Ups and Downs and Up&Downs

First I would like to apologize for taking nearly a month to update the blog. Computers have been few and far between and its hard to find the motivation to do anything other than eat and pass out at the end of a long day so I havnt really written anything down.

I'm currently at Snoqualmie Pass at I-90, mile 2401. These are my old stomping grounds as we're just 45 minutes up the road from Seattle. Since I gloated and bragged about my speed and total domintion of the Oregon PCT, the trail quickly flipped on me and let me know who is in charge...

Upon returning from the "break" weekend in Portland and Casacde Locks, the pacific NW rains began to set in. And made for by far the most miserable week (to that point) of the trail. Miles of snow feilds and blistering desert heat dont compare to constant rain. Eventually everything gets wet, everything. The worst part was that we missed some of the best scenery OR and the trail had to offer; Three Sisters, Mt Washington, 3 Finger Jack, and Mt Jefferson. We basically had to keep our heads down and power through the 20 feet of visibilty for over a 100 miles.

Our luck did began to change when we arrived to Cascade Locks (this time hiking in) and spent a couple days drying out and hangin out with Brandon. The Eagle Creek trail coming into the town was one the coolest parts of the trail. You basically follow the creek down a gorge to the border. The trail offers plenty of waterfalls and bridges but the jewel of the trail is Tunnel Falls where the trail actually goes through a blasted tunnel behind the 150 foot falls.

After crossing the Bridge of the Gods into Washington a group of about 14 thru-hikers and I decided to take the "alternate" route through the towns of Stevnson and Carson, which saves about 15 miles and basically becomes the unofficial PCT Pub Crawl... long story short we raged it pretty hard in all 3 cities and celebrated properly for making to WA.

Our first week in Washington was easily the most scenic and rewarding week on the trail. I've been hiking steadily with Train and his childhood friend "Croation Sensation" and his girlfriend "Not a Chance" (both have thru-hiked the PCT before) and the one and only "AssFace". We all have a lot of fun together and its made for a very uplifting week. Hiking around the lower slopes of Mt Adams was incredible. Nothing so far has compared to the Goat Rocks Wilderness though. Its been awhile since we've been in high alpine country. But the vistas from the tops the Goat Rocks of Rainier, St Helens and Adams were in my opinion the best views of the entire trail. This wilderness also includeda couple glacier crossings and a 2 mile section called the "Knifes Edge" where the trail strattles a ridge that has shear drop-offs of 1000 feet down each side.

But once again the trail does what it wants, and while we got an extremly rare clear and sunny week in southern washington (most hikers rarely get to see the 3 stratovolcanoes from Goat Rocks) the gloom and doom of the NW rain came back with a fury and the 4 days of hiking since leaving White Pass have been extremly difficult and depressing to be honest. The rain here has been colder and harder than the Oregon section. And walking through the over-grown vegitation is like walking through a human car wash. My feet are taking a beating, Train has developed Trench Foot and mine arent doing much better. Even with proper rain gear (which i now have, I didnt in Oregon) everything gets soaked through eventually; my clothes, tent (inside and out) and my sleeping bag. Its been easily the most miserable week of my life. And every morning i wake up cold and wet, this trail tests my resolve to the fullest. Its hard to find motivation to keep going. We've taking a few days to dry things out and watch some football, but going forward continues to a difficult task.

I'm in limbo and need some sun. Fingers crossed that this weather breaks and I can continue a bit more happily. However the weather forcast looks liek rain the rest of the way. Just 10 days of hiking left and i've purchased my ticket back to Albuquerque for tuesday the 5th so there is a definitive end in sight. I just dont want to hit the finish line miserable and unhappy with the trail. Got to get back at it, this next section is one of the most difficult sections as far as climbing goes. We'll see.