Overall PCT Day 138

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2026 PCT Day 22, 05 September 2026 (Saturday)

Overall PCT Day 138

"If A Bear Growls At You In The Woods…"

 

Start Location:	Elk Lake, Mi. 1955.4	Destination:	Bend Oregon From Lava Camp Lake, Mi. 1984.1
PCT Miles Day 117:	28.7	Cum PCT Miles:	2532.4
Non-PCT Miles Day 117:	2.1	Cum All Miles:	2752.5
PCT Miles Remaining:	113.9
Elevation Gain Day 117:	4576	Cum Elevation Gain:	429,442

 

Today was kind of a crazy day. I got up this morning to a decent forecast for at least part of today. I got a very early start, and hiked with a headlamp for about one hour.

It was cold but not extremely cold as I started. About one mile up the side trail from Elk Lake leading back to the PCT, I heard something that reminded me why I do not like hiking in the dark. I heard a bear growl in close vicinity of where I was; it was an unmistakable sound. I looked all around me, but with the dark it was hard to see and probably behind some bushes and trees. As another hiker said regarding another story while we were all hanging out around Shelter Cove during the rain a few days ago, “that will make your sphincter pucker up.”

Holy moly, it was all the motivation one needs to scamper up the trail as rapidly as possible. I would look behind me, about every minute or two to make sure the bear wasn’t following me up the trail. I would also regularly clap my hands and yell out hey bear. Obviously, nothing bad came of it. The bear was probably just giving me a warning growl, letting me know I was interrupting whatever it was doing.

As the day dawned, I looked up in the sky to see a crescent moon. It’s nice that I can finally see something in the sky other than gray clouds. As more sunlight made itself available, I could see the sky was mostly clear. And in an hour or two I could actually take off my jacket for the first time in days on the trail.

As I was hiking along this morning, I turned a corner and then, bam, right in front of my face an unobscured view of South Sister Mountain covered in new snow. I wasn’t expecting it to be so close to the trail. What a great sight.

So far this morning, the only rain is the residual water in the trees that comes pachinkoing down the needles and branches until it hits open air and falls to the ground, and occasionally falls on me.

With the bear growling at me, having some sun today, and seeing some really nice peaks, today was a pretty exciting day. And it was made even more exciting because around noon on the trail, I saw an animal. It was a fox. As soon as it heard me, it ran off into the woods, so I only got a short look at it. You can’t experience this kind of day by sitting on the couch at home.

Unfortunately, around 3 PM, the rain came back. But it got worse. This was not just a rain storm, it was a ferocious thunderstorm. There was hail, lots of hail. I felt like I was being shot at by a shotgun in the sky whose shells were filled with hail. And it was also raining very hard. The trail was getting flooded, turning into a stream.

I was in a burn zone at this time, and there were no live trees under which to seek shelter. Also, this is an area with extremely limited options for finding a place to camp— in better weather, there would’ve been more options. The one place somewhat nearby, was still about five miles away. Then the lightning and thunder came right overhead. There were multiple massive claps of thunder directly over me. To be honest, it was a bit alarming.

I got to the campsite as quickly as I could, but all the tent sites were completely unprotected, and worse, they were all under large puddles of water. It continued to rain hard, it didn’t seem like it was going to let up. This was a pretty bad situation because there didn’t seem to be any viable options as to where to go next on the trail, and it was getting late in the day. And it was getting colder.

Just before getting to this campground, I ran into a couple other hikers. One was a younger kid that I’ve seen off and on the trail for about the last week, and he was spending a few days hiking with his dad. It just so happens that they live in Bend, Oregon, which is where I was going to go tomorrow. Both of them had Garmin satellite communicators, and the dad messaged his wife, asking her to drive to the campground, which luckily has trailhead parking. They offered me a ride into Bend, and having almost no options to spend the night on the trail in these conditions, I gladly accepted. That was pretty lucky. I’m not sure what I would’ve done otherwise. It was perhaps the worst situation I’ve been in on on the PCT.

Like I said, a really crazy day. The best scenery of the trip so far, unique animal experiences, and then just an unbelievable storm on a stretch of trail with no good tenting options. And then some good luck. What a day!

Starting Monday, the weather looks very much improved. So the upcoming week will be much more conducive to hiking and ultimately completing the PCT.

