Day 128-133: miles 1954-2089.3

We made it into Washington two days ago, and promptly took a zero in Vancouver, WA with a friend of Shade's. We're resting one more day so we can attend PCT Days - a big festival in Cascade Locks where tons of gear companies come and do giveaways, and famous thruhikers give various talks and lectures. I'm excited to see some hikers I haven't seen in a long time! We've also figured out our plan for most of Washington, which involves a great deal of skipping around and some out-and-back hiking due to remote fire closures. But we've got a plan and I'm excited to get back on trail soon! This last section of hiking has been really gorgeous, and even with the sadness of fires, my spirits are still high!

Day 128: miles 1954.9-1974.6

Back on the trail today! Got up a bit earlier and made shakshuka for breakfast, which was really good. Then we packed up and headed out around 8:45, getting to the trail around 9:40. We said our goodbyes and headed on! It was a really nice trail, not too uphill and with fantastic views of the Three Sisters and surrounding mountains. We soon got out into a gorgeous meadow where we took lunch, with not too many mosquitoes, and saw a pack of horses passing by. Then we went back into the trees for a while, near some really lovely streams. I listened to an episode of a podcast and really enjoyed the walk. I carried on, taking a couple breaks, as Shade and Cheers went on ahead, then got to the Obsidian Limited Access Area . I had seen bits of obsidian rock on the trail beforehand, and thought it was really cool, but this was an entirely different level! The whole trail was covered in obsidian, and the surrounding hills glittered with it. Every step clinked lightly, and there were huge chunks sitting by the side of the trail. It was surreal and fantastical – just so cool! Definitely some of the coolest hiking in a long time. There was a bit of a climb out, and I enjoyed seeing Obsidian Falls, and then a nice downhill to a lovely river right before camp. I met Cheers and Shade there, and had some madras lentils before heading to bed. It's definitely a little colder now – I had to pull out my jacket for dinner! Feels good to be back in this kind of weather!

Day 129: miles 1974.6-1998.1

I slept really well and we headed out around seven. There was an initial downhill and then we got into volcanic rock, which was really cool. You could see large formations on the side of the trail where the lava had rolled in and cooled, making massive statue-like pillars. There was a serious uphill, but at the top I got fantastic views of Mount Washington, Three Fingered Jack, and Jefferson in the distance. There was also quite a bit of smoke resting in the valley, but hopefully it clears up soon. The trail went back into some valleys and forest but near McKenzie Pass, it became volcanic again. It was really neat walking on the volcanic rocks, but quite slow. There was a decent uphill in that section, and it was incredibly exposed - I was very happy it wasn't any hotter. There's something very surreal about hiking for miles in the middle of a barren lava flow– it's easy to imagine what this would've been like millions of years ago when it was still roiling and molten. Once back in the forest, it was still very dusty and dry, but with lots of pine trees and shade. We took lunch in there and enjoyed being in tree cover. Then another foray into the lava for a bit, this time in a burn zone too. The trail then entered a lovely meadow, with a great view of Three Fingered Jack. Then we had a nice flat trail into Big Lake Youth Camp – a summer camp that lets PCT hikers hang out and eat for free. We got in around 4:30 with dinner around 6, so we had time to go swimming, relax a bit, and take a shower, which was very lovely. Dinner was spaghetti, salad, and bread rolls which was exactly what I needed – I had two massive plates of it. Then we headed on, coming to the next dirt road a mile so later, where there was a great trail magic set up – Magic Mike, Goddess, and Cookies had set up their RV and were feeding hikers. No veggie burgers, but I got some chips, a drink, and carrots and hummus! I set up my tent at the road, then hung out a bit with everyone before heading to bed.

Day 130: miles 1998.1-2021.5

We stuck around for breakfast in the morning – pancakes! Then around eight we headed out, shortly getting to mile 2000!! We filled up on water and carried on – there's so, so many huckleberries here! Passed by Santiam Pass and got a juice box, then headed up a big hill. I listened to a podcast episode and enjoyed myself – my feet have been feeling much, much better lately. Got some great views as we passed right below Three Fingered Jack – it reminds me a lot of the Sierra Buttes. We had lunch near a tiny snow patch on trail, which was very cool to see, especially after so much hot weather. Everyone's been talking about the fires in Washington – over third of the state is closed right now, which really sucks. But it's also annoying when it's the only thing people ever want to talk about – I'm enjoying my hike and there's no reason to get sad and anxious about it before I'm there. I'll just walk til I can't and figure it out then. Anyway, after lunch we headed on with a solid hill to Rockpile Mountain, which had a bunch of blowdowns and burnt trees. I listened to another podcast and we eventually came to Rockpile Lake where we took a break and got water before heading up again, passing South and North Cinder Peaks before getting to our campsite. We had chosen it because it had a fantastic view of Mount Jefferson - the sunset would be great. It also had extremely vicious mosquitoes, even with all the breeze, so we had dinner in our tents, enjoyed the views over Jefferson, then went to bed.

