Walks A Ways: 08/11/22

Thursday, August 11, 2022

PCT Day 87

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PCT Day 87, 07 August 2022 (Sunday)

“American Ninja Hiker”

Start Location:	Wilderness Campsite	Destination:	Mosquito Creek
PCT Miles Day 87:	29.2	Cum PCT Miles:	1,574.4
Non-PCT Miles Day 87:	0.3	Cum All Miles:	1676.6
PCT Miles Remaining:	1,078.4
Elevation Gain Day 87:	3,730	Cum Elevation Gain:	270,627

Part of what makes Washington hard so far, is not just the ascents and descents, but it’s been a real obstacle course. There are lots of downed trees of all varieties, lots of roots and rocks, lots of vines, and a lot of overgrowth across the trail.

Another thing about Washington so far, is that, for some reason, there seems to be a real dearth of tent sites. I’m not sure where they expect people to sleep at night. It seems like it gets harder to find a suitable tent site every night. And for some reason, some of the better sites seem to be right in between water sources that are far apart.

So, you can either hike way less miles than you want to just to get a good site, or you can carry a lot of water so you can be opportunistic about any site that might come up, or you can just take your chances by going to the water source that’s further down the trail and is the one you really want to get to, but it’s going to be late in the day when you get there, and there might not be any tent sites available.

So far, I can’t really say that I’m a big fan of the very southern part of the PCT in Washington. It’s not an area I would come back to hike again, and it’s not an area that I would recommend to others to hike. Supposedly, it does get better the further north you go. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

BTW, my back, while still not 100%, is getting better. Right now, I am more concerned with my feet than my back.

New Big Agnes tent with Mt. Hood in the background

Mt. Hood in the morning

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PCT Day 86

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PCT Day 86, 06 August 2022 (Saturday)

“Back Therapy”

Start Location:	North of Rock Creek	Destination:	Wilderness Campsite
PCT Miles Day 86:	23.9	Cum PCT Miles:	1,545.0
Non-PCT Miles Day 86:	0	Cum All Miles:	1647.1
PCT Miles Remaining:	1,107.6
Elevation Gain Day 86:	5,489	Cum Elevation Gain:	266,897

Today was another hard day in Washington, and I’m not really expecting it to ease up. If there is a day where the trail is easy, that will just be a bonus. Other than the difficulty, the hiking today was fairly nondescript, a lot of hiking in green forest where the views are limited. We did cross several large creeks and rivers today, though—there’s a mini bubble of about a dozen or so people I’ve been hiking around for the last couple days.

There was, also, trail magic provided by Oakley and Birdbath, both hiked the PCT last year. They really picked a good spot on trail, and, being former PCT hikers, they know what hikers like and did a great job providing fresh fruit, cold beverages, cookies, muffins, and other various snacks. It was warm and humid today, and with the trail being difficult, it was very nice to get this treat.

Normally, when you have a sore back, your doctor or physical therapist will tell you to relax, take it easy, and maybe apply some heat. It is highly doubtful they would recommend putting on a heavy backpack and hiking over 43 miles with over 10,000 feet of elevation gain over a two day period. While unorthodox, and probably not recommended for most people, this is exactly what I’ve done. And, my back has been feeling better mile by mile. We’ll see how it feels in the morning, but I am hopeful in the next couple of days my back will be 100% back to normal.