Magic on the PCT Days 139-141

*These posts come directly from the walkthrough, I apologize in advance for any typos!*

Location: South Washington
Home: – 2298.1
End: Snowy Lake – 2307.9
Miles: 9.8
Promotion: 1444 | Descent: 894
Sleeping: Tent

Nero out of the “city”! The camping area behind the gas station was close to the hotel and there were external lights that stayed on all night. That, combined with a constantly running sprinkler, made me worried I wouldn’t get a good night’s sleep, but thanks to my earplugs and the Buff over my eyes, I slept well. It was nice to sleep in this morning. The store opened at 8am and I got up around 7am to pack up and start sorting Truffles and the replenishment box.

We mailed this resupply to Bend, Oregon, and it seems like forever ago we put together our boxes. I didn’t remember anything I had packed and it was hard to determine what was for me and what was for Truffles. With everything laid out on a picnic table, it was easier to go through, and after a while I had my stuff in my lunch bag and Truffle’s stuff was organized for him.

As soon as the store opened, I went in to pay for a shower. $10 for a shower and towel feels pretty expensive, but it was one of the best showers I’ve ever had on the trail! That could simply be because most of our recent showers have been at campsites, but today’s shower felt like a spa treatment. There was a separate bathhouse on the White Pass property. Inside the bathroom were individual bathrooms complete with sink, toilet and shower. I didn’t expect something so civilized that could contribute to my excellent review. There was shampoo/conditioner and body wash two in one, I didn’t have to use my Dr. Bronner soap! I had 30 minutes to return the bathroom key, which meant I could shower for as long as I wanted. That also felt like a treat compared to the standard 5-minute showers at campgrounds. I even had time to put lotion on once I dried off, something I haven’t bothered with since Bend.

Feeling refreshed and clean after my shower, I walked back to the hiker meeting area to find my friends awake. Truffles and I went to the store to order breakfast. I had a coffee, French toast and hash browns and Truffles, a breakfast sandwich and a drink. Truffles got to work organizing her food while I called home.

The only other task we had to do was call Lisa, my mother-in-law, with our list of final replenishment items. She mailed us several other resupplies earlier along the way, so we thought she would use the last of the items to mail us our last resupply to Stehiken. We wrote down what items we would like and Truffles called her. While we were doing this, Pinky, Hangman, and Pimento were charging their electrical devices, taking showers, and just hanging out.

Like any other time leaving the city, morning slipped away from us and before we knew it, it was almost noon. We got some lunch snacks from the store to fuel us through the afternoon and finally hit the road around 12:30 pm Fortunately we weren’t planning on going very far so it didn’t matter that we started so late.

Today’s walk was nothing extraordinary. We had some elevation gain, but it was well level and I navigated uphill even with 5 days worth of food in my backpack. We were in the forest most of the time, which reminded me of the green tunnel. Today was Sunday, so we saw a lot of hikers out there. I even came across several groups that were berry picking, looking for huckleberries and huckleberries. Today there were tons of small ponds scattered among the trees, some larger than others. They made a nice change of scenery among all the trees.

Today I walked alone ahead. I stopped at the top of the hill when I had a cell signal and everyone else caught up to me. Pimento and I walked together for the rest of the day and the time passed quickly as we chatted. We arrived at the Snow Lake campground around 4 pm. There were several other campsites for the next few miles and I thought we would all meet up again and then move on, but Pinky was feeling tired and wanted to call early. The lakeside campground was beautiful, so it was easy to arrange a stop for the day.

We set up our tents and played until it seemed late enough to make dinner. After eating, we played several rounds of Phase 10 before crawling into our tents shortly after 8 pm. I’ll be happy to go to bed early again tonight. Today we reached 2300 miles! It’s hard to believe we only have about 350 left now…

Location: South Washington
Start: Snowy Lake – 2307.9
End: Sheep Lake – 2328.9
Miles: 21.0
Promotion: 4101 | Descent: 3301
Sleeping: Tent

Too tired for a full diary. Enjoy these short announcements:

I slept in and didn’t move until 8am.