 

Morning scenery from the trail

South Sister Mountain, the coolest scenery I've seen yet on this trip

Scenery from the trail

An interesting view of South Sister

Middle Sister Mountain, also with a new blanket of snow

South and Middle Sister Panorama

It looks like the next wave of rain is on the way.  Hopefully I can make it to the end of my hiking day before it starts.

And, finally, there is North Sister

Oregon has several areas with special rules for day users and PCT hikers.  The Obsidian Area is one of them.

Obsidian Falls

Obsidian Creek

Obsidian Creek with Middle Sister in the background

Why this is called the Obsidian Area

Looks like Bonsai art

The first of two lava rock sections today; this might slow me down a bit.

Looking back down at the lava rock section

Collier Cone

A different view of Collier Cone

Entering the next lava rock area

Mount Washington

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Overall PCT Day 137

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2026 PCT Day 21, 04 September 2026 (Friday)

Overall PCT Day 137

"Hung Up To Dry"

 

Start Location:	Stormy Lake, Sisters Wilderness, Mi. 1936.8	Destination:	Elk Lake, Mi. 1955.4
PCT Miles Day 117:	18.6	Cum PCT Miles:	2503.7
Non-PCT Miles Day 117:	3.1	Cum All Miles:	2721.7
PCT Miles Remaining:	142.6
Elevation Gain Day 117:	955	Cum Elevation Gain:	424,866

 

Not much to say today, and no pictures. It was a very frustrating day.  My tent is very wet again from all the rain last night.  And there was just no break in the rain today long enough to dry things out.

This was a day that I should’ve done a lot of miles.  But because it’s also been very cold at night, and I was at a point in the trail where I had an option to go to Elk Lake Resort, I decided it was the safer thing to do.  This way I can get all my stuff dry again.  The forecast is a little bit better going forward, so hopefully I can make up some of the miles I didn’t do today.

I will probably get rained on again several more times before I finish this hike. That’s OK as long as there is a long enough break in the rain each day that I can get my stuff dry.  The next eight to ten days could be interesting, and possibly frustrating.

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Overall PCT Day 136

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2026 PCT Day 20, 03 September 2026 (Thursday)

Overall PCT Day 136

"Making It Rain With Miles"

 

Start Location:	Shelter Cove, Odell Lake, Mi. 1908.2	Destination:	Stormy Lake, Sisters Wilderness, Mi. 1936.8
PCT Miles Day 136:	28.6	Cum PCT Miles:	2485.1
Non-PCT Miles Day 136:	1.7	Cum All Miles:	2700.0
PCT Miles Remaining:	161.2
Elevation Gain Day 136:	3298	Cum Elevation Gain:	423,911

The weather forecast this morning is definitely improved from yesterday, it’s even improved a bit from last night.   So I am getting back on the trail.  I am fairly certain I will still get rain here and there.  And it definitely looks like it’s going to be cold, that’s one thing in the forecast that hasn’t really changed.

One good thing about all the rain yesterday, and maybe a little bit more in the next couple days, is that it helps with the wildfires.  Most of the PCTers that were at Shelter Cove yesterday are NOBOs, and they were really hoping the rain helps with all the fire closures in Northern Washington.

About a half hour before leaving this morning, I looked outside the door of my cabin.  Although it was dark, I could detect no sign of precipitation.  Of course, as soon as I walked out the door to start hiking, with no ability to get back in because I left the keys inside, it started sprinkling.  Oh well, what kind of backpacker would I be if I couldn’t handle hiking in a little bit of light rain.  But I am glad that when I was at the store yesterday, hanging out for most of the day, I had a lot of time to look around, and I saw some emergency ponchos in the fisherman’s section.   It’s the kind of poncho they might give you on a wet amusement park ride; they’re not made to be durable or to last very long.  But I think I only need to worry about rain for the next couple days, so as a precaution, I decided to get one.

While I have a high-quality rain jacket, it is at least seven years old, and some of the water protection has probably degraded.  I didn’t want to test this theory on the trail, so I just thought one extra layer of impervious to water plastic might be a good idea.  It’s extremely lightweight and takes up hardly any space, so no real penalty to bring it.  I want to keep myself as dry as possible as long as possible today, so the emergency poncho got put to use right away this morning.

