks and some other breakfast stuff before we settled into bed and gossiped. I gave her all the tea which took so long. Eventually we needed to leave the nasty motel room so we called up the guys and said we wanted to go to the river and lay outside. We grabbed all the food and made our way to Marc before heading to the very crowded downtown Bend. For the next 3 hours we laid out and snacked and people watched. It was much needed. Ben joined us about an hour in and finally got to meet my mom. After laying out we headed over to grocery outlet to do a lil resupply. At this point I was feeling shitty and couldn’t put up with anyone but my mom. I was in a foul mood for no reason until I realized I was developing a sore throat. I decided that I didn’t want to go out and mom and I grabbed salads to eat in the room. Marc decided to go to a taco stand which we drove over and dropped him off. Initially Ben from Boston said he would like to be dropped off at a restaurant to meet monk but then he changed it to getting out it tj marc, only to change it again after we dropped Marc off to the original plan. I had asked for the address of the restaurant the first time which I didn’t get until after Marc. The restaurant he wanted to go to was all the way back by grocery outlet where we started…I was cracking up because this is classic Ben. Luckily we would’ve had to go that way anyway but it was just hilarious how from grocery outlet he could’ve walked two blocks to get where he was going. Rocklicker, mom, and I made our back to the hotel where I just felt like shit at this point. I could tell I had developed a low grade fever and my throat was hurting. Rock and I had been trying to do laundry all day but continued to be so lazy so we had to do it now. We rethought we could use the motel one but we couldn’t but luckily there was a laundry mat 400 feet from the motel. Rock was kind enough to basically do the entire thing as I had expressed I was feeling like shit. I curled up to mom while she played with my hair and just laid there fighting for my life. I was getting chills and then would get hot. We did end up calling dad which was great as always and we heard about his adventure with Nathan this weekend to see where his legs were at for when he comes out for a long weekend with me. I think he’s good honestly! Mom watched some tv while we ate our salads and I tried to hydrate. Then I headed to bed and got some shut eye. I think my fever broke but again, I coated the bed with sweat. Not great conditions to go back on trail to.
Mirror lake to HWY 242 and McKenzie pass - 25 miles Total - 1985.3 miles It poured all night. I didn’t think it was a huge deal until I saw the river flowing outside my tent and I knew it was gonna be a wet one. Marc’s tent had flooded and had a lake right under his pad. I told everyone even if it’s raining I’m still going as MY MOM WAS COMING!!!!!! Just a lil bit excited. So I packed up in the drizzle and headed out in the dark cold rain. I loved it. I don’t mind it raining and me getting soaked as long as I know I’m going to be in a town that day to dry everything off one way or another. So everything was soaked basically but the important sleeping quilt. Within 30 minutes Marc had caught up to me. He had a rough morning due to his blisters and his tent being drowned in water from the incredible flow. He quickly was enjoying himself again until I told him I wanted to see how many miles I could get done by 12. He was not too thrilled to hear that but I was on a mission to beat my old record of 19 as well as it would get me quicker to mom as well as I wanted to catch rocklicker and assert my dominance as he was 2 miles ahead of us. It was a one sided competition that he had no idea about lol. I do feel bad as it shouldn’t be a competition but it’s still fun. It’s nice to really test my physical limit only when I’m going into town and have a zero planned. So I was cruising. I officially thought I could get 20 by 12 about 4 miles out with an hour and a half to go. Then we hit lava fields on a steep incline around the sister mountains. That didn’t slow me down one bit as I charged up the 20 switchbacks panting like a Mastiff feral for that 20. I was passing day hikers, pcters, weekend backpackers all for the glory of 20 miles. It