- September 4, 2006
I walked across the Columbia River on the Bridge of the Gods into Washington this morning. It is a grated bridge, very narrow, with no walk area. The cars crossing the bridge have to go around you. One scary walk with all the holiday traffic. It is difficult to keep walking with all the berries in the area. Blueberries (known around here as huckleberries) and huge blackberries. Over the days walk there was an accent of about 5,000 feet. The only hiker I saw was Snail. Hadn't seen him since Ashland. We had lunch together and visited and I moved on. My hike today started at Cascade Lock and ended 33 miles later at Stabler's Store. My longest day so far. Sore muscles tomorrow.
- September 5, 2006
Walked from Stablers Store to Crest Campground located on Road 60. About 18 miles. Saw one through hiker and two women and their dogs looks for Huckleberries Mountain. They had hiked about 5 miles and decided they were on the wrong trail and turned back. Looked at my map and told them they where about 1/2 mile from the mountain. Said they had enough and were not going. Dogs had given me a scare on approach. I didn't see the women only heard the growls of the dogs. The weather is really warm for this time of the year 70's higher up but closer to 90 in the lower elevations. The terrian is up and down a lot more than Oregon. Water is not as plentiful as earlier.
- September 6, 2006
I spent most of the day walking through Indian Heaven Wilderness. Good trails with clear markings. Six hikers were on the trail when I was dropped off. Had lunch with some of them. Moved on ahead but left the trail after about 20 miles. I am sure they kept hiking. I plan a short day tomorrow in order to spend some time with my parents. They are staying in Trout Lake, Wa.
- September 7, 2006
Only hiked 10 miles today. Saw no other hikers. Went into Trout Lake, Wa. Had the best dinner since I started hiking. It was at an outdoor restaurant with a waterfall fall and flowers every where. No indoor dining. It is only open on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The kind of food you expect in an expensive restaurant. Only about 10 tables and each meal was prepared when ordered. GOOD Did laundry and got ready for a three day hike into White Pass.
- September 8, 2006
Left RD 23 from Trout Lake. Most of the day was spent hiking up & around Mt. Adams. Saw a group of snakes all intertwined in the path. Not sure what kind but not rattlesnakes. Mating season? Was sitting having my lunch when I heard this loud noise and saw a brown plume of what appeared to be smoke. It stopped for a few seconds and started again. This went on for sometime. Mt Adams being a volcano, I thought it was about to erupt. After giving it some thought I decided it was rock slides. Whatever it was I decided it best to move on. Walked a log across mud river. It was the color of chocolate. Later reached lava spring where the water was clear and cold. Saw only one person all day. A lady riding her horse. We visited for awhile. Camped at Midway Creek alone.
- September 9, 2006
Woke up at 6:30 to soft rain on my tent. Zipped up the tent and went back to sleep until 7:30. Rain had stopped. As the day passed it got colder with a strong wind. I am hiking in Goat Rock Wilderness. There are big rocks that look like small logs in the path. Very difficult walking. Beautiful scenery with valleys, water falls and trees until I got above the tree line. Dark caught me well above tree line. Decided it best to camp there than to try walking in the dark. Found a small not too rocky place and set up my tent. The wind was blowing and really cold. Nature called at about 4:00 and I went outside. There was no wind, a full moon and about 5 degrees warmer than when I went to bed. Standing alone on top of the mountain with a full moon was so peaceful and quiet. Special time.
- September 10, 2006
Woke up to a great Sunday morning filled with sunshine and not as cold as the day before. Hiked down to below the tree line. Saw a big white tent with horses and mules outside. No people up yet. Must have been a group up for horseback riding. The trails can be used for horseback riding in most places and they seem to do that a lot where roads are close by. It is bow hunting season. Saw two hunters with their bows. They said they were hunting elk. I sure hope they call tell me from an elk. I was walking along and heard this great noise in the woods along the trail. Had no idea what it was until I saw a small group of long haired white goats. Guess that is why it is called Goat Rock Wilderness. Hiked all day with a great view of Mt. Rainier. Reached White Pass on Hwy 12 about 3:00. Not much food at the little gas station. Was happy to see my parents had been into Yakima and bought ribs and a roasted chicken with cold slaw and potato salad. Several hikers where at the gas station. Some hitched into Packwood for a room and hot meal. Others stayed at the lodge and ate whatever they could get at the gas station. We spent the night at the sky lodge.
