Ian's PCT 2023 Thru Hike!

  On day 15 I left Snoqualmie Pass, heading back out into smoky air. I felt the air was just fine to breathe and I didn’t notice any irritation all day. It was a 5 mile climb out of the pass gaining almost 3000 feet. Halfway through the climb a man named Karel Sabbe passed me running up the mountain, and I’ve been following his entire hike online. He is attempting the fastest known time on the pct and he left the Mexican border 42 days ago averaging almost 60 miles a day.     The record is 51 days so he’s well on pace. At the top of the climb the trail went across a narrow ledge called the Kendall Catwalk. People make it sound like it’s super scary but I didn’t think it was much worse than a lot of other places on trail. The next 10 miles were through the beautiful Alpine Lakes wilderness, but I didn’t take many pictures because it was hard to see the scenery through the smoke. I set up camp at mile 2414.8 for a 20.7 mile day By the morning of day 16, the smoke had fully ...

  On day 10 I left White Pass to start the longest stretch of Washington, 98 miles. It was a very hot day with several pretty exposed climbs. Near the trailhead, I encountered a group of pack llamas which I’ve never before encountered. It turns out that they are part of an organization called Pass to Pass (passtopass.org) that supports people with Parkinson’s and brings them out into the outdoors.    Eventually I entered into Mt Rainier national park, greeted with spectacular views of the mountain. I set up camp at mile 2315.6, for 19.6 miles for the day. Day 11 consisted of a a series of beautiful ridge walks with incredible views of Mt Tahoma (rainier). It was also quite a bit cooler, with some overcast skies. In the late morning there was an incredible amount of day hikers out in a lake strewn section that must be very popular. I then arrived at Chinook Pass/ hwy 410, one of the entry points to the national park. There wasn’t much there except for a parking lot. I also...

On day 6 I got back on trail after a relaxing time at Trout Lake. The day started with a climb up to the base of Mt Adams, with incredible views of Adams, Mt Hood, Mt St Helens, and Mt Rainier all at the same time. The trail went through some burn areas and then it was surrounded in beautiful alpine meadows with lots of of wildflowers. Up to this point the trail has been under a green tunnel of trees, but this was the day that it started to open out. The milky  Adams Creek required a bit of a ford, but with logs to hold onto it was easy.       The trail began to descend from the mountain, and I set up camp at the bottom, mi 2250.5 for a total of 20.5 for the day. I hit mile 100 for Washington! The campsite was one of my favorites that I’ve ever had, as there was an awesome spring bubbling straight out from some lava rock. It was super cold clear water, and is the only kind of source that I would drink without a filter.  What an introduction to the Goat Rocks! Th...