Category: Pacific Crest Trail

At mile 2300.9. Hiked 21.4 miles today. 

Today was a short day into White Pass where I resupplied with a package sent to Kracker Barrell. I barely beat the Miriam Fire trail closure south of White Pass. In fact, it was officially reported at 11 AM and I was hiking through that area around noon. 

After spending most of the day at Kracker Barrel, I started hiking again at 6:20 pm and hiked into the dark some time after 9 pm. The area full of scum ponds and  was infested with mosquitoes. To make matters worse, my GPS stopped working and indicated that I had hiked off map. I backtracked a mile before I encountered a trail junction sign that indicated I was indeed on the PCT all along.  Don’t always trust your GPS! The GPS continued to give false readings into the next day.

Amazon has delivered a Thermocell to me at Kracker Barrel and I tried it out while I cooked dinner. I sat outside the tent completely mosquito free while cooking, wearing shorts, no headnet, and tent door wide open. This was at Busch Lake where there are hordes of mosquitoes. Thermocell kept them 15 feet away.

Hiking out of camp the early morning light hit the mountains.

After a long climb., I crossed a ridge and could view Mt Ranier through a smoky haze.

After a tough climb the trail as traverses a long slope before descending to White Pass.

A large plane is dive bombing a fire near the area I had just passed through. At the time we were hiking near the fire, we noticed strange orange tinted sunlight filtering through branches overhead.

Smoke plume seen from Kracker Barrel. There was a big show of assorted helicopters and planes of all sizes responding to the blaze. 

At mile 2249.4. Hiked 20.5 miles today. Camping at Lava Springs.

The highlight of the day was viewing the massive glaciers of Mt Adams.  New shoes helped my feet and legs handle the trail much better. My feet and toes only felt a little tingly, not tingly to the point of losing feeling.

I also saw my first elk of this trip. It was a female that quickly trotted off.

Here is a view of Mt Adams.

Glaciers on Mt Adams

People: Camping with Cache22 and Yoga at Lava Springs.

I’m staying in Trout Lake a 2nd night making today a zero miles hiked day. I’m lucky to have gotten a private room at the grocery so I’m living in style in downtown Trout Lake. An extra bonus is that there is a bathtub where I soaked in a warm bath of Epsom salts. 

Cache 22 and I used the bathrobes provided while all our clothes were in the washer. Nobody seemed to notice.

I received new Altra Olympus shoes in Trout Lake. Here are the Altras that went to the dumpster.

Here is my resupply box.

At mile 2228.9. Hiked 15.4 miles today.

Here is Mosquito Creek. In my opinion  there are many lakes and creeks and campsites that should be named after this swarming blood thirsty pest.

Here is one of the few open spots along today’s trail. The next section will be much different having  great views.

Here is a view of Mt Baker from the outskirts of Trout Lake. It was easy hitching into town. My ride, Bill even drove me past all the main stops in town and explained where everything was located. Thanks Bill!

I’m in Trout Lake for a true zero. New darn tough socks and Altra Olympus shoes had just arrived from Amazon. These worn out Altras went to the dumpster. I’m convinced that some of my leg pain and toe numbness was due to these worn out shoes. I was ready to replace 100 miles ago, but I needed lead time to have them shipped. Next time I will order new shoes before the old ones are worn out. I’m now on my 3rd pair of shoes.

Day 95

At mile 2213.5. Hiked 25 miles today.

Today I began seeing a lot of SOBO’s on the trail including a group of about a dozen calling themselves the train.

Here is Mt Hood with the outlines of Columbia River gorge visible.

View of Mt St Helens. Trees blocked most of the views.

View of Mt Adams.

This is Blue Lake where Toothbrush and I saw horses. These people were out for several nights. Previously I had only seen riders that were out for the day.

I wanted to swim in Blue Lake, but the mosquitoes were too bad. We ate lunch at Blue Lake while battling mosquitoes. 

This is Bear Lake which isn’t last water for 11 miles. I stopped here and cooled off by swimming across the lake and back. Once out of the water I quickly covered up and headed out before many mosquitoes landed all over my wet body.

People:

Toothbrush