The Majestic Washington Cascades

Day 124-127:

Breakfast at the cafe in Trout Lake was delicious! Blueberry pancakes and coffee, followed a couple of hours later by Blueberry pie and coffee. I reunited with K2 and her parents John and Cindy drove us back to the trail where we had left off. Here we met Snaps, Heckle and Jeckle again at the trailhead. 

Wonderful trail magic was being dished out there again too which I am always grateful for. The 13 mile/ 21km afternoon hike took us closer and closer to Mnt Adams and into the Mnt Adams Wilderness. 

I witnessed a rock avalanche on the mountainside high up and the sound of it was frightening. It was breathtaking walking along the base of Mnt Adams and being able to see the glaciers up close. 

We walked until Adams was behind us and Rainier loomed up ahead. As evening fell, we found a campsite near the Lewis River on a ridge overlooking the Cascade Mountains and sunset. 

To our left was Mnt St Helens. in the far right, Mnt Rainier and behind us was Mnt Adams, a more spectacular campsite would be hard to find!

Day 125:

I woke up to a spectacular pink skyline. Twenty seven miles (43.5 km) of trail ensued through alpine meadows, across creeks and streams, through lava rock areas and forests. 

Climbs and descents were the order of the day and I reunited with Pippin again for awhile. We ate handfuls of Huckleberries along the way which were delicious!

I camped at Walupt Creek with Stringcheese and Grandpappy Amos who is a south bound section hiker. 

It is so cold and the wind is whipping around the tent. I'm so happy to have all my layers on and to be snug in my tent and sleeping bag. Hope the weather improves tomorrow. 

Day 126:

The morning was cold and misty and I could barely see 20ft in front of me when I awoke. I found it difficult to get out of my tent but eventually did and said goodbye to Stringcheese and Grandpappy Amos. 

Presently the trail entered the Yakama Indian Reservation and the mist cleared to reveal spectacular views of plunging valleys and majestic mountains. 

After crossing over Cispus Pass, the trail hugged the mountainside and reached the beautiful waterfall of the Cispus River, where I sat and made some coffee. 

From there the trail meandered up through beautiful alpine meadows with spectacular views of Mnt Adams and into the rocky Goats Rocks Wilderness.

From there I had to traverse the Packwood Glacier on Old Snowy Mountain and dug my trekking pole into the ice and snow to prevent me from slipping. 

Great misty clouds came swirling across the mountain top, giving it a mystical "Lord of the Rings" type feel. 

Shortly after that I crossed another glacier on a steep mountain slope and then traversed over a ridge top called the "Knife's Edge" which most certainly lives up to it's name and gives sweeping views of the surrounding countryside.

 I felt a little scared a few times when part of the narrow trail with steep drops sometimes on both sides was eroded and had loose gravel preventing a stable foothold. 

When I got off the ridge, I had a late lunch at a glacial melt stream and met Redridinrobin and her two beautiful horses, Blue and Buddy.

She invited me to ride Buddy back to a trail junction about 5 miles/8km away and so I hoisted myself up into the saddle, pack and all. 

It was scary going down the steep mountain switchbacks but once on the trail in the forest I was relaxed and thoroughly enjoyed the ride. 

What an epic day!  Redridinrobin taught me a lot about riding a horse on a mountainous terrain. I am so grateful to another angel in my life. 

Once again, it is the spectacular people I have met on this journey that has made it so amazing.

I rounded off the day by setting up camp on a ridge overlooking the spectacular view of Mnt Rainier. As the mist and wind swirled about my tent I went to sleep in solitude on a mountain, exhausted but exhilarated!  

Day 127:

It's tough waking up to a cold, damp tent. All the mountain mist caused condensation on the inside of my rainfly and infiltrated everything, causing even my down sleeping bag to feel damp on the outside.

Outside on the ridge however, I was rewarded with the spectacular sight of Mnt Rainier in the early morning light.

I hiked downhill for the next 3 hours and reached the very friendly Kracker Barrel at White Pass. Here I saw Pippin, K2, John and Cindy again which was nice. My resupply box had not made it here, but I tracked it down to Packwood which is 20 miles away and I'll hitch in tomorrow to pick it up. Tonight I'll stay in lodging in White Pass as the temperatures dip down into the 30's F (32 degrees F is 0 degrees C). Yay, a warm bed for the night. Another reason to feel grateful! Only 347 miles/ 543km left to go.

Walking the Green Tunnel

Day 120-123:

My last day in Oregon couldn't have been more perfect. I was originally switched onto the PCT by my friend and fellow tango dancer, Damek aka Atomic. He had hiked the trail in 2006 and suggested that I would enjoy doing it too about three years ago... and here I am! Atomic became one of my trail angels in Cascade Locks and hand delivered a very generous and delicious resupply of food to me. Wow! I am eternally grateful. Thank you so much!

Before leaving town I went up to Shrek's trail angel house and received a bandanna which was very nice. There were a lot of PCT hikers in town and it was great seeing the ones I knew and meeting a few new faces. 

I then walked across the Bridge of the Gods which was an exhilarating feeling as I now only have one more state left to conquer. 