was 3500 foot day of elevation unlike the 19 I did which had less than 3 I believe so I was earning it. I technically got out of camp by 5:45 so my goal was 20 miles in 6 hours and once I got closer I tried to push to 21 by 12. Lava rocks had me tripping, cursing, saying the most foul things but I was determined. By golly I got my goal. I nailed it just in time and I have never been so happy. It had poured on me all day on and off as well so now it was time to sit under a tree and eat something. Shivering I had one of my favs, Thai chili tuna with cheese and mayo on a tortilla. The Thai chili tuna will change your life. It is easily the best thing out here right after candy. Rocklicker and Marc caught up and I told them my accomplishment. Marc gave me sarcasm which I didn’t appreciate lol. We then hobbled our way down the rest of the four miles to the road. We met these day hikers who were hilarious. They were asking a ton of questions about our journey, one of them being what was our favorite part. Easily forester with my dad DUH. I somehow got on the topic that when dad tells me he’s proud of me I always tear up. They proceeded to ask Marc and rocklicker if their dads did that or something that they said before they left or during the trip that stuck out to them. Rocklicker answer was right before he left his dad said “welp I hope you find what your looking for.” That had me cracking up. Marc said it’s just regular talk with his lol. The woman then tried to get her guy friend or husband who is a dad to tell the guys that he’s proud of them. Funnily enough, he gave a long speech of how if he was our dad he would be but he doesn’t know us so he can’t say it without it being genuine. LOL. It was a funny interaction. We then walked through a burn zone which turned to more lava rocks for the last mile. It was the longest mile of my life. The rocks slow you down so much and they hurt but we finally got to the road. Mom was about 45 minutes out so we chilled with only a lil rain. Multiple cars stopped to ask if we needed a hitch but I was waiting for one person and one person only. Finally we hear honking and it’s the most amazing, loving, and kind person I know…. ME MADRE. Immediate hugs. I had to apologize for my smell as I haven’t done laundry for 9 days. She brought so many goodies on my request (thank you so much they were delicious). We got in the car and made our way into bend. It’s funny how you can’t really catch up with someone because she reads the blogs. So every story I tell, she’s already read. She finally got to meet some of the people I’ve been hiking with and ask them questions though. We dropped Marc off at his trail angels house that he was staying out who had unlimited ice cream and 4 dogs. Basically Marc’s heaven. He was going to test the limit of unlimited ice cream. We then had to find a place to stay which was extremely difficult as everything was $200+ a night. Which we were not about to do. We tried the motel 6 and again even that was so expensive. Rock found a place in remond which was about $100 a night which we booked and drove to. I had to pee so incredibly bad and the woman booking us in was so incredibly slow. I’ve never thought I would be my pants before but almost did. Luckily right as I thought I was gonna lose the fight she handed over the keys and I RAN to our room. The room was kinda nasty. Maybe one of the worst motels I’ve been in and that’s saying a lot especially on trail. It smelled like someone smoked and they tried to clean and failed. It would do though. I took a shower after we got settled and then went back to pick up Marc after awhile and yeti to go grab dinner. We went to a brewery and had some great conversations so far about trail and learned more about yeti. Great guy and he really opened up about some of his struggles on and off trail which is always hard to do. Finally we called it a night and dropped everyone off before driving back to Redmond. Poor mom has been driving so much for us. I greatly appreciate it as anytime with her is great especially after being in trail for so long but doesn’t mean driving aint hard. My phone was soaked for most of the day so a lot of pictures are blurry from the rain. Also mom and I are terrible at taking pictures together so we got like none.
