Thursday September 19, 21.8mi/35.1km

Brockway Trailhead / Highway 267 (0.0/7005ft) to Granlibbakken Hill (21.8/6549ft) (CA)

I’m hiking the Tahoe Rim Trail! (See the main blog page for the trail details and stats). I was awake at 6am, and packed up and out the door at 7am. I put on my new shoes, my old ones were dead!

Kim dropped me off at the trailhead at 7:15, and I set off into the forest.

It was a very cold morning, the thermometer on my backpack showed 35F/2C. And there was even some fresh snow on the ground!

I kept moving all morning to keep warm, stopping only briefly for views like these.

As I climbed a little higher, there was even more snow.

Crunch, crunch, crunch. I hope this snow melts when the sun hits it! I walked thru a meadow that used to contain many wildflowers, but I think their season is over.

I stopped and got water at a Watson Creek, and then 15 minutes later I took a nice long break at Watson Lake.

Two other groups had camped here last night, and they had just finished packing up when I arrived. They didn’t like having to brush the snow off their tents! There was a side trail to the summit of Mt Watson, and I was ahead of schedule, so I did a quick trip up it.

It started to precipitate lightly, so I took no photos for that hour. As I descended, the sun came back out, and I could see the lake!

All afternoon the weather switched between “sunny” and “light wintry mix”. I had started a short nap in this sunny spot:

But 20 minutes later I was woken by graupel in my face. Darn. I moved on, the forest was so mossy and green here.

And the cool rocks, as I neared Tahoe City.

And more views of Lake Tahoe:

This was the view looking down on the Truckee River valley. Half sun, half clouds.

I descended down to Tahoe City, as the trail passes right thru it. It was 5pm, so I stopped for first dinner and got pizza!

It was expensive pizza, and mediocre at best. Darn. I checked my phone messages, and I had a text from a shuttle driver for my next trail. So I spent an hour doing planning and logistics on my phone for that. I hiked out after 6pm, walked a mile, and setup my tent in the woods. It was a painful first day, I’m not used to hiking at high elevations again!

Thursday September 12 – Wednesday September 18

I slept great, being indoors and on a nice bed. In the morning I explored the apartment complex, which had a big pond.

The resident swan, Ricky, was quite friendly and came over to say hi.

In the afternoon, I walked over to the Fred Meyer to get some food for the next few days.

Apparently the pumpkin spice foods are already out on shelves… it’s time to go back into the woods and hide!

The view from the store parking lot was great. Rainier is a big mountain!

In the evening, Steph, Rob and I all went to the local climbing gym. It had been a year since I’d put on a harness, so the usual 5.10’s now felt quite difficult.

The next morning, I did some more planning for one of my upcoming hikes, “Lowest to Highest”, a 130-mile route in the Mojave desert. Of course, ice cream was needed to aid the process.

At lunch, I picked up a super cheap rental car, and drove to downtown Seattle. On the way, there were over a dozen “Bikini Espresso” coffee shops. Seattle is fascinating.

After exploring Capitol Hill and Chinatown, I met up with my CDT trail family! It was awesome to see them all at the same time, and we hung out and talked late into the evening, way past “hiker midnight”.

I was sad for the evening to end, but it was 11pm, and everyone had to get home, and I had to drive two hours by 8am tomorrow. I drove partway, and camped at Snoqualmie Pass. I was very happy to see that the Aardvark Express food truck was still doing business.

It’s a delicious Asian fusion establishment that is very popular with PCT hikers, since that trail goes right thru here. After another hour of driving, I arrived at Vantage, a volcanic rock climbing area on the Columbia River.

Rob and Steph were already there, as was Tom and his dog Beau.

I spent the day climbing, and flailing up some hard cracks. Fun, though! Especially the offwidth crack. The next morning, Sunday morning, I departed and drove four hours to Portland. As I drove down the freeway thru the gorge, I had to stop at Cascade Locks for the view, and an ice cream.

I had a fun visit in Portland, getting in a nice long trail run in Northwest Park, and seeing trail friends on Sunday night (AT), and Monday night (PCT). It seems that Portland is where thru-hikers go to retire, ha!

The next day, Tuesday, I got up early, and drove all day. I took a brief break after four hours to stretch my legs. I ran a mile down the PCT at Willamette Pass, so fun!

I had left Portland at 8am, and arrived to Lake Tahoe CA at 6:30pm.

Long day, but it was worth it! I hadn’t seen my friends Kim and Jeremy since their wedding, so I was stoked to hang out for a couple of days. And of course the dogs too!

I will start the Tahoe Rim Trail on Thursday the 19th, a trail I’ve been meaning to finish since 2015, when I hiked part of it. I feel ready to hike again!

