having completed a thru-hike of the appalachian trail on july 1st, 2012, this pacific crest trail thru-hike is a continuation of my experiment in surrendering, culminating with a planned thru-hike of the continental divide trail and triple crown in 2014.
appalachian thrail thru hike
read about my last long hike of surrender, a thru-hike of the appalachian trail from march 11th to july 1st, 2012 at timsatthruhike2012.blogspot.com
i am finished! i got to the canadian border and the monument for the northern terminus of the pct today at 12:07.
i have no pictures, however, because i had a mishap with my ipad back before going in to skykomish last week. so, you will have to just trust me that i crossed the border as there was no one to witness my accomplishment.
i will have pictures to post from other thru-hikers that have promised to send them to me when they are finished.
thank you to everyone for all you love and support. it is so very much appreciated.
(since it is such a long time since my last update, this will be a montage of pics)
washington! i can't believe it. it came so fast. this is the sign from the bridge of the gods . . .
here is a great pic of mt. adams . . .
mt. adams from the other side . . .
snow angels, anyone?
me looking at the dr. suess flowers . . .
see?
first glimpse of mt. ranier from the knife's edge . . .
yes, very steep . . .
very, very steep . . . this is the non-stock route . . . obviously.
our camp spot for the evening . . .
we were gifted an amazing breakfast by some awesome southbounders. from left to right: ate mate, me, marie, uncle dorfus, little feet, warm-up mile, and snow gypsy . . . coffee brought to our tent and then chocolate chip pancakes freshly made to order. warmup mile demonstrated some true tennessee hospitality . . .
yes, little feet is aptly named! her feet are truly smaller than my hands!
this is an inspirational 83 year young southbound section hiker. i even got a hug! ;)
llamas on the trail . . .
from the left . . . walking home, sasquatch, and me with ranier in the background . . .
close to snoqualmie pass and the mountain mostel where i will take a much needed shower and do laundry. laundry becomes not only highly recommended, but truly required when your socks start to stand up on their own!!!
the mountain mostel is highly recommended, as is the aardvark cafe at the chevron station, where you will find gourmet food in the most unlikely of places. thanx dan!
i am loving life and my time here in washington with only 266 miles left. i am so blessed to be surrounded by people i love, a trail i adore, and the beauty and calm of the divine mother. i have no idea what next is in store for me, but i surrender ever more deeply to this incredible experience . . .
i left sisters and ended up meeting up with marie at highway 242. we only got in another 3 miles as it was all socked in and pretty darn cold.
the next day i decided to hike with marie to highway 20, where she hitched in to sisters to do her resupply. i hiked on, embarking on my epic 4 days to cascade locks. given my late start, i am guessing i will have a few miles left on the morning of the 6th.
here are pics of three fingered jack and mt. jefferson as i approached her from the south. the last pic is from my campsite for the evening . . . priceless . . .
i made it 35 miles and slept very well with such an awesome view of mt. jefferson.
i took off a little late the next morning, but ended up hiking all the way around mt. jefferson, 37 miles for the day and about 10 miles north of ollalie lake. this day of hiking was incredible: not only fun, but deeply calming and meditative, as i received my much needed hermit time. here are some great times from the day . . .
it is still, after all my miles, incredible to me that i can cover such a distance in one day by foot. simply mind boggling . . . this mt. jeffereson from ollalie lake on the north side from where i camped last night.
i left early from my spot at levitti meadow because i had a goal in mind of making it to the timberline lodge on mt. hood for dinner on the evening of the 4th and then breakfast on the 5th.
man did i hike! i ended up going 44 miles in just under 12 hours. and a lot of it was climbing. it feels so great to be in a place totally beyond the physical body. here is mt. hood as i approached . . .
i made my goal and sat down for a meal at 19:30 and then, yes, ate a ginormous breakfast the next morning. i also met some awesome hikers!
i left at 09:30 from the lodge and made it 30 miles to indian spring and the start of the optional eagle creek trail. i will have just 15 miles left for tomorrow and some spectacular hiking.
the eagle creek trail proved to be spectacular! here is the highlight . . .
i had a great hike and easy 15 miles in to cascade locks. i then got a ride in to portland, where i got to visit with my friend anne and enjoy a little r and r. anne is so very generous to let me stay at her place for two nights. we shared great conversation and she totally kicked my butt in scrabble, not once, but twice . . . maybe my lexicon needs a little bit of a workout.
i write this as i am on a bus back to cascade locks, feeling very peaceful and rested.
i am feeling so very thankful and blessed for the opportunity to have this experience and to have such amazing people in my life . . .
a friend of longlegs with whom he hiked a few hundred miles ago is laid up in his home town of ashland due to an injury and offered to host us for the night. so generous. so we stayed at bogie fingers' vacant, soon to be sold grandmother's house in ashland. the family totally spoiled us and we attempted to repay rather feebly by simply moving some furniture in to a van. thanx so much to bogie fingers and his amazing family for the trail magic!
we stayed there on monday night and then had a relaxing evening before heading back to the trail on tuesday early afternoon.
here are some amazing pics from our campsite just 11 miles from ashland at a spring by a pond . . .
the next day marie and i took off early and ended up taking a detour in to hyatt lake for snacks. on the way we saw this bald eagle in a tree . . . (look to the right of the right most telephone wire)
we hit the jackpot on the hiker box there and then hit the trail to quickly catch up with longlegs and jorge. we then had an early dinner at klum campground, a run in with a kind of scary local, and then camped on a board walk built over marshes by bog springs.
the next day was an easy day of flat hiking thru lava fields. i decided to scoot on ahead and ran in to fish lake resort, where i ate a great lunch and bought some surprise treats for our campsite in the evening. i rejoined the group at highway 140 andthen we made our way to christi springs. on the way there, we encountered the most ferociously blood thirsty and terribly numerous mosquitoes since way back in grace meadow before tuolumne. i may or may not have lost a pint of blood . . . just saying . . .
the next day we passed mile 1800 . . .
while eating lunch, marie and i made the decision to hike ahead, leaving longlegs and jorge a note and some snacks, so we could get closer to crater lake. on the way, we had a difficult discussion and decided it was time to hike alone again for a while. even though a little somber in kood, we enjoyed the following incredible campsite . . .
the next day was an easy 5 miles in to crater lake. at mazama village we enjoyed a relaxing morning and afternoon and then made our way to rim village. here is crater lake . . .
unfortunately, there was a fire off to the west, so most pics do not look so great.
the next morning, marie and i said our goodbyes and i took off for shelter cove, my next scheduled resupply.
no pics, but know that i enjoyed two 40 mile days in deep contemplation and meditation. it was wonderful. at times, sad and missing my friends, but very needed.
i got to shelter cove on the 30th, and while doing my usual resupply routine, marie came happily hiking up to the resort. it was great to see her fresh off her first 40 mile day. we enjoyed a nice morning and then i continued on my way to sister, oregon, my next resupply.
here is a video of a very lucid moment as i was hiking . . .
the three sisters wilderness . . . ahhhhhmazing . . .
some more views on my way in to sisters . . .
the lava fields and mountains are stunning . . .
in sister, oregon as i post this update and will head out to do just 5-6 more this evening. i will pass mile 2000 tomorrow morning and the plan is to do four back-to-back 40 mile days to get to cascade locks by the 6th. i may even try back-to-back 50s to accomplish 100 in two days. we shall see . . .
