It’s hard to believe, but I’m almost done with this trail! Only 50 more miles to go until I hit the northern terminus (the trail doesn’t actually go all the way to Canada, it stops about a tenth of a mile from the border. Why? Who knows…)
So far the trail has been a lovely hike through warm/humid/buggy forests, with the occasional climb up a rock and a nice view. The hike has been good, except for 1 day of decent rain, but I just so happened to be near tettegouche state park with their amazing visitors center (complete with places to sit, wifi, and a little coffee bar, what more do you need?!?). So I made the executive decision to NOT slog all day in the rain and instead sit in that visitor center and watch YouTube videos for the entire day. It was 100% the right decision 🙃
Tettegouche state parkThe foggy day *after* the rainy day. I always do love me some foggy hiking days, they are simply the best 🥰Lilly’s island. It’s a cute little place to stop for a few minutes Hunter’s rock and the view of some lake, I wanna say lake Agnes? Could be wrong, there were a lot of lakes in this areaOne of my favorite parts of this trail are these rivers! They carve these impressive gorges out of the rock and just aren’t something I expected to find in MN! Do you enjoy steep (but relatively short) climbs up to a big rock to get a view of a seemingly neverending expanse of trees? Then the SHT might just be the trail for you! All thru hikers will recognize this! Normally, this is what we call “trail magic” a cooler parked near a road filled with cold sodas, fruit, snacks, etc – all to help make a tired, hungry hiker’s day a little bit better. The sad part of this photo is that this cooler was not in fact trail magic, but was instead a cooler with a broken wheel that someone abandoned on their way to a campsite (it was filled with water bottles, uncooked bacon, etc, and was clearly someone’s camp food). That’s the saddest day ever when the excitement of trail magic turns into utter disappointment.
So far everything has been incredible, this trail does not disappoint! It’s been a nice combination of beach walking and lovely hikes through dense forests. I’ve managed to successfully avoid most of the hwy 101 walking (but not entirely). For example, yesterday I took a “ferry” across Nehalem bay/river (the ferry was a small fishing…
Washington is amazing!! I’m so glad that I made the decision to pop up to Cascade Locks and hike north from there, for lots of reasons: First, Washington is gorgeous, this is some of the best hiking on the PCT! Also, it’s actually a relief to become a section hiker, I just feel so much…
Yesterday I made my way to the start of the trail by flying to Portland, an Amtrak bus to Astoria, and then walking to the state park (there were no Ubers 😢). So really, it was a pretty easy task to get to the start. After a lovely night camping at the hiker/biker site at…
Well, there’s not a whole lot to mention, I’ve just been cruising along and trying to enjoy as much of the ocean as I possibly can. I saw whales and Depoe Beach, tide pools all over in Yachats, harbor seals near Waldport (and then again all along the coast, they kept popping up!). It’s just…
Travis is not doing well. It’s the heat, the neverending sunshine that leads to blistering hot days climbing up and down these mountains. I can’t remember the last time I even saw a cloud. It’s slowly wearing me down and making me wonder why I’m out here when every day is miserable 😞 I still…
Great pictures again!