Wednesday September 11, 14.6mi/23.5km

Cedar Creek Camp (1205.7/10ft) to Cape Alava (1217.0/20ft) (WA)

I was moving at the usual time of 7:15am, excited for the finish today.

It was neat to see the sunlight creep over the seastacks, as the sun rose in the sky.

The seaweed beds were thick today, too.

It was a cloudy, cool day. Perfect for hiking!

I started seeing many different animal tracks on the sand.

And more tracks…

And then, I saw a bear on the beach! So I’m guessing these were bear tracks.

There was a small bluff that I had to go over because of the high tide. Fortunately, there was a small tunnel!

I saw more animal tracks, and then some dragging marks. It appears a bear had found a washed up seal!

Poor seal (Sea Lion?)

The beach alternated between nice sandy stretches and rocky parts.

I crossed paths with a guy named Charles, who had just finished walking the Pacific coast… from Tijuana! He was hiking out, and finished with his adventure!

There were plenty of deer along the beach too, eating the dune grasses.

And a few miles later, I came across a wonderful surprise. At a spit called wedding rocks, there were ancient petroglyphs carved into the rocks!

I reached Cape Alava at 1:30pm, and it was beautiful, but not very climactic.

And of course a panoramic shot:

And I met a couple of ladies, from Portland and London, who offered to take my photo. Actually, many photos, they were having fun doing a hikertrash photo shoot!

I hung around and celebrated with a can of wine and some kettle chips, then started my 3mi/5km hike out to the trailhead parking lot. It was a very nice trail.

Most of it was cedar boardwalk!

I arrived to the trailhead an hour later, at 3pm, and promptly got a ride out to the main highway.

I caught a bus from my drop-off spot on the highway, and two hours later I was back in Port Angeles. And much to my surprise, I received a call from my friend Rob, and he and Steph drive two hours to come pick me up! So awesome!

The PNT was an amazing trail, I’ll have more thoughts on it in the coming days. And I’m planning a couple more mini-adventures (1 week each) in California.

Recon, signing off from the Pacific Northwest Trail!

Tuesday September 10, 12.5mi/20.1km

Third Beach Camp (1193.2/33ft) to Cedar Creek Camp (1205.7/10ft) (WA)

I started walking the latest yet on this trail – 8:30am. The afternoon low tide isn’t until 5pm, and there’s a spot in 10 miles that requires a low tide. So, no hurry at all today! The view leaving camp today was just as spectacular as it was last night.

The PNT immediately went into the forest, on a very manicured trail.

A couple miles later I came out at a road, and walked a mile into La Push, a small village of the Quileute Nation.

I stopped at the general store for a few snack items, for the last two days of this hike. If course, I also grabbed an ice cream bar, a Snapple, and some fresh hot jojos.

I continued down the road to the marina, where I met Gene. He gives hikers a boat ride across the large Quillayute River, as the river has no bridge nearby.

I was at the Rialto Beach parking area, and I walked down the road to the beach. These signs are always amusing to me.

It was now almost noon, and it was high tide. The waves were huge, and very loud.

I walked further, and I kept seeing these huge plants wash up on shore. They look like thick green ropes that are also smooth.

The ocean was still raging.

There is a spot on the beach called “Hole in the wall” and if it’s a very low tide you can walk right thru it.

Usually, though, people walk up and over it, using a series of dirt steps. The view from the top:

And back down the other side, I could approach the hole much more closely.

A couple more miles up the beach, I came upon a plaque commemorating a shipwreck. A Chilean ship had crashed offshore from here in 1920.

It was a hot and sunny day, so I was moving slowly and taking occasional ocean breaks.

I came across this dead sea creature, maybe a sea lion?

There were plenty of sea stacks today too.

I arrived to camp at 5:30pm, and sat and watched the ocean, relaxing on my last night of beach camping.

I was pretty excited about the flavor choices for my final trail dinner!

Tomorrow, there is only eleven miles to hike, to get to the finish at Cape Alava!

Monday September 9, 14.4mi/23.2km

Olympic Coast Trailhead (1178.8/43ft) to Third Beach camp (1193.2/33ft) (WA)

I set my alarm (for the first time this hike) for 3:45am, and I was hiking at 4:15am. Of course, it was very dark.

I hiked to the ocean, and I could hear the waves crashing on the beach. I hiked thru the beach section that is passable only at low tide, which unfortunately today occurred at 4:30am. After a mile on the rocky beach, I was back on a trail above the beach.

After two hours of headlamp hiking, the sun finally rose at 6:30am, and I had a view!