Campsite to mirror lake - 31.1 miles Total - 1960.3 miles Woke up to everything damp once again but it was okay as the sunrise was incredible. The sky was painted orange and pink coloring the clouds. You could see the south sister mountain had developed layers of lenticular clouds which are always so gorgeous to look at. The burn zone that we were in was gorgeous only because of the sky. It was a pretty easy day but I don’t remember much of the first 18 miles as I was yapping Gigs ear off who I had just met. I was gossiping and practically trauma dumping to her but she was so cool and kind that I don’t think she cared. At least that’s what I’m going to tell myself. She works as a firefighter in Montana which is so cool. She also had such a calming voice that I bet everyone just trusts her blindly like I would. We were yapping together and Marc heard and he was struggling as he was an eepy boy so he trailed behind us and listened to our yap session like we were a podcast. I had taken some caffeine pills so that was definitely contributing to my yap session. Eventually we stopped around 11 for a break and we realized how far we had come aka 18 miles. We took a lil break and ate an early lunch. The weather also had been amazing all day with low clouds blocking the sun. I barely drank any water so I had to down some liters to make up for dry mouth from the yap session lol. We parted ways with her and cruised another 9ish miles to round out our average to 26ish by 3pm. Truly impressive but the terrain was hella flat. We got to elk resort turn off before taking another lil break before pushing on the last 5 to make it to mirror lake for camp. Ben ended up hitching from shelter cove to elk lake to catch up with us. I still got to camp first and waited for the guys to catch up as Marc was calling Leonie. I did the 31 by 4:45 which felt pretty good today. More mosquitos than I would like at camp. We were waiting to see who owned the backpack at our preferred site but they didn’t show up for another hour and a half so we set up I think taking her spot. But she didn’t set anything up so it was hard to tell if she wanted to the site or not. I cooked dinner and ate before finishing off my chores and getting into bed to scroll lol. Too many mosquitos to want to be outside but it’s not as bad as Yosemite. It’s supposed to rain a lot tomorrow so trying to enjoy the warm while I still can. Marc and I had a good conversation today about people skipping miles. Obviously I’ve skipped about 150 miles. Something along those lines. Half of them have been recommended by the pcta and the other half have been small hitches that skip about a couple miles while 50 of them have been from a timing issue. I don’t have a problem with people skipping whatsoever especially for timing issues or something along those lines. What we really talked about was diminishing achievements. I’ve always said I want to be transparent that I have technically not done the entire PCT as I have skipped miles like I’ve said. I think it’s being honest but he told me it was diminishing my own achievements as I have hiked the pct even with the skips. It’s hard to fully accept it as I feel like I have to overachieve to be taken seriously. I have to be super good at something to be considered. He really put it into perspective that it’s okay to claim something and to be fully proud of it. Idk it was helpful. I’ve learned a lot on this trail and it continues to give me lessons when I think I’ve learned enough lol. He had said awhile ago that he doesn’t know if the trail can provide anything more for him. I at the time said I don’t really like that statement because why do you always have to get something out of a situation for you to continue with that journey. Today, we both agreed that you continue to learn so much on trail even when you think you’ve gotten everything out of an experience. For me, I’ve become a better communicator as well as being okay with claiming my achievements. It’s been nice to reflect especially now we are within 700 miles of the end of this long ass journey. There is also a survey called the halfway anywhere survey where this guy asks you questions and then he compiles all the answers and posts them for the next PCT class. Here’s my advice so far thag I’ve thought of - be a floater as you meet so many more people and you can hike your own hike - if you are in a group set a precedent and communicate - before going into the sierras, for the love a god know your limits as well as know how to use an ice axe with proper technique. So many people had to get airlifted out or got extremely hurt because they were not informed. Some got away unscathed but could’ve been way worse - skipping is a slippery slop I swear there were more but now I can’t remember them.
Campsite to campsite - 27.1 miles (we technically should’ve done more but we got a hitch) Total - 1929.2 miles Last night I decided to sleep in shorts for the first time as the last couple of nights I’ve sweated my ass off and waking up because of it. Big mistake as it was cold. I was fine though but I could’ve been a teeny tiny bit more warm. But that’s why I’m named Goldilocks so I live up to the name. The moon was also so incredibly bright that I had to make a makeshift sleep mask out of my fleece sleeve. Very innovative and it did the trick. I woke up to everything slightly damp. What a great way to start the day by putting on a cold damp smelly ass sunshirt along with damp smelly socks and pants. Really puts ya in the mood to hike ya know? Marc and I got moving on schedule while rock had no movement in his tent. Classic. It was a cruisy 7 miles to shelter cove pretty much all down hill. We passed some lakes that