HARDEST DECISION

So we made it to Stehekin! The last stop on the PCT before the Canadian border. We are a mere 80 miles from the end and are currently holed up in Chelan, WA waiting out this monster if a storm. 

I've been meaning to update you all for a whole now, considering we got to Stehekin on Friday, but I have not has cell service in over 8 days! Stehekin is a small (there are 75 permanent residents), beautiful town in the Northern Cascades, only accessible by boat, plane or hiking. We made it in on Friday and have been waiting around to see what this storm does in the meantime.

Which leads me to the toughest decision we've been faced with... 

Whether or not to go on.

Is this the end of our hike? Have we come to the end of the line? 80 miles from the border?

This storm, as many of you in the Pacific Northwest are aware, is bringing torrential rain, landslides, and floods at lower elevations and heavy snowfall to the higher elevations. So much snow. Colder temperatures. Tricky navigation. So much to think about. 

Hikers are bailing out left and right - and for good reason. This is probably a smart decision considering the conditions out there. It's really sad, actually. We are all so close! We've been through so much! Come so far.

We are trying to come to terms with what this storm could mean for us. Winter is definitely on its way... And it is here early! 

We could go on and attempt the last three or four days but it would mean purchasing new gear (winterizing), waiting for a break in the precipitation, braving the freezing temps, fighting hypothermia, using a GPS/compass for navigation  and hoping for the best.

There are some hikers that are going to attempt to push through, and I'm glad to report that they ARE being smart about it (buying boots, gloves, extra food and extra maps) but everyone has a different comfort level in the snow. 

Snow travel is a different animal. It's entirely doable but it isn't for everyone. I am one of those people that is intimidated by these conditions. I'd rather be safe than sorry and I'm leaning towards calling it quits. I was not prepared for this (mentally or physically) and will wait and watch the weather carefully. 

The only thing about waiting around and watching the weather is that it goes against our plans. We'd planned on being done by now and it is difficult (mentally, physically, FINANCIALLY) to drag this journey on indefinitely JUST IN CASE there may be a chance the trail is passable. 

The reality is - this storm will bring a significant amount of snow and no kind knows whether or not the trail will be easily passable. Everyone must make the right decision for them and consider their comfort/skill level in snow travel, their financial situation (can they afford to buy new gear at the end of a 5 month trip), are they willing to flirt with dangerous conditions, do they have a group to travel with (safety in numbers), and are they willing to finish their trip later.

We might need to accept the fact that our journey will not be exactly how we had imagined. 

We've been so lucky up until now - no serious injuries, no illnesses, no road blocks, fabulous weather, no fires, etc. 

We have so much to consider in the next 24 hours. 

But in the meantime... We will wait. We will eat. And we will be glued to the weather reports.

Wish us luck!

WASHINGTON? YEAH.

Made it to White Pass. Heading out to Snoqualmie today. The weather has taken a turn... And it is very inhospitable outside. 

Some Washington tidbits:

- it's gorgeous: verdant, lush, tall, damp.

- everything is so lush!

- Trout Lake, Washington was a cute town

- bottle fed some baby kittens

- stayed in one of our favorite rooms at the Trout Lake Grocery

- Mt. Adams was a treat

- Goat Rocks Wilderness was one of our favorite sections so far

- saw a lot of goats 

- barely escaped the rain as we came into White Pass

I know this is brief, but I just had to update on our whereabouts. Of course I will do a day by day when we return home, but for now I'll need to keep things simple. 

A few photos: 

The Mt. Adams Creek crossing was terrifying. Here is Shotput navigating the silty water. Ben is in the background prepping for the endeavor. The water was the coldest water ice ever experienced. Colder than ice water.

Mt. Adams

Goat Rocks Wilderness

The Knifes Edge

The cloud we narrowly avoided

And finally... I'm looking forward to this guy when we get home: 

DAY 140: CASCADE LOCKS

DONE WITH OREGON!

miles: 28



September 6th, 5:30pm. Made it to Cascade Locks via Eagle Creek Alternate.



WE MADE IT!

DIDN'T TAKE A SINGLE PHOTO!

IT POURED ON US THE ENTIRE DAY!

I WAS MISERABLE!

SO GLAD THE STORM IS OVER!

LET'S DO THIS WASHINGTON!

DAY 139: TIMBERLINE LODGE & POUR DOWNS

miles: 20

Those are some comfy bunk beds. I took top bunk, even though I knew it would freak me out.

Let's talk about the breakfast buffet. The Timberline Lodge breakfast buffet is killer. It is all thru-hikers past/present/future talk about. It is all you can eat fancy food. We immediately sat down for breakfast and had a heart attack at the deliciousness of it all: Fresh belgian waffles with every topping you can imagine... and basically anything and everything you can think of.  I won't even bother listing it all here. You get the gist. It was heaven.

Our bunk beds.

Ben fixing the tent again.

Uh-oh.

Where I hung out and drank coffee for a while.

Against better judgement, we headed out into the clouds at 11:00am. Severe thunderstorms and heavy rain was in the forecast, but we felt we had no choice but to keep walking. We wanted to make it to Cascade Locks the next day. Plus... the wispy thin cloud cover was not threatening... at first.