The trail dropped down to the beach, and I enjoyed some nice flat sand walking for awhile.

The Pacific Ocean is so interesting to walk along, there are these neat rock formations scattered around, I think they’re called seastacks.

This one even had some very determined trees growing on top.

More beach!

The trail again went back up into the forest, briefly this time. Usually when there is an impassable part of the beach, the trail ducks inland to get around the cliffs/rocks.

After I got back down to the beach again, the clouds had started to dissipate, and I took a break in the warm sunlight.

I stopped for a snack at a campsite, which had some nice benches to sit on.

And some interesting decorations too.

I hiked by an area named “Giants Graveyard”, with all these huge rock formations in the sea.

As I was walking along admiring the ocean, I almost tripped over a skeleton. Oops!

It must’ve been a huge sea critter!

It was only noon, and I was getting tired, but I pressed on to camp a few miles away. Sometimes when the trail descends back down to the beach, it is so steep that ropes are needed.

The last mile along the beach (for today) was relaxing and warm.

A cloud would hover over the mainland, but it was sunny on the beach. Strange!

I arrived to camp at 2pm, after hiking for almost 8 hours. I setup my tent, and took a nap in the warm sunshine.

I woke up at 4pm and walked down to the ocean. The water is very cold, so I only waded in up to my knees. I talked to a couple other dayhikers, and then went back up to my tent and made dinner. The sun set at 7:45pm, and by 8pm the moon was watching over the beach.

Goodnight, ocean. Two more days to finish the PNT!

Sunday September 8, 22.2mi/35.7km

Bogachiel State Park (1156.6/240ft) to Olympic Coast Trailhead (1178.8/43ft) (WA)

I was up early, and excited to make a breakfast run into town. I hitched into Forks, WA at 7:30am, and got a ride from a nice man and his daughter on their way to a whale-watching tour. He dropped me at the grocery store, which also happened to have a hardware store, department store, and coffee shop. So convenient!

I sat and enjoyed a chorizo breakfast sandwich and a hot beverage, then bought some fruit and ice cream at the grocery part. The hitch back to the trail was the slowest on this entire trail, almost 1.5 hours. I finally started hiking at noon, and I kept moving all day to cover 22 miles by dark (8pm). The first mile was on a busy road, highway 101. Some people drive this road all the way to California!

I crossed the Bogachiel River, and then turned onto dirt roads.

After leaving the highway 101, I only saw three cars all day. It was easy walking, and the weather mostly cooperated, with only three brief rainshowers. Umbrella to the rescue again!

I listened to some podcasts, “Stuff You Should Know”, and “For the Love of Climbing”. The hours and miles flew by, and I took a brief break at a nice wooden bridge.

I cruised the rest of the afternoon, and came to the Olympic NP access road for the wilderness coast. It followed along the Hoh River for a couple miles.

I arrived to the trailhead at 7:45pm and setup camp. I got everything done by 9pm, and set my alarm for 3:45am. The next section requires a 1ft low tide to pass, and that tide occurs at 4:15am. Stupid moon!

Saturday September 7, 24.3mi/39.1km

Twenty-one Mile Camp (1132.3/2208ft) to Bogachiel State Park (1156.6/240ft) (WA)

I said good morning to Semi-Sweet and Kate, as they rolled out of camp at 6:30am. I was on their heels, leaving at 6:45am. We all started early, as we heard this section of trail was very overgrown and to expect slow progress. It started off OK, just a little bit overgrown.

I made it three miles, and then the trail practically disappeared. I also caught Kate & Semi-Sweet, and we all waded thru the neck-high plants. Car wash time!

After a couple hours of that “hiking”, I stopped for a break at an old shelter to have a snack and to assess my scrapes and bruises. Even the shelter was overgrown!

We followed the Bogachiel River all day, as it slowly descended and made its way to the sea.

After lunch, the trail did become much better, almost as good as most trails in the National Park.

Occasionally, there would be a small stream crossing, with a log bridge for hikers, and a stream ford for horses. The drawings on this sign were a reason to smile.

Eventually, at 4pm I emerged from the forest, and took a short break at the trailhead parking area. It’s a rainforest!

I finished the day on a 5mi/8km roadwalk to a state park campground. I enjoyed the nice, easy, uncomplicated finish to the day. I arrived at 6pm, and there were still sites available, sweet!

I setup camp, ordered pizza delivery from a place in the nearby town of Forks, and then had a nice hot shower. After a week in the woods, a shower feels magical. I returned to my campsite, and Kate and Semi-Sweet had arrived, yay! And my pizza arrived 10 minutes after that, yum.

The weather forecast is for light rain/mist for the next three days. Yuck. But I only have 60 miles to the finish, time for the final push!