developed fog on them which was pretty! We also paralleled a stream that reminded me of so many hikes in Washington so that felt like home. Eventually we got to the train track crossing with a loud ass train passing through. Luckily it was short and we made our way into shelter cove. Shelter cove is gorgeous and I would definitely come back just to hang out on a regular camping trip. The lake was huge and had a ton of boats on it despite it being 8 am. The sun was glistening off the surface too making it seem extra special. We set our stuff down and immediately got a resupply going and organized. Way too damn expensive for just 2.5 days. After I got that sorted I went to the grill and got myself a breakfast burrito as I was on the brink of murder from being so hangry. I ended up seeing spooky who we met in etna and chatted with her while we waited for our burritos. 10/10 taste but not big enough. Marc joined after a lil and got some breakfast which meant I had to get ice cream and a mocha at 9:30am. Wouldn’t change a damn thing. That ice cream sandwich hit the spot. After we hung around charging our stuff before heading back to the hiker area where a group of people were all hanging out. Sprinter, a guy that follows the bubble in a van and helps out, was offering rides to others to the trailhead which we immediately hopped onto. Cutting off another 2.7 miles? Oh hell yeah. What do I look like? A purist? Hell no. We met this dog right before leaving that was only scared of pct hikers. Fine with kids, other adults, and everything in between but when it comes to pct hikers, the dog got so nervous lol. I think it’s the smell. We chit chatted before piling in 8 people into Sprinter’s van and cruising up to the trailhead. He was slackpacking them 20 miles before picking them up again and bringing most of them to traildags tomorrow in cascade locks. Last time we saw sprinter was in mammoth, about 1000 miles ago so it was cool to see him again! Right before we left rocklicker showed up so we ended up leaving without him. Plus he’s a purist so he’s gonna walk it instead of hitch. Got to the trailhead and started hiking. Two big climbs which aren’t actually the big or steep but in oregon technically it’s a climb. Cruised up that in the green tunnel and called mom to say hi. Tried to call dad but I lost service by the time he got out of his meeting. Did I mention how excited I am to see her? Super excited!!!!!!!!! Nothing too excited during this stretch. I listened to the album Marc gave me which initially scared me as it’s so far outside my regular music taste but after the first couple of songs I kinda got into it. The album is “POST HUMAN:NeX GEn” by bring me the horizon. It’s metal and very Marc but I did find some songs enjoyable. I would love to listen to it in the car with a heavy bass. Could see myself head banging to it lol. I gave him my full review and I think he was very pleased. We then stopped for a water break and lunch. I am so goddamn tired of fucking bugs omg. I can’t eat in peace anymore without some stupid hornets disturbing my lunch break. They always go in your face and buzz horribly and just when you think they have finally left you alone, another fucker comes out of nowhere. Secondly, the ants are pissing me off as well. The big black carpenter ants make me want to scream sometimes. I’m starting to really enjoy flicking them into another dimension and hurling them through space and time. But somehow they always find a way back to my food and I’m so incredibly tired of always having to be on watch. I hate the thought of squishing them as I can see them pop under my fingers and that gives me the heebie jeebies so I can’t do that. I’m just sick of bugs. We got moving again and the next 7.2 miles felt slow so to pass the time I sang my lil songs. Eventually we made it to the lake that we planned on swimming at! Saw sprinter as this is where he was going to pick up the slack packers. Immediately hopped in to get all the sweat and dirt off. I washed my socks as they were so filthy that they would stand up on their own. I could knock them against a tree and I swear they would clink like metal. They had a layer of dirt so thick I could scrap off flakes. So I had to wash them. Plus one pair has some holes so I can’t use those anymore unless I want blisters. Which I don’t. We then decided to stick to our plan for once and only go 2.5 miles into a burn zone. Apparently the fire happened in 2022 but there is no growth whatsoever. It is so crisp out here that we can actually camp in the burn zone without worrying about widowmakers falling on us. It feels like an apocalypse truly. Kinda scary. The wind also picked up so we found a spot in a divot to mitigate the wind on our tents. Plus now it’s cold so I need a lil block from the wind. We ate dinner of two packets of ramen with a snickers bar (balanced diet of course) with the sight of the three sisters as our view. Tomorrow is a push to make our day into bend easier but I get to see mom so I will do anything lol. Rocklicker is supposed to be at camp but we will probably be asleep when he comes like usual. Marc and I had a thought to create one of those plates that tell you portions of protein, carbs, grains, fruits, etc but for hikers. So far we got fat, sugar, and protein. Most of my diet is strictly candy I can’t lie and it’s glorious. I love sweets but I have never craved sweets so much in my life. I have a true sugar addiction and it’s going to be hard to break once I am done. Marc does too tho. For breakfast he bought a chocolate chip cookie, and two payday bars. At least there’s peanuts on the bars. It’s pretty foul out here diet wise.
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