Day 141: Wildfire Horizon
Date: Wed 9/5
PCT Start Mile: 2515.7
PCT End Mile: 2543.2
PCT Mileage for Day:27.5
Total PCT Mileage: 2543.2
The Highlights: nice descents, wildfire sighting, and moss blanketed forest
During the day as I hike, I think of all the great things I can talk about when I write the blog. Then, after a long day of hiking, I get into the tent at night and I’m exhausted and my mind is blank. And I’m tired. Near the end, running out of steam…
Today’s hike thankfully began with a downhill and some undulating terrain before the first climb, which was steep but short at around 1.5 miles. Climbing to the top at Fire Creek Pass, we caught our breath, enjoying the views as we shed our layers and ate a snack.
The trail continued with a nice, long 7 mile downhill. Not too far into the decent, we went by the gorgeous Mica Lake, reflecting the surrounding mountains in its waters.
At some point along this descent, I rolled my ankle. This is a fairly common occurrence for me. Sometimes it hurts, sometimes I barely feel it at all. Every time it brings me to the ground. This time it hurt. I sat for a minute, gingerly rotating and flexing my ankle before getting up. “This is not a good time to twist your ankle,” Shawn said. Ugh… so close to the border. This was a small reminder that nothing is guaranteed. It ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings… or, in this case, until we hit the border. Keep it together body!!!
Following the descent, we had our longest climb of the day at about 4.5 miles. Shawn went ahead while I meandered up the climb at sub-Shawn pace. Luckily for me, a “toilet” sign appeared just when I needed it.
We have actually seen these signs several times in Washington, usually in very popular hiking/camping areas, though I’ve never needed to go when I’ve seen a sign, so I’ve never investigated. Today I would investigate. Unfortunately for me, the side trail became very overgrown and after almost two tenths of a mile, had not yet produced a toilet. So, curiosity unsatisfied, I took care of my business the good ‘ole fashioned outdoors way, by digging a cathole.
By the time I reached the top of the climb, I was tired and hangry, and apparently had misunderstood where Shawn said he would meet me, so was getting more and more frustrated by the minute as I continued down the trail. When I finally found him, I had an attitude problem. Hiking as a couple has its challenges, probably the biggest being that when one person gets tired, hungry, and cranky, something that happens frequently on this type of adventure, this attitude is foisted onto the other person and things can go south pretty quickly. We have our moments, recalibrate, and move on. Time to get to the border!
Wildfire on the ridgeline.
After lunch, we rounded a bend to see a fire burning along a ridge line. Tomorrow we will detour along a fire alternate for the remainder of our hike into Stehekin (the next – and last! – town before Canada); but this fire we were seeing along the ridge was not the same one that the detour was for. This was a different one. We haven’t been able to get much (or any) cell service between towns on our hike through Washington, which can be disconcerting when you want more information. The alternate that we hit tomorrow should take us further from this fire as well.
The majority of the rest of the day was a long downhill. Sometimes rocky, sometimes obstructed by fallen trees, and sometimes covered in nice hard-packed crushed pine needles, but nearly all downhill. A nice change from yesterday. Much of the trail passed through forest carpeted in bright green mosses, beautiful.
We ended the day with a bit of a gradual climb, which we’ll continue up tomorrow. For tonight, we are camped at a site in the forest, much different than our site on the bluff last night. One other hiker is camped nearby, though we didn’t get a chance to talk to him. Not sure if he is thru hiking or just out for a couple days. We only saw two other thru hikers all day, with a couple more passing by after we’d set up camp. Either the herd is thinning or we are just between bigger groups, but less people around at least makes it easier to find camp spots.
Tonight is warm and though we put the rain fly up anticipating that it would suddenly get colder, as has been typical, this did not seem to happen tonight. So, we left the fly doors open to get more air. The smell of smoke is heavy and we are anxious to get to the fire detour tomorrow.