- September 11, 2006
Started hiking at 7;30. I had a 30 mile day planned. It was mostly valleys, meadows and lakes until noon. Saw about 20 bow hunters all looking for elk. I never saw an elk but did hear one early in the morning. Caught up with 7 or 8 hikers. We all stopped by a lake for lunch. One of the hikers was "Ancient Britt". He is a 55 year old from the UK. He decided it was a good time to take a swim in the lake. As is his habit he stripped off his cloths even though there were 3 women present. The terrain was a lot steeper in the afternoon. I completed my 30 mile hike at Chinook Pass about 6:00.
- September 12, 2006
Took a down day to rest and buy supplies. I had to replace the tips on my hiking poles. The rocks had worn them down. According to the PCT website there is a big fire at Stehakin and the town is being evacuated. They bused all hikers back to the trail. Not sure what to do with any supplies shipped there. The fire is still burning the last 40 miles. Have no idea at this time what I will be doing at the end. Would be sad to hike this far and the last 40 - 60 miles closed. Some hikers say they will hike through fire or not. I think that is crazy. If the trail is closed I will honor this. I rested today, bought supplies, did laundry and will head back to the trail tomorrow. Ate 2lbs of ribs plus slaw and potato salad for dinner. Should be enough meat to last a few days. Weather said rain at lower elevation with snow at the higher ones on Thursday. Guess winter is coming.
- September 13, 2006
Left Chinook Pass walking in the clouds. Wet, cold wind blowing. Just as I was leaving about 7 hikers come walking out of the cloud. About 1 1/2 hrs later the sun come out. Still cold and windy but not wet. Hiked 22 miles to the Urick Shelter ( one of 2 on the trail). It is a cabin with a loft and a Ben Franklin stove. No wood nearby and we were all too tired to look for any. No fire. It was still great to sleep inside out of the wind.
- September 14, 2006
Woke up to rain. Kept waiting for it to stop before getting up. I knew that if I packed my tent wet almost everything in my pack would get wet. Nothing is worse than getting into camp and having to sleep in a wet tent with damp or wet sleeping bag and cloths. Finally gave up and left at 7:30. It was really nasty. Rain changing to snow ,snow changing to sleet and back to rain again. My feet where so cold I couldn't feel them. Put on an extra pair of sock. They were wet but was still a little warmer. It was so cold that I was afraid to stop to eat. Had to keep moving at a fast rate to keep from freezing. At about 3:00 the sun came out and I was able to stop for lunch. Spent the night at a US weather station. Camped outside under a light. Thought it might be warmer. Kept waking up all night thinking it was the sun coming up. Did 28 miles today.
- September 15, 2006
Woke up to rain again. Left camp at 7:30. Rained all day. No view. Just the trail and rain. Everything wet. All the bushes along the trail kept dumping more water on my feet.
Reached Snoqualmie Pass at 3:00. A room at the Inn, a bath, dry clothes and food. Still raining and 40 degrees. Suppose to still be raining tomorrow. I will move on as this seems to be the forecast for the next week
- September 16, 2006
Left Snokomish in the rain. Was suppose to stop but didn't. Hiked 23 miles in the rain. Reached my campsite to find it was full of horses tied to trees. There was a large white tent with a stove pipe coming out of the top but no people. This was the only source of water for some distance. Decided to backtrack a short distance and found a flat spot. Put up my tent and started to cook inside of my tent out of the rain. The horse owners (hunters) come by and wanted to know if I was all right. I assured them that I was and they went to their big tent with a stove and fire and I stayed in my little wet 2 x 6 tent.
- September 17, 2006
Woke up unable to move my head. Tried to stretch but the muscles spasm. I tried working it for a couple of hours with no improvement. Finally had to make a decision. Turn around for a day, hike back or go forward for two days. Decided to try the 2 days forward. Taking 3 Motrin every four hours. Muscle spasms all day. Sometime bringing me to my knees. Still raining. Hiked until 9:00 trying to make it out the next day. Too much pain to look for camping spot. Camped in the middle of the trail. Haven't seen anyone all day but not alone tonight. Have a mouse for company.
