PCT Day 1: Harts Pass (6/17/21)

Miles: 6

John and I leave Seattle at 6:30 am. Its 4 and half hours to Harts Pass Campground, where John will drop me off. And from there, it’s 30 miles via the PCT North to tag the Canadian/US border and then start heading south to the Mexican/US border. My estimated time on the hike is 4 1/2-5 months, giving me an end date sometime in November.

We travel Northeast from Seattle and after two hours or so, enter the beautiful North Cascades National Park. We soon after we drive by Rainy Pass, which shows a PCT trail sign. I pull over the car and take a look around me. If all goes according to plan, I should be walking right through here in 5 days or so. The surrounding forest, where the theoretical trail should lay, is absolutely socked in snow. I immediately begin recalculating the 15 miles a day I thought I’d be doing from the start. Snow travel can be as slow as traveling one mile an hour, if you can even travel at all.

We are 30 minutes or so from the Harts Pass campground and stop at a general store in the town of Mazama. Emerging from the store, I see a group of 4 people with pieces of gear like sleeping pads, water filters, and stuff sacks sprawled all over the picnic tables. PCT hikers. I ask them if they are headed towards Harts Pass Campground, and they tell me they are coming down from there. And the trail is currently impassable due to snow. One guy goes into extensive detail in describing the conditions to me. “If you try to hike in the morning it will be too icy and a fall up there means search and rescue or worse. If you try to hike in the afternoon, anytime past 2, you will be post-holing to your knees.

I nod, tell him I’m also a SOBO pct hiker, and I’m going to check it out up there. The others in the group nod, and the talker tells me he gives me a “yellow light”. I tell them I may see them again soon.

John turns onto a forest road and as we travel it, the road gets progressively steeper and rockier. John braces it in his Honda Fi, and after an especially windy and rocky turn, I tell him this is good. I’ll walk the remaining 6 miles to Harts Pass Campground. I’m worried his car is going to get a flat tire or worse.

We depart, I thank him a million times for driving me from Modesto to essentially the Canadian border (what a guy!), and now I’m hiking on a hot and exposed forest road. But the views are gorgeous and it’s nice to be out of the car.

Shortly after I begin walking, a pickup truck rumbles by. A man with a round face and white scraggly beard asks me if I’m doing okay. I reply I’m fine, and he asks me if I want a ride. I see a group of folks in the bed of his pickup, who I’m 99% sure are also Southbound (SOBO) PCT hikers.

Sure, I say. It seems silly to turn it down. The man introduces himself as Kevin, offers me a beer which I decline, and tells me to hop in the bed of the truck if there’s room. “Sure there’s room”, the group in the bed says as I climb in. Introductions go around and I find out I have met Victor, Tommy, Lisa, and Mousetrap. Tommy and Lisa are brother/sister and Mousetrap tells me he did a section of the PCT last year and stepped on a mouse, hence the trail name.

After a bumpy 20 minutes or so, we reach Harts Pass Campground where we give Kevin gas money and thank him profusely for the ride. “Good luck out there,” he tells us. “And if you get turned around with the snow, call me. I’ll pick you guys up.”

We begin to depart only to immediately run into a group of three guys. One guy has a pair of skies strapped on his backpack, and the other two have handguns strapped onto their chest. The only one who talks is the man with skies and we get another detailed report about the snow out there. Finally, finally, our group of five hikers puts people and Harts Pass Camground behind us and we begin walking. Whoo oo! It feels like the official beginning.

The going is tough, but not too tough, as we navigate dirt, mud, and snow. Some ridges are pretty socked in with snow and others aren’t. We kick steps when necessary and people get out gear like ice axes and micro spikes. At one point, Mousetrap and I get word that Victor just self-arrested with his ice axe. We break for 20 minutes so we can all catch our breath, and Victor tells us “it wasn’t too bad”. Continue on.

We make 6 miles by 7 pm, going about 1 mile an hour. The last hour in particular was tough, as it was pure snowfield. A decent amount of post-holing, but not too steep of angles. We get to camp (just a snowfield) and I set up my tent. My socks and shoes are completely soaked and I rip them off and put on a fresh pair. And then tuck the lower half of my body into my sleeping bag.

After I eat dinner in my tent, I announce I’m calling it early and say good night to Mousetrap, Lisa, Victor and Tommy. As I’m sitting there in my tent, winding down, I hear that Tommy and Moustrap got a fire going. Out here? On top of all of this snow? Sure enough they have, and I crawl out of my tent to investigate. The heat from the fire is delicious and I stare at the sticks and moss which burn easily. At some point, I tell the group it’s my birthday today. Upon hearing this, Mousetrap produces a flask of whiskey, which I proceed to take a small sip from. Between the fire, friends, and whiskey, it’s a good night to be out here.

Also, huge thank you to Bennet and Alyssa/ Dave and Maya for hosting us on our way from Modesto to the border. And John’s family for producing an awesome birthday cake for me on the night before we departed. Also to John, for making the very long drive to drop me off. The support is much appreciated.