I first hiked the Pacific Crest Trail over the course of 1994 and 1996, then I hiked the whole thing in one go in 2013. During the latter hike I kept this website updated as I progressed up the trail. I still have about 45 hours of video to edit, but in the meantime there is a lot for you to look at here. Over the course of the 168 days I wrote 138,734 words and put 13,644 photos on this website.
Wow, I took my shoes off and my feet are so clean. One creek wading and a trail beaten down by recent rain must be the cause.
Gabe and I hung around camp for part of the morning to dry the tents out. I walked around trying to retake some 1994 photos. On our way out we passed a side trail to "toilet". Gabe wanted a photo of it (really, it wasn't me for a change) so we climbed and climbed up the steep hill to the loo. Got there and by this point we had already done most of the climbing back to the PCT. At this point Gabe said he actually needed to use the toilet so I went up through the brush for a few minutes until I got to the PCT and Spectacle Lake junctions. I was pretty soaked due to all the wet foliage. Wasn't too worried about it though because today was going to be sunny.
We went down the trail and it seemed to take a long while to get five miles in. After the Lemah Creek bridge we started climbing. Over the next 10 niles or so, the trail climbs about 2500 feet and then drops 2500 feet. Curtiss and I missed this part entirely in 1994 because of a fire detour. The detour distance was roughly the same, it just avoided the whole hill climb.
[Gabe: It is still weird hearing a keyboard out here (even over a nearby creek)
We were separated for a good chunk of the hill climb and I listened to a new podcast I found, a game by game history of the Atari 2600. It was kind of nice to have something jar that part of my brain for a while.
Near the top of the ridge it was a pretty cool view. We met a PCT hiker named Hiker Box Special. He said it was a pretty good view out of Snoqualmie Pass.
The trail started heading down but the views were still some of the best I have seen on the whole trail. I made a mental note to look at the hi-res map tonight and see how many switchbacks there actually are going up and down this ridge.
Made plans backwards from when I am going to meet Cora so I know how many miles a day I need to do between given areas. I can slow it up a bit, but would rather do 10 miles a day rather than taking many days off in a row again....it is too hard to get going again.
It is also 19 years to the day that I crossed the Canadian Border on my Washington hike. Curtiss didn't do the last leg, but I ended up hiking with a guy named Pete Fish who was finishing up his section hike of the whole trail. More stories about him later.
Gabe and I walked a few more miles and stopped at a campsite near a creek. We are just a little past the halfway point between the two passes. We have about 35.5 miles to go, which means we will be at Stevens Pass sometime Tuesday afternoon. I was thinking this morning as I was plowing through all my food that I wouldn't have enough, but I should be alright. Oh yeah, I finally killed the gas canister I got in Cascade Locks. It had a pretty long run.
Ok, time for bed. Oh yeah, I counted the switchbacks...24 going up and 26 going down.