Making great days for the stays in the city

This morning I started moving around 4 am and had coffee. I went back to sleep a couple of times before I finally woke up when I heard the other hiker near packing. This ended up being a great tent and had impressive views of sunset. The other hiker, Joe, with whom I camped, left a little in front of me. But I thought I would see him later.

Leaving my campaign site and starting along the way again, I continued along the narrow line of the crest for a while. While walking on the mountain side, I certainly did not see better camp options than where I had stopped last night, even after a couple of miles, I just went through a place that seemed feasible, and there was a tent established there. As the morning progressed, a couple of more places would pass. I was so happy to have stopped when I did it last night.

I walked in the dark during the first half hour of the day and then finally the sun began to appear. There were incredible mountain views when the sun rose from the crest. It was a really incredible way to start the day. I felt great and kept my head down most of the morning. Actually, I don’t even stop for the first time until I was about 16 miles. But just before that I returned to Joe and another hiker. They were arrested at the place of the store near a water source about 13 miles a day.

I love starting my day with dawn!

The path had been pleasant and quiet when I went to the first 4–5 hours. There was not too much elevation gain to do and, on the other hand, I continued mainly along an steep crest. From time to time it appears in a wooded area with a path covered with pine.

The way in which the growing sun shaled this mountain in the distance was incredible.

I entertained all morning listening to my new book, surviving the extremes of Kenneth Kamler. Actually, it is one of my favorite books that I have heard all year. The author is a microsurgen who spent many years following trips and adventures. He ended up falling into the perfect place of the perfect moment to be the main doctor in expeditions of mountaineering and all kinds of exotic expeditions. Actually, he was the main doctor in the 1996 tragedy at Everest. And the book tells the stories about Everest, the Amazon, the deserts and even about being under the ocean. It is a very long book, so I spent most of the day listening to it and never ended up. But it has been great so far.

This morning’s views could have been some of the best of the whole year.

I kept my mind busy throughout the morning. Then, an hour or so after passing to Joe and another hiker, I decided to stop briefly in a record. I took more snacks and gave myself a little break. I hope to do a little more than 40 miles today, so it is always good to divide the day into large pieces. Ideally, if I have enough energy, I like to go at least 15 miles in the morning before stopping. But I cut a little slack now and if I want to stop a little before I will.

The brilliant ascending sun that appeared through the trees.

Before continuing, Joe came and we talked a little. Actually, he is planning about 40 miles today, so there is a good possibility that we end up camping together tonight. That is quite exciting and has not happened in a long time. He continued walking while I was sitting on the walk. But after just another mile or two, we spent the last source of water for approximately 15 miles. It was close to a snow motorcycle cabin too.

This is the snow motorcycle cabin. The hikers are welcome to the camp there and I did it in 2022.

In 2022 I stopped inside the snow motorcycle cabin with a lot of other hikers. Actually, it ended up being a great place to spend the night. Although at that time, there was a great outbreak of Norovirus spinning. So I am surprised that someone was brave enough to sleep there. This time I simply continued and did not even go to the cabin. He was barely halfway to the day, so he still had a long way to go.

I love the old style PCT markers.

For much of the rest of the day, I assumed that Joe was ahead of me. I was surprised that it never reaches it. But after a while, I realized that he probably stopped in the snow motorcycle cabin. After others, a few hours, it would eventually happen to me if that were the case. But later until the end of the day, I saw him and then I never saw him again.

Blue mountains in the distance.

I think it can be easy to discourage taking breaks during the first 15–20 miles of the day. Sometimes even more. But if you are not doing 35–40 miles all the time, then towards the end of the day, it is very nice to stop. So, even someone who easily advanced to me could finally be left behind. I am definitely not the fastest. But I certainly don’t take many breaks.

I spent a large part of the middle part of the day walking through the pine forest. But I was very happy to start and the day on some exposed path.

During the last hours of the day I continued along a crest watching a valley full of pine hills. It was a last section of the really beautiful day. Unlike some of the other sections here in Washington, today the mileage was very consistent. I moved around 3 miles per hour throughout the day. There has been a couple of days where the land slows me a little for one reason or another. So it was good to make a good time for a change. At 4 in the afternoon he had gone to about 32 miles per day. Which meant that it would probably get to the camp before dusk even doing a little more than 40 miles.

During the day, I ended up seeing several posters hanging near the path. The other day I went through Chinok Pass and I was surprised not to see sherpa posters, the hiker who disappeared on the PCT in 2016. I just remembered to have seen the posters along the way in 2022. But today I found some posters that have been in all this time. The last update written in the poster was 2022.

I also went through the posters of a missing person for a man who is sought by murder. When I was on the path of the Apalaches, I remember hearing that section of the closed PCT in Washington. Because this man murdered several members of his family and then fled to the surrounding area. Apparently there were searches on his computer, indicating that he had intentions to enter Canada. That was a long time ago, and it has not yet been found.

The sky became bright purple just before arriving at the camp at night.

The rest of the day ended up being really pleasant. There was a camp at 40 miles on the day it looked good. But I remember that in 2022 an old dirt road covered with weeds passed. It had definitely not used, so it would be safe to camp. I remember that a lot of tents is being installed and that it was really pleasant and flat. That would be a little further and would help make my day tomorrow even shorter. So I decided to point to that and simply drink water at the source closest to the camp.

I was able to walk through an open grass area and along a narrow crest towards the end of the day while the sun sets. It was a perfect way to end the day. Then I went up to the old dirt road, which had a camp on both sides. There was a tent installed on the left side, so I went on the other side. It is always good to have some space in the camp if you can. The store’s place was absolutely perfect and flat. I settled and then got into my store to relax for the rest of the night.

Because today I did a great day, tomorrow it will only be a day of 22 miles for Snoqualmie! When I was in White Pass, I booked the room for the night to be able to send a box there. My average daily miles worked to be great. But I ended up doing some bigger days to enjoy a little shorter day in the city tomorrow. I imagine that I will enter at 1 in the afternoon tomorrow and then I can have the rest of the day to relax and do the job.

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