July 7.
The rain came down heavy at night and it was beautiful and everything smelled like what imagined Washington smelling like, like wet earth and trees and fog.
After a lingering breakfast, I packed up and got ready to start hiking. I was nervous and excited to start hiking.
I started off with Tian, a Chinese girl from Brussels who said she only had three months to finish the trail. I saw the trail and the PCT marker and in my eagerness to start I didn’t realize I was heading south, not north. We ended up going a over a mile the wrong way and had to backtrack. Great start.
The first few miles coming out of Harts Pass are stunning. Long thin ridges that look out over the snow capped cascade mountain range. The first few miles alone were worth everything.
Tian blazed ahead and I didn’t catch up to her until lunch where she had stopped with Zeke, the Canadian. She pushed on ahead.
Went over a few passes, Buffalo and Woody before coming to Rock Pass. There were some long switchbacks going down Rocks Pass with a few snow patches that worried me a bit.
The Ranger at Hart’s Pass told us that earlier in the week a couple had gone off trail here and fallen 60 feet, the man broke his femur and had to be air lifted out. I thought of him as I very carefully made my way down the few patches of snow
Zeke and I made it to Woody Pass where the mosquitoes out in droves. I showed him how to PCT hang since we were paranoid about bears. So many beautiful sites. I took as many pictures as I could but it still doesn’t do them justice.
Plants Outside 
Better late than never to start a blog 🙂
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