This is where my camera got turned off. No more photos for the day, I am sorry to say.

Visibility left, clouds came in, mist turned into downpour and lightning began around noon.

Mt. Hood also had some pretty gnarly river crossings I hadn't known about which shook me to the bones. I was so shaken up by the end of the day I was threatening to evacuate any way I knew how (we passed a few roads). First it was the Sandy River crossing, which normally seemed okay but after the heavy rainfall of the past few weeks (relatively) it was a rushing river. Lightning was happening overhead, we were in an exposed riverbed a half a mile wide and I was DONE. But we made it across, eventually. Both of us opted for walking straight across the river, shoes on and all. This was probably the best decision.

Then there was the Muddy Ford. Instead of fording we crossed on a giant log. This was more than nerve-racking for me. All the while there is a serious thunderstorm actively making it's way over top of us. Then there was a climb! climbing climbing climbing. There was more climbing than descending it felt like. Weren't we supposed to lose thousands of feet of elevation in order to make it to the gorge? The Columbia River gorge is less than 500 feet, how are we still climbing??? Will it ever go down?

So in summary: river crossings, thunderstorms, drenched, climbing, no camping, and getting to camp at 9:30 at night (a record late hour for us). Luckily our packs, clothes, and all of our gear managed to stay completely dry thanks to our pack covers PLUS cheap rain ponchos.

I love my poncho.

DAY 138: MT. HOOD NATIONAL FOREST

miles: 30

We made it to Timberline Lodge.

The motivation to get there as soon as possible was so strong we went at top speed.

Feels like home.

!!!!

This sign.

Timothy Lake.

This has been the weirdest mountain approach we've had. Usually when we approach a mountain (Jefferson, Washington, Sisters, Shasta, etc.) we are able to see them coming for miles. We get increasingly spectacular views of them and they start showing themselves days before we are actually on them.

Mt. Hood is different.

We literally did not see Mt. Hood once until we were literally on top of it. There was no creep up, there was no build up, no photos snapped, until we were up on the Timberline Trail. This is partially because of the clouds and weather, but also due to tree cover. The trail just IS that way.

We ran into some southbound backpackers and they were climbing up to the point where we took our first (and only) photo of Mt. Hood (until we were up on it) and they said it was their first view of it as well! So we knew we were in for a surprise. We dipped down into the trees and stayed low all day. Eventually we crossed highway 26, then highway 35 and were left with 5 gentle uphill miles to the Timberline Trail.

This is home territory. We've backpacked, snowshoed and hiked many of the trails around here including parts of the PCT. We've done the section from Frog Lake to the Yellow jacket trail and we've done Barlow Pass. It was cool to see these areas without snow.

There you are. Finally.

A deer stares at me.

The most gorgeous section of all was the lead up to Timberline Lodge. Since we are a tad bit behind schedule and late in the season, we missed the brilliant wildflower displays. It was still a sight to see...

The final miles to Timberline Lodge are sand. Uphill sand. So for each step up, you take half a step backwards. It is really irritating. Both of us had also been starving ourselves for no reason other than the fact that we just didn't want to eat our food. It was no longer appetizing.

It's funny - when we get close to a town or a place with a restaurant, we can no longer stand the thought of our trail food. We simply can't eat it. I would rather starve and arrive famished than eat a granola bar. Also - we were just moving too fast to warrant the time it takes to stop and eat a meal/snack.

It's as if our food becomes garbage.

But once back out on the trail, we find it palatable again.



Oh - got stung by a yellow jacket today. I promptly took 2 Benadryl to fight any allergic reaction that could happen (I'm slightly allergic to stings). I don't remember it hurting so much. Do they get more painful as you grow older? After stopping to take care of the sting, we realized we were parked right outside of a yellow jacket freeway penetrating a nest in some dead wood. Left a note for the hikers behind us, but then realized there were many nests on this particular trail as we moved forward.

Is it yellow jacket season?

A few minutes later we noticed a trail sign: "Yellow Jacket Trail". How fitting. Is this intentional?

Heading toward the Timberline Trail.

Timberline Lodge across the canyon. 

Jefferson's tip peaking.

Timberline!

Can you spot the tip of Jefferson?

The clouds were dramatic as we walked up the trail and they could not bode well for the future. Tomorrow there was obviously going to be a storm of some sort.

I dreaded the thought.

We got a room on a whim and were put in bunk beds, which was actually quite endearing. Timberline Lodge is an amazing place. We felt lucky to have snagged a room in such a fancy, cozy, paradise.

Sleepy from the Benadryl, dinner was a difficult task for me. The setting was unmatched by anything in this world: front row seat to Mt. Hood drenched in alpenglow, the shimmering of our candlelight reflecting in the windows, a cold IPA in our hands, a pile of butter on our food, the twinkling of stars, like... seriously guys. This was quite the scene. But I couldn't keep my droopy eyes open. I couldn't even imagine sitting in the hot tub I had been talking about all day. Bed was the only thing I could think of, and man, did we both crash hard.

The promise of a warm meal and warm bed.