Friday September 6, 23.3mi/37.5km

Olympic Hot Springs (1109.0/2165ft) to Twenty-one Mile Camp (1132.3/2208ft) (WA)

I was up early to check out the hot springs, and they were hot!

The hot water runoff had some interesting colors.

The morning hiking was mostly uphill, as I gained 3000ft over 5 miles, to reach Appleton Pass.

There was a campsite at the top of the pass, and people were just packing up to leave at 9:30am! I sat and chatted with them for a bit and admired the views.

I believe this was Mt Olympus in the distance.

The descent was quick, and it was wet at the bottom. Some of the small ponds had this weird film in the water.

And the rivers had those single-log bridges over them. Except the logs are huge!

Another bridge a mile later, it even had steps carved into it!

I climbed uphill again, to reach the High Divide Trail. It traversed a 5000ft high ridge for over five miles.

First I passed Heart Lake.

And I had a closer view of Mt Olympus.

And then more lakes…

And then a bear! He was the first of many bears today, I counted seven.

The views from the top of Mt. Bogachiel were pretty spectacular…

Panoramic shot, too.

The Seven Lakes Basin was a very fitting name.

I finally descended off the ridge at 4pm, and took a break in the shade by a lake. There was a campsite near there, though I thought the campsite assignments were oddly specific…

I continued on to camp, crossing a few wetlands and trail junctions.

I arrived to camp at 6:45pm, later than usual but it was a long day with many breaks. And Semi-Sweet and Kate were there at the campsite too! It’s so unusual to see other PNT hikers, and camping with them even more so.

Thursday September 5, 20.3mi/32.7km

Lillian Camp (1092.7/1365ft) to Olympic Hot Springs (1109.0/2165ft) (WA) +4.0mi side trail to town

I was hiking early, it’s a town day! There was only 8 miles to town this morning, and most of it was on a closed gravel road.

It seemed wetter on this side of the park, so many ferns!

I came to the spot of an old dam, the Glines Canyon dam. It was removed in 2014, so the natural Elwha river could be restored. The dam was built 100 years ago for power generation.

Most of the former lakebed is now overgrown with alders, and other colonizing species.

A mile later, I came to another mile marker. 1100 miles down, 117 to go!

I got to the trailhead at 10:30am, and hitched a ride to town. We had a nice conversation, and the woman was nice and offered to drop me at Safeway. Perfect! I did my food shopping, then went across the street for BBQ and ice cream. Then, I took a bus across town, to the ranger station to pickup a bear canister (they are required in the upcoming coast section). The ranger mentioned that the weather forecast will be rainy after these next two dry days. So, she changed my permit, and I hitched back to the trail today, so I can be out of the mountains before the rain starts. I was only in town for three hours, so I only got one photo!

I was back on the trail at 3:30pm, and hiked up the other side of the Elwha River. There was more information about the demolished dam, which was neat.

I hiked up a closed road for 8 miles, with a viewpoint about halfway thru. In the distance is some smoke from a small wildfire.

Looking north, back toward the demolished dam.

I arrived at camp at 7:30pm, setup camp and quickly made dinner, as it was getting dark quickly. I could hear other hikers around, and saw many small tents. There is also a hot springs nearby, which I’ll investigate in the morning.

Wednesday September 4, 23.1mi/37.2km

Bear camp (1069.6/3878ft) to Lillian camp (1092.7/1365ft) (WA)

I slept great in the shelter, and it was easy to pack up in the morning without the tent. The shelters are probably one of the few things I miss about the AT…It was another sunny day, and it warmed up quickly.

The climb to Hayden Pass was full of switchbacks, so every 5 minutes I would get views in the opposite direction.

Top of the pass, 5850ft!

The trail coming down the other side travels thru a part of the forest that burned in 2016.

But, there were good views thru the trees now! I assume those are glaciers on the distant mountains, since it’s September.

The trail descended over 4000ft to the Elwha River, crossing many side creeks along the way. Some of the crossings had steep drop-offs.

And then, I was at the bottom, in a really old, dense forest.

I stopped for lunch at a Ranger station cabin, and sat on the porch to eat. Their privy had a funny cartoon, with a bear of course.

I hiked along the Elwha River all afternoon, on fairly flat trail, so it was easy walking.

There was an old cabin from the 1920s, and a cool aspen forest.

I saw a gate with a poorly worded sign. Horses know how to close gates?!

I crossed paths with Kate and Semi-Sweet again, and we talked trail for a bit before we each continued to our respective campsites (they were going a few miles further). Hopefully I get to see them again before the finish, only 125 miles left!