Day 138, September 2: Mile 2389 to Snoqualmie to Mile 2401
Start: Mile 2388.7
End: Ridge Lake - Mile 2401.3
Miles: 12.6
Ascent: 3113 | Descent: 1893
I woke up early, eager to get into town. The hike in was beautiful and felt quintessentially PNW with mossy trees shrouded in a bit of fog. The trail popped out onto the (dry) ski runs of the resort at Snoqualmie Pass just before dropping into town.
I found Frankie and Gus at the coffee shop and we all ordered food and coffee. I got a delicious breakfast burrito full of eggs, veggies and meat, and a yummy tender biscuit topped with some of the most amazing raspberry jam I’ve had in my life, or least since the homemade jam my Oma used to make with the berries we picked ourselves. I also got a tasty vanilla oat milk latte, and set about updating my blog, which I was very behind on at the time (and still at the time I wrote this).
We took care of a few regular town chores- charging electronics, resupplying, and showering, which we did at a fancy coworking space that offered $5 showers to PCT hikers. Score! We hoped to do laundry as well but couldn’t find any readily available in town, so I made do with some limited sink laundry. I already can’t wait to wash my clothes in Leavenworth (in 70 miles).
After taking care of our chores, we packed up and went outside to where Kevin’s mom and family friends had brought their teardrop trailer, RV, and trail magic! They all live in the Seattle area and brought us (and the many hikers who joined) burgers, hot dogs, pasta salad, regular salad, a huge spread of veggies and dip, fruit, chips and other goodies. It was fantastic!
We spent the majority of the day sunk into camp chairs, chasing the ever-shifting shade around the trailers. Finally, around 2:30pm I was ready to leave so I could start on the big climb we had to tackle out of town. I thanked our gracious hosts and set off in the muggy, icky heat.
The climb up was already tough, and then I had enough cell service to receive the bad news… the PCT had been closed from 15 miles south of the Canadian border to the border due to wildfires, meaning I won’t be able to get the satisfaction of making it to the northern terminus monument.
I was overcome with emotions. Disappointment, mostly, but also anger, dejectedness, bitterness, sadness. It all suddenly felt so pointless to push myself so hard to get this hike done. I had already missed so much of the trail- who cares if I actually hiked all of Washington? If I even made it past the current point I was at? I had half a mind to turn around and head back to Snoqualmie to quit right then and there. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), I had just booked an Airbnb for the group in Leavenworth, so I continued pushing up the hill.
My friends caught up with me and we asked each other the same question practically at the same moment- did you hear the news? We all had, and we were all going through our own waves of emotions. Kevin tried to stay upbeat and positive, saying the border would reopen by the time we got there, but I was skeptical and cranky.
On top of the bad news about the trail, we had also seen Squirrel Daddy in Snoqualmie. He had been ahead of us but had to turn back as he had caught norovirus. He described the absolutely horrible time he had been through, and I think we were all freaked out. Gus in particular was not feeling well on the climb out of town, but we tried to remind him he had drank several beers in the heat of the day at the trail magic and didn’t drink any water. Still, I knew we were all worrying deep down.
Unmotivated and grumbling, I kept pushing up the climb. I finally made it to camp at 7:45, which was much too late. Luckily I had packed out pizza, so I was able to eat more quickly than if I had to cook something. I’ll take the small wins where I can today.