- September 18, 2006
Stopped raining during the night. 10 min after I got packed to leave camp it was raining again. Rained all day. Could only see the trail. Took Motrin every 4 hours. Finally made it out at 6:00. Was suppose to meet Yogi and Squatch in Skykomis at 6:00. It was 15 miles but decided to go ahead and hope they were still there. As we drove into town they were just leaving. Visited for awhile Yogi and Squatch did some filming, asking me about the trail.
- September 19, 2006
Down day today. Was hoping for some improvement with the muscle problem. It is now 5:00. Some better but still giving me a lot of problems. The next section is 5 days. Most of this section is an alternate route. According to the data book the trail is impassable due to mud slides in October of 2003 with the bridges over Huge fast flowing rivers and creeks down. There are alternate routes that are steeper than those of the trail. I doubt that I can make it over steep trails for 5 days carrying a 30 + lb pack. with my pulled muscle. Will have to make a decision tomorrow.
- September 20, 2006
Woke up this morning feeling some better and decided I had come this far and I really should finish. There are several alternate trails through this area. I decided to do the third alternate. Catch the ferry to Stehekin and catch the bus from there to the original trail. Stehekin can not be reached by road. It can only be reached by ferry or sea plane. It has an excellent bakery and the bus stopped long enough for me to get 2 sticky buns and a sandwich for lunch. Reached the trail about 1:00. Started raining about half an hour later. I found a large tree at lunch time that kept me partially dry and ate my portabella mushroom pesto croissant. Quite tasty for a through hiker. Saw no other hikers today. Camped by a small stream. It stopped raining just long enough for me to make camp and cook dinner.
- September 21, 2006
Heard strange noises most of the night. Woke up to find 3 mouse holes in my tent. I know he was inside my tent because of his leavings. Heavy fog with rain all day. Not able to see anything. Kept going up hill. I took the pack animal PCT trail sometime in the morning and didn't notice until much later. I decided that was OK since I was a pack animal myself. It rejoined the regular PCT later. When I reached Rainey Pass there was a sign posted saying the trail was closed due to fire. A trail angel by the name of Papa Bear was camped near the trail. (a former through hiker. ) He said the trail was open to Windy Pass 40 miles away. The 8 miles in Canada was open. That left 14 miles still closed. It had been raining for six days. I decided to go into town and get supplies and see if I could make it through.
- September 22, 2006
Arrived back at the trail about 8:30 to find several other hikers. We all decided to push on and hope the rain had put out the fire. Left in heavy fog with about 2 inches of snow that fell last night. It was a hard day with up and down all day. Shoulder doing ok. Some pain and stiff. When I reached camp there were four other hikers. It was about 7:30 and they had a nice fire going. I was late getting in and the fire only lasted long enough for me to put my tent up and warm a little. Cooked dinner inside of my tent and sleeping bag. Had a pouch of chicken with stove top dressing. Only needed hot water. Hiked 25 miles today.
- September 23, 2006
Woke up to cold, foggy, and wet weather. Hiked to Wendy Pass where the trail was closed due to fire. A forestry truck pulled up and a ranger got out and started running toward the trail intersection where 2 other hikers were. I thought she was going to stop, and prevent us from entering the closed area. Instead she ran ahead and ripped off the closed sign and replaced it with a sign showing the trail was open. What a relief and perfect timing. It prevented me from breaking the law and entering an area that was closed. I put the closed sign in my pack to keep for a souvenir. Hiked 21 miles and camped with 4 other hikers. I had planned to hike further but decided I would like to reach the end of the trail with other hikers.
- September 24, 2006
Woke up to a clear blue sky. What a great way to end this hike. By 11:00 it was 70. Hiked 14 miles by 12:00 and reached the Canadian border and the monument at the end of the trail. We took pictures, talked and signed the register. I realized it wasn't the destination but the journey. The journey wasn't over. It was 8 more miles to Manning Park and the lodge were my parents waited to give me a ride home. Thanks to all of you who took this journey with me and a special thanks to my web master, John Roy.