Day 131: miles 2021.5-2046.3

Got up to see sunrise over Jefferson, then packed out. Had a really lovely downhill this morning to Milk Creek at the bottom of the canyon, with some really cool scenery along the way. There's also lots of non-PCT backpackers even in the middle of the week - I guess this is just a popular area. After filling up on water, there was a big uphill of almost 10 miles as we entered the Mount Hood and Jefferson wilderness, skirting the edge of Mount Jefferson, and going up to Park Butte. It was a really gorgeous section, with lots of wildflowers, a still frozen snowbridge over Russell Creek, and great views of the glaciers on Mount Jefferson. We had lunch shortly before the summit, which still had a bunch of snow! It's weird to be walking on snow again in August – I really thought we were done with it! I listened to a podcast episode about the Pinkerton Detective Agency, which was incredibly fascinating to learn about (they were a huge union busting corporation from the 1800s that are still used today by companies like Amazon and Starbucks). Also, there's so many huckleberries here that my fingers have turned purple with the juice! It definitely slows me down as I hike, but it's more than worth it to have berries in my breakfast in the morning. There was a really nice downhill, with a couple bumps, before we got to our camp at Cigar Lake. It was in the middle of a big burn zone, but we found a spot away from burnt trees and made camp. Tomorrow we're planning on a 'hike till you drop' day since it's about 43 miles to the road into town and the elevation and water looks really good. We've been talking about doing something like this for a while so I'm really excited to see how far I can push myself. I'm hoping somewhere above 30 miles – we'll see how it goes. I'll be getting up really early, I'm excited!

Day 132: miles 2046.3-2089.2

I had a huge day today! I got up at four and was on my way by five, using my headlamp as I went. I took an unintended detour on Top Lakes Trail, instead of the actual PCT since I missed the turn off, but it was only about 0.2 miles more. The whole area was in a big burn zone, but I still heard a lot of bird calls and deer as the sun rose. It was just getting late as I passed by the Olallie Lake Resort, but it wouldn't open for another couple hours, so I carried on. There was a brief uphill into Warm Springs Reservation, where I filled up on water and took a short snack break. Then onwards, another bit of a hill and then a decent downhill – the trail was lovely, and my feet were feeling good! I passed a bunch of SOBOs, then had another brief hill which I powered up, before passing under some big powerlines. I took lunch around one, having done 25 miles and still feeling good! I rested my feet and had some ramen, then headed onwards, enjoying a nice downhill. I listened to an episode of my podcast, which was really interesting. I did get a bloody nose just before mile 30 and had to rest for a while before heading on, but felt ok, and got water at the next creek and rested again. I felt tired but really not too bad at all. According to my initial plans, I thought I might be camping here, but instead I felt more than good enough to carry on. There's such a specific mindset you have to have a long day like this, and I was prepared to hike for as long as I needed to. So I carried on, walking around Lake Tom, which was really gorgeous! There were lots of people camping near the water, though I hadn't really passed any hikers on trail since lunch. Around mile 35 I took a brief detour to Little Crater Lake, which was a tiny spring-fed lake that was 45 feet deep – it was so neat and the water was so cold! I chatted with some tourists there before heading on, enjoying a flat section and then a solid uphill, which I was definitely a bit slow on but not too bad. The sun started to set, and I enjoyed the sky changing colors, with a fantastic view of Mount Hood. I could see some lights on the slope once it got darker – I wonder if it's hikers summiting. I got my headlamp out and headed on, hiking for another mile or so before getting to Highway 26. I was tracking my hike with Strava, which had me at 44.5 miles (including the brief detour to the lake – I was at 43 trail miles). I really wanted to hit 45, so I walked up and down the road for 10 minutes until I got to 45 miles lol, then I set up my tent and collapsed, heading straight to bed. I didn't feel at all hungry, so I decided I'd just get a big breakfast tomorrow. I really didn't feel too horrible, but my feet and legs were definitely sore. Also, considering I'm on my period, it definitely could be a lot worse in that regards too. Hiking from 5am to 9pm I did 45 miles - I'm definitely proud of myself!

Day 133: miles 2089.2-2089.3

I tried to sleep in a bit, but this close to the highway there was a lot of road noise and I woke up around 7:30. I hadn't slept the best, I think due to the soreness and lingering adrenaline. I packed up and headed to the road,

getting hitch about 15 minutes from a group of day hikers headed to Barlow. They dropped me in front of the Huckleberry Inn at Government Camp and I had a fantastic breakfast there. Then I relaxed on some picnic tables, called home, and updated my blog. Shade and Cheers had done about 32 and 30 miles respectively, so they showed up around noon. We stayed at the Cascade Ski Club – it's a ski hostel that only lets club members and PCT hiker stay, so it was really cool. The manager was super friendly and we got settled in – I took an absolutely life-changing shower and just got to relax. There's a couple other hikers here - it was fun chatting to some of them, but there's also definitely a lot of doom and gloom about the upcoming fires. We learned that quite a few hikers are ending their hikes in Cascade Locks (at the OR-WA border) because they've given up on doing any of Washington. When I told one hiker we would carry on and do what we could, he replied that there just wasn't anything left to do. But there's still a couple hundred miles open, and a few ways to get to the more remote sections. It's kind of sad to see people just giving up - I understand that it changes the hike, but we've already had to skip sections; as long as there's miles open, I'll still be hiking.

We hung around the Ski Club a bit more, then did our resupply at the local store, where the prices seemed very arbitrary, and did laundry at the inn next door. More relaxation, and then we had dinner at a pretty mediocre Mexican place. Then back to our rooms I headed to bed, very happy to have my earplugs due to the loud fans and snoring. Overall a pretty restful day!