PCT Day 106: Goat Rocks Wilderness

Miles Hiked: 25.3

PCT Mileage: 2003.6

This morning I woke up at 4:30 without an alarm. I noticed that the mosquitos were not out and I got excited. I closed my eyes for fifteen more minutes before packing up as fast as I could. I didn’t want them to come out and attack me first thing in the morning. Only a few did and I killed them all. I was walking down the trail by 5:10am. Since I passed Trail Diva and Midnight last night I was wondering when I would see them today. I booked it the first 13 miles because I really wanted to stop for a long break on top of Cispus Pass. The first pass we have gotten to climb in a while. I only stopped to eat a breakfast of oatmeal, protein powder, and peanut butter. It was a crisp cool morning that felt like fall. I was craving huckleberry pancakes and wished so bad that I could be curled up somewhere eating them. I thought about that all morning until I got to the top of the pass. On my way up I caught an alarming whiff of smoke and hoped I wouldn’t see anything bad over the next ridge. I didn’t. I think it was just ambient in the air from all the fire in Oregon. More and more fires keep popping up all around the trail confirming that we made the right decision to go to Washington right away. If you remember my friend Hummingbird from the CDT, she told me she just got dispatched to a new fire in Oregon recently.

Cispus Pass was gorgeous. The peaks surrounding it had patches of snow and there was green grass, wildflowers, and waterfalls everywhere. I took an hour and a half break at the top. I got out my sleeping bag to dry it and took a cozy nap in the warm sun. I wished my weiner dogs were with me. I also tried to super glue my sunglasses that I broke yesterday since I will be hiking through some snow today and didn’t want to be blinded. I did a poor job. I’ll definitely have to buy another pair in the next town. After an hour and a half I left the top because I had to go to the bathroom and there were no trees or places to dig a hole. I went quickly down hill into the next stunning valley. I crossed a few creeks, one of them I did over a snow bridge. I went really fast because I was scared to bust through the snow. There was also an incredible waterfall I wish I could have spent more time at. I continued on with views of Adams and Ranier. It was an incredible day. When I started going uphill again I felt so exhausted. The rest of Washington is going to be so hard for me. I feel like my body is just falling apart and wants me to be done so badly but I still have to go over 600 more miles! No breaks yet!

I took a break at the junction of Old Snowy peak and the PCT. It was a nice long break in the hot sun. The view was absolutely stunning and I was glad I got to sit there for so long before Diva and Trash Panda showed up. We all hiked the Alternate together up towards the peak. Trash Panda bagged it but I had no desire. It looked sketchy. I made a sign out of rocks in the snow to celebrate hiking 2000 miles on the PCT today! This is the third time I’ve gotten to hike over 2k miles on a singular trail. It’s a big number for sure and my body definitely feels it. I think I feel equally tired as every other time I’ve hit this milestone. After Old Snowy Peak, the trail went on a crazy Ridgeline. It was so cool but definitely made me nervous. Diva and I went slowly. I was following her and just kept getting more anxious because it felt never ending and I just wanted it to be over. There were crazy steep drop offs on either side of us and the footing was loose but stable enough that it was safe. It just took a long time to go two miles. Once we got off the ridge into a valley by a stream, I was so glad. This part reminded me a lot of Colorado and the Continental Divide.

Diva and I hiked the last five miles downhill together to camp with Midnight at the bottom of the valley. She passed us during our last break. Today felt so long and I was so exhausted. The burrito I was so excited to eat for dinner turned out to be moldy and I was so sad. I was out 660 calories and had to carry around 10 oz of food I couldn’t eat. That’s a lot! On the hike down I had to get out my peanut butter jar and eat it by the spoonful because I got so hungry. We got to camp at 7pm and I was so glad to be done early for once.