A Long Day Through Burned Forests

6:54 AM

Yesterday was a tough day; everything went wrong. The weather, the humidity, the amount of climbing, and the constant neck pain. I get up reluctantly, but you have to get up anyway. Come on. Make some miles.

6:59 AM

Pretty quickly I come across a sign about the forest fire of 1988. As I walk through the area, I wonder whether nothing really should be done about forest fires. People believe nature should resolve it on its own, but when I see this, recovery could easily take several decades. After all this time, very little is still growing. There are some grasses and flowers, but there’s no sign of new trees at all.

7:08 AM

7:52 AM

Mount Rainier comes into view, and with the clear blue sky it shows itself beautifully.

8:22 AM

Yesterday, while camping, I was approached by three guys. I estimate they’re around 30 years old. I recognized them from the hostel and the motel from before. They went another 8 km farther to the cabin.

Now I reach the cabin and see warning signs about norovirus. In 2022, this was the cause of one of the largest norovirus outbreaks in Washington. Well, I keep walking and don’t touch anything.

10:16 AM

I’m still walking through dead, burned forests. After a while the trees turn silver and the area starts to look very beautiful again—but appearances can be deceiving.

10:18 AM

12:40 PM

3:11 PM

3:18 PM

I’ve been walking through this area all day now, and it just doesn’t seem to end. It’s scorching hot and there’s no shade to cool off for a moment. It’s moving from one water source to the next. At some point I catch up with the guys, so I sit down with them to get to know them better.

Jack Rabbit, because he was fast at the beginning. Crocs, because he hikes in Crocs. He played guitar and harmonica in the hostel. Aron is from Australia but now lives in Scotland. He has three weeks to find out whether the PCT is something for him.

3:21 PM

3:28 PM

Mount Rainier is getting closer and closer and shines above all the green hills.

4:21 PM

4:33 PM

6:05 PM

I had three passes to cross, and now the last one is finally coming into view.

6:31 PM

A beautiful pass, and you really have to work to reach the top. Now it’s time to descend to the lake, where I need to find a campsite.

7:06 PM

It’s busy at the lake. I pitch my tent well away from the others, but 10 meters further on the three guys are sleeping, along with another woman.

I had a good hiking day and was finally able to put in some solid miles. The fact that my food bag is lighter definitely plays a role here; it allows me to walk longer without getting neck pain. Tomorrow will be a choice: hike 50 km or split it into two stages. I think I’ll go for the first option, so I can keep going all the way to the restaurant.

Total: 42.68 km in 12:28 hours
1,213 m up, 1,019 m down