At the end of the day today, I will tell myself one of two things: it was a good decision to hike today or I’m an idiot, what was I thinking?  When you’re in the middle of the wilderness, days away from any sort of protective shelter, it’s an easy decision to hike in the rain.  But when you’re at a place with nice warm, dry shelter, and you decide to get on trail, that’s a completely different decision.

I talked to a fellow section hiker yesterday at the resort. She told me that the trail all the way up to Bend is in very good condition, it should be relatively easy to hike. Given the current weather conditions, I hope that is true. Today is the kind of day when you appreciate being able to do most of the walking in a forest as those trees do you provide some protection from the elements.

My ankle this morning feels the best that it has in the last week. There’s still just a little bit of swelling and there is a little bit of tenderness, but it definitely doesn’t feel like it’s going be slowing me down. However, my plan for today is to hike fast, but still stay somewhere in the comfort zone.

Today’s temperature ranged from cold to not quite so cold. The warmer temperatures were at the higher elevations and the colder temperatures were at the lower elevations. I’m no scientist, but I believe it’s because warm air rises and cool moisture-laden (heavy) air sinks. At one of my short breaks today, there was actually a little bit of snow falling to the ground. Then about an hour later, I saw a lot of blue sky.

The partially blue skies lasted most of the rest of the day, and it turned out to be a great day for hiking. The last forecast I saw this morning showed the highest probability of rain starting about 6 PM, so that’s the time I targeted for stopping today. This time just happened to coincide with a pretty good location, right next to the aptly named Stormy Lake.

I was really hoping to make it to this location while it was still dry out. Unfortunately, it started drizzling about a mile before getting to the lake. Luckily though, it stayed just a light drizzle. I actually was able to quickly find a really good location for my tent that is somewhat protected by the trees and seems to have good drainage in case the rain gets heavier during the night. And because I have had almost three weeks of practice now setting up my new tent, I was able to get it set up in record time.

I had a quick dinner, brushed my teeth, and got into my tent about an hour earlier than is average for me. Almost immediately after getting into my tent, it started raining harder. I hope it doesn’t rain too much tonight, but even if it stops soon, I’m sure I’ll be packing up a wet tent in the morning. I just hope that there is an opportunity tomorrow to dry out anything that is still wet.

Well, I still think it was a good decision to hike today. I got a fair number of miles in for the time I was on trail. As long as the rain stops before I get up in the morning, I should be OK. With weather like this in the Northwest, all you can do is take it one day at a time.

 

A useful directional sign when your brain might not yet have woken up in the morning

Lower Rosary Lake in the morning

A good view of all three Rosary Lakes

Maiden Peak Shelter.  There are not a lot of shelters on the PCT, and many think this is the best.

Charlton Lake

The burn section of today's trail

It may be hard to see in this photo, but it looks like there's a lot of green ahead past this burn area, and some interesting looking peaks on the horizon.

Scenery from the trail

An interesting view of Taylor Lake

A nice, scenic pond just off the trail

Brahma Lake

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Overall PCT Day 135

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2026 PCT Day 19, 02 September 2026 (Wednesday)

Overall PCT Day 135

"Rain Day"

 

Start Location:	Shelter Cove, Odell Lake, Mi. 1908.2	Destination:	Shelter Cove, Odell Lake, Mi. 1908.2
PCT Miles Day 135:	0.0	Cum PCT Miles:	2456.5
Non-PCT Miles Day 135:	0.0	Cum All Miles:	2669.7
PCT Miles Remaining:	189.8
Elevation Gain Day 135:	0	Cum Elevation Gain:	420,613

 

The rain came a little later than expected. It barely sprinkled until about 5 AM, then rained very lightly and then stopped.  But, around nine in the morning it started raining and it just won’t stop.   It is also supposed to rain tomorrow and Friday, and also get colder. In fact, they might even get snow here on Friday.  But after that, things are looking better.  I am going to stay here at Shelter Cove tonight, and then I’ll have to decide what to do from there based on whether the forecast changes or not.

They are very nice to hikers here at Shelter Cove Resort.  It’s also good for their business, because us hikers are pretty much the only people spending money at their little café and market today.

 

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