By 07:15 pm I had done a significant amount of climbing and set up camp on a ridge. 

The solitude up there was palpable.

Day 121:

From the ridge in the morning, I could see Mnt Adams, Mnt St Helens with her blown top and Mnt Rainier. I passed a few section hikers , one of whom thought I was from India and a couple of hunters with their crossbows.

A lot of climbing ensued as well as descending down to creeks followed by more climbing through "the green tunnel". 

I enjoyed a wonderful lunch break at Rock creek and was joined by K2 who I hiked with for the rest of the day. It was great to see Stringcheese again, who was south bounding this section to get back to Cascade Locks for a hiking event called "Trail Days". 

I eventually camped on the banks of the Windy River with K2. Madhatter and Wisdom. It's not really set up for camping at all but we found spaces for our tents. I hiked over 20 miles today. Gratitude is my main emotion.

Day 122:

Another great day spent hiking with K2. We left Windy River and mostly hiked uphill through fairly dry forests all day, gaining over 5000 ft of elevation. Once on the ridge of Huckleberry Mountain. We got spectacular views of Mnt Hood, Adams and later Mnt St Helens. 

During the course of the day, we saw Apache, Mary Poppins and Blueberry south bounding, also to get to "Trail Days". We crossed paths with Wisdom, the other Apache and Ninja and ended up camping at Blue Lake after a long, tough day but felt good that we had made such good progress, covering 26 miles/ 43km of mostly climbing.

Day 123:

It's been a treat hiking with K2 for the past few days. It would have been a long, long walk in the woods by myself and at least we've had each other to talk to. I awoke at Blue Lake at 06:12 am and saw a mouse running over the roof of my tent under the rainfly. I'm glad I kept everything zipped up inside. It's really cold in the mornings and getting light later and dark earlier. After collecting and filtering lake water we set out, passing quite a few lakes initially and occasionally getting glimpses of the majestic mountains of Washington. 

We stopped for a lunch break at Mosquito Creek which was rather pleasant and completed another 24 mile day at road R 23 where K2's parents were waiting.

They kindly gave me a ride to the quaint village of Trout Lake  and I rented a comfortable room with a shower and laundry facility at the grocery store for $25. 

After enjoying a wood fired veggie pizza and glass of Huckleberry wine, it was time to turn in and rest as I'm back on the trail tomorrow. My first encounter with the people of Washington state has been fantastic! Everyone has been so friendly. 

Washington also wins the prize for having the most bridges over the creeks and streams on the PCT. Fabulous!

Bridge of the Gods

Day 117-119:

I left for Timberline Lodge after a hearty breakfast. It was extremely cold and wet 40 degrees F/ 3.8 degrees C. I really wanted to see the lodge as it features in the movie "The Shining", although only the exterior of the building, the interior scenes were shot in an hotel in Colorado and on a studio set. 

The structure is magnificent and built with fine craftsmanship.

 I met up with many other PCT hikers there including Apache, seen in the photo and Snake Charmer who I last saw at Yellow Jacket Spring after the windstorm in the desert. 

After charging my phone and enjoying a cappuccino, I set out again, braving the cold weather, passing beautiful Mnt Hood and the ski lifts and managed to get in another five hours of hiking. 

The hike meandered through forests, climbed and dropped, crossing numerous streams and creeks.

 I finally set up camp in the forest above the Sandy River. 

Washington State is almost within grabbing distance. Just another thirty six miles to Cascade Locks. Wow, I can hardly believe it!

Day 118:

The very cold and damp morning had me lying snuggled in my sleeping bag, unable to move until after 8am. Shortly after that I had to ford the fast flowing Sandy River and couldn't find a spot with adequate stepping stones, so I took off my shoes and tried to balance across sticks and stones and made it across with very wet feet. After a lot of climbing and meandering, I came to another creek which had to be crossed "Indiana Jones" style on fallen tree logs. 

More climbing followed through forests with occasional beautiful vistas of the ever present Mnt Hood. I feel as though I've seen the mountain from almost every angle as the trail follows a huge 3/4 wide circle around it. 

As I hiked along, I ran into numerous hikers going southbound on day excursions or section hikes. One hiker passed by and asked "Are you Heather"? He introduced himself as Grey Wolf and said he had been following my journey on the internet. Wow! What are the chances? That is amazing. 

Just before darkness fell I came over the crest of a hill and saw my first mountain in Washington, Mnt Adams. What an exciting sight! I camped at Indian Springs campground and plan to take the Eagle Creek alternate route to Cascade Locks tomorrow. 

Day 119:

My last day of hiking in Oregon was epic. Indian Springs trail is very steep and it joins into the Eagle Creek trail which takes you through a beautiful rainforest setting, passing by too many waterfalls to count.

 The highlight of the day was Tunnel Falls.

 The trail continued along the creek, passed by multiple campsites and over numerous bridges and continued along a gorge, finally arriving in Cascade Locks, alongside the Colombia River.

 It was exhilarating seeing the Bridge of the Gods, as tomorrow I'll walk across it and start my Washington leg of my journey.