Today’s miles: 29
PCT Miles Hiked: 476/2660
In the morning, I run into a hiker named Twig. He tells me that Oregon is awesome and I have trail to look forward to just like this, gesturing towards the flat packed ground we are walking on. I reflect that these past days have been really nice trail. Some may have consider it something of a green tunnel, in which you have nothing but trees enclosing you with little views of the surrounding mountains. But that really isn’t so bad. Because, I have come to realize, views require ascending and we’ve had our fair share of that in Washington so far. So some flat ground is good.
There’s a fantastic morning break spot 8 miles from where Max-Heap and I camped last night. What makes it great? It has picnic tables and even a pit toilet. Sadly, no where to throw away our trash but hey you can’t win all of them.
Great break spots continue as I stop at a shady grove of trees for lunch. There’s an outstanding view of Mt. Adams from the grove. I eat the rest of the cheese and salami I packed out from Trout Lake. At some point, Max-Heap joins me and we have a pleasant and bug free lunch.
It’s pure descent after lunch, as we drop to some of the lowest points of elevation on the whole PCT. We arrive at Panther Creek in the early afternoon, which sits at 885 ft. I can feel the change in elevation in how hot and humid the air feels. It’s crazy that just 3 nights ago, I was camped on a ridge of over 7,000 feet in the cold and windy mountainous air. But that’s the PCT for you.
At Panther Creek, there’s a host of other hikers. I talk to two hikers who are flip-flopping from Northern CA. They started their hike in Nor-Cal in early June, hiked north to tag the Canadian border, and then will get a ride back to Nor-Cal and hike south for the Mexican border. They pay off is you skip the snow in the Northern Cascades that we ran into, but also skip the snow in the Sierra’s that some SOBO’s run into. I have met several others doing this flip-flop from Northern CA and it makes a lot of sense. Just got to have the transportation to go from the Canadian border down to Nor-Cal.
Max-Heap and I call it quits for the day at Trout Creek. We have put in a 29 mile day, one short of the big three-oh. Would’ve been fun to do a 30 in WA but people say that is what Oregon is for. The bottom of my feet are tired and sore, but I’m still in pretty good shape. 30’s in Oregon sound manageable.
