July 23.
Another long day. Starting to see a recurring theme. Slept in hard and the people who were camped near me headed out early including Peach who was camped at the spring too. Didn’t shit the day before and finally went that morning. There was a lot of toilet paper strewn about near me which was annoying. Hopefully not from other sobos although it doesn’t really matter who it’s from.
Peach said we were going to be hiking through a large burn area coming up. About mile into the hike I hit it. There was a plaque commemorating this section which had burned some years ago. It was such a contrast to all the forested area I hiked through the past day. Lots of open areas, exposed and blackened though already recovering with some pines sprouting.
Hiked down through the first burn section and Made it Urich cabin where I used the one not gross pit toilet. The cabin was in a beautiful meadow that seemed to go on for ages. Crossed a little creek that was absolutely teeming with mosquitoes though they mostly left me alone when I got water.
Climbed back to another burn section, this one from the fire last year. The contrast in this section was so devastating. The entire area was open and blackened with so many downed scorched trees. The soil was so dusty and ashy and I got immediately covered in soot. The smell was also so different. I had gotten so used to the smell of trees and wet dirt that it felt so strange only smelling the remains of smoldering logs. Like after you put a campfire out. It was such a sad contrast. But there were little green shoots everywhere,the area already recovering and starting to replenish itself.
There was even a little spring in the middle of it all where I lunch. A tiny little green valley in the middle of all the grey and black and red of the burned trees.
Oh and the whole time I walked through that section which was very long portion of the day I kept hearing branches creaking and crackling, settling into themselves, as though someone was walking behind me. It made me feel like I was being followed, never alone though no one was behind me all day.
It was hard hiking through it took because it was a hot day, probably in the 80s, and without any of the tree cover I had to walk most of the day through very dry exposed terrain. It was especially hard on the ridges right in direct sun. This was the first day where I finally felt the whole sobos have to walk into the sun thing.
There were also a lot of long water carries, one 6 mile carry and one 8 mile carry. In fact that’s why I ended up hiking 26 miles. My other option was to stop at mile 18 which was a beautiful little valley with strong clear water and little groves and meadows and fields of flowers. I almost did stop there but there were a lot of overnight hikers and 18 miles felt too short for the day, especially since I made it there at 4pm.
Talked for a bit to one local who said the bugs were bad at Bumping River so have to try to push through that section.
Kept hiking along ridges and got my first view of Mount Hood. It’s amazing seeing it for the first time. I may have seen it before though and not have known it. This time I’m sure of it though. Wait just double checked my earthmate, it’s probably not Mt Hood, it’s probably Mt Adams which makes more sense. Mt Hood is still a long ways away though maybe not that long. Anyway it was still amazing seeing too giant snowy mountains. There were a lot of points where I could see both Mt Rainer and (apparently) Mt Adams.
The last few hours dragged again. I ate dinner early and wished I had more food. The hiker hunger is starting to set in hard. My 4000kcal a day + random snacks isn’t cutting it anymore. I eat just enough to not be starving but definitely need to up the calories with more snacks. More fritos, oreos, and peanut butter. I am okay with this.
Definitely going to swap to bars for breakfast in Oregon. It would be nice to get up and go in the morning without having to force down granola in the morning. If I was actually stopping to have breakfast it wouldn’t be so bad but my breaks are starting to get shorter and shorter as I get more comfortable hiking longer. This morning I hiked from 830 to 1230 nonstop then from 1 to 430. Been listening to a lot of podcasts and wild to get me through these long days.
Anyway made it up the exposed ridges to Sourdough Gap where I had to do a long steep climb up some switchbacks though the total elevation was nowhere near as bad as some of the other days. Yesterday was 7000 ft of gain while today was only 4000. Only 4000. Didn’t think I’d think of 4000 feet of gain as being an easier day but here we are.
Hiked down to Sheep Lake where I got weirdly anxious about being near people. I awkwardly went around the lake and met a family who had hiked in 2 miles with food and booze. I ended walking away from them back to the other side of the lake where I did end up finding Peach and another sobo named the barefoot kid (because he took his heavy boots off to cross water). Apparently the Strawbridges are also here. They’re a family who was I saw on the PCT fb group and had started like a week before me. Peach told me there’s a big group of sobos, around 7 miles ahead which is exciting. I heard about them back in Snoqualmie at the food truck but wasn’t sure how far ahead they were. Peach and the barefoot kid spoke a bit about the large group being too large but honestly I would love to join them if possible. I have not enjoyed hiking these long days by myself. I want to hike fast and get to California soon but I feel like I really haven’t had much fun these past few days. The long lonely solo days have been hard to get through and mentally draining. Even through physically I feel fine (suspiciously fine), mentally and emotionally I’m having a hard time spending so much time alone, especially in the evenings when I know have so much further to go.
But I did talk to peach some more and now the barefoot kid and the strawbridges are near as as the group of 3 other sobos I camped with the night before but didn’t talk to. And there’s a big group ahead dubbed “the royal family” that I may catch up to in Whites Pass if I don’t head to Packwood. Or maybe I’ll see them all at Packwood. Either way I’m happy to have others to hike with again. I miss the group I was hiking with before and debated slowing down or zeroing early to let them catch up but I may just keep going and try to catch the group ahead.
Either way excited at the thought of not having to hike alone so much. Will be a nice change of pace again.
Also there’s not a lot of bugs at this lake which is amazing. It’s a really beautiful little lake I could see from the top of Sourdough Gap. So pretty.
Plants Outside 