Flat and downhill all morning, talked to Truffles

Uphill after Bumping River, I started listening to Gone With the Wind.

Long uphill, we stopped halfway at a stream to get water.

I crossed into Mt. Rainier National Park at the top of the climb, I would be in and out of the park boundaries the rest of the day, views of Rainier around every turn.

Choppy up and down most of the afternoon

I caught Hangman, Pinky and Pimento having lunch at American Lake Junction and joined them for lunch.

He stopped at Anderson Lake and got into a fight with Truffles.

More choppy ups and downs, nice views along Loch Dewy, stopping at the entrance for water

Short but steep climb to Tipsoo Lake

Scenic Hike to Chinook Pass

Tom and Beth’s epic trail magic, stayed with them for several hours and helped them pack up, left around 8:30

I walked through the night to Sheep Lake, settled in the darkness, and went to sleep.

Location: South Washington
Start: Sheep Lake – 2328.9
Finish: Mike Urich Cabin – 2350.2
Miles: 21.3
Promotion: 3013 | Descent: 4010
Sleeping: Tent

Another good day on the road. The morning started out great when I saw how pretty the campsite was in the daylight! I hate setting up in the dark, but it’s a surprise to see how everything looks in the light. Sheep Lake was small but impressive as it was surrounded by rocky peaks and ledges with conifers dotting the landscape. Last night I took coconut water for the magic trail ride and drank it while looking out over the lake in the morning light.

When we finally got going, it was just before 8am and we had to go up to Sourdough Gap. It was short and steep but offered beautiful views in the distance. We paused at the top of the hill to enjoy the view and chatted briefly with Two Things before beginning the descent.

We descended for several kilometers before heading uphill again. We stopped for a while at Bear Gap, where we had cell phone reception before passing several trail junctions. Rounding a bend I came across another view of Mount Rainier. It is such a beautiful mountain and looks like an absolute giant with all the glaciers.

The trail continued to go up and down all day and I got into the rhythm of the hike. Shortly after 11am I arrived at the spring where I caught Pinky and Hangman. I sat with them to filter my water and prepare my lunch while I ate a snack. I stayed outside even after Pinky and Hangman left and soon Truffles and Pimento joined me. I ended up staying at the water fountain hidden in the shade for two more hours. We all had lunch and enjoyed being out of the oppressive sun for a few hours.

The rest of the day was a series of ups and downs in and out of the burned areas. Climbing under the scorching sun is difficult. Thinking about it being the norm in the desert seems crazy to me, like how did I suffer from this all the time? In many ways, the first few sections of the trail feel like another lifetime ago. I have to wonder if it was actually me in the desert and Sierra or someone else.

Pimento, Truffles and I stopped at Airplane Meadow to venture off the road and find a crashed plane. I expected to see a modern plane in ruins, but what we found was a rusty engine that to me looked nothing like an airplane. Pimento and Truffles thought it was at least okay.

From the meadow to our next water source it was mostly downhill and passed pretty quickly. I was lacking energy and was glad when we finally reached the water and could take a break. The water source was a barely trickling stream with stagnant puddles, but we found a decent flow and were able to collect from there. We even found a frog in the water!

We were conflicted about how much water we should draw. The next water source was our cabin camp, but FarOut comments advised against drinking the water due to the noro outbreak. The cabin is supposedly a breeding ground for noro and numerous comments spoke of people becoming seriously ill after drinking water there and staying inside the cabin. Common sense won out and we decided to bring extra water so we wouldn’t have to drink the cabin water.

We had one last hill between us and the cabin. With 4 liters of water my backpack hurt and I was tired and in a bad mood, I was ready to call it a day. Since I was having my own pity party, it started raining just to spite me. Fortunately it was just a passing rain and it stopped when we reached the cabin.

Honestly, the cabin was quite nice on a large open meadow. It was huge and had a large covered porch and a toilet. Afraid of noro, I continued walking and found the rest of our group setting up their tents a little further down the trail. We set up our tents and started eating dinner. Fortunately, the rain stopped and we stayed dry all night.