Saturday, September 22nd.

Saturday, September 22: Todays miles = 42.8. Miles hiked = 20. Total PCT miles = 2,262.1. Miles remaining = 401.4.

There is a reason my miles for today and my miles hiked are different numbers. It's because the PCT was on fire....again. The section of trail around Mt. Adams closed officially on the 20th because the PCT itself caught on fire. I didn't know of this until I got to the road to Trout Lake. My initial plan was to skip going into Trout Lake altogether and continue on to Packwood Pass. I had no choice but to go into Trout Lake after I got to the road and found the trail ahead to be closed. I got a hitch almost immediately from a couple going in the opposite direction who turned around and drove me 25 miles out of their way to town. 'Town' was a very small general store and a diner, nothing else. No joke. It was enough, though, to find out enough information about the fire to make a decision. I decided to take the detour around the fire which was shorter than the PCT. There wasn't another option really, besides walking into a burning fire zone.

I had a hard time getting up this morning. It rained last night; not too hard and not for very long but it was enough to wet my tent fly and make the air humid. It has rained twice on the PCT for me. Both times were at night. I'm not going to say anything more about this because I don't want to go jinxing anything. Anyway, I didn't get hiking until after 8am. This morning felt like an AT morning. My tent was wet. The air was frigid. The ground saturated and almost frozen. The wind was blowing just enough to chill you to the bone and shake the access rain off of the trees. Fog blew in and covered any view you might have had. Even the trail itself seemed more AT like. The ground was dirt, a mud (which I had yet to see on the PCT). There was actually moisture on the ground and in the air. I walked through an old growth forest away from the ridge of the mountains. Even with the miserable conditions of this morning I actually really enjoyed the hike. It was nostalgic in a way; reminding me of all the uncomfortable moments of the AT that you look back on thinking..."eh, that wasn't so bad". Yes, yes, it was. It's miserable. Time allows you to forget just how physically uncomfortable you can actually get. All it takes is a little rain when it's 35 degrees out and you have nowhere to go to seek shelter.

My low food situation was taken care of when arriving at the small store. I now have too much food for the 41 miles to Packwood pass. I would rather have too much food than count out my M&Ms.
I'm looking forward to Goat rocks. I'm not sure what it is but I have been told to look forward to it so I am doing just that. So far Washington has not impressed me. It's a hard act to follow Oregon but I guess I expected a little more from Washington. There's still almost 400 miles left of the state. Maybe it's too soon to place judgement. The only thing I have gotten out of Washington has been difficult climbs with no rewards. The fog can be pretty sometimes but not when there's a giant epic mountain I want to see just beyond it.

I'm camped with Baboon tonight on the side of the trail not far from water. The time has begun to set my tent up properly each night. I am often lazy but after the rain last night I want a bit more protection tonight.