Pacific Crest Trail: Washington
Pacific Crest Trail: Washington
The Pacific Crest Trail is a 2650 mile backpacking thru-hike from Canada to Mexico known as America’s Wilderness Trail. The route takes hikers through Washington, Oregon and California (Northern California, Sierra Nevadas and Southern California). We hiked the PCT southbound in 2023 after quitting our jobs back in the UK.
Our first section was Washington where hikers traverse 11 wilderness areas. Read on to see if our preparations were sufficient.
Into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul - John Muir
For those hiking southbound Washington can be a baptism of fire. A mixture of beauty, wilderness and things sent to try you; it’s a tough place to cut your teeth. One might say (people do say) that if you’ve chosen to hike a wilderness trail you should be prepared for the above, which is partly fair. In reality you can never be fully prepared, it is inevitable that you will have to adapt on a journey so long. For many, including ourselves, that was partly the reason for even being here: to be humbled and then evolve. It’s just that Washington humbles you quickly.
There are times on the trail, especially in southern California, where you have an out. If all fails, mentally or physically, you can find a road to hitch from or a hill to call from. In Washington this isn’t the case, in fact it’s the opposite. If you need out then you’re hiking or worst case pressing the “Enter expletive, save me” button on the satellite phone. Even then you might still be in for a wait. Whilst this might be daunting for those new to hiking in the Wilderness (i.e. us) it’s also what makes it so special. The vastness and feeling of being completely alone amongst ancient mountains, dense and dark forests, mighty rivers and wildlife still living free, uninfluenced by any homo sapien terror. We didn’t know it at the time but what you find in Washington is rarely replicated on the trail, it is special.
We chose to start on the 1st July. In 2022 the lingering snow meant this would have been too early yet in 2023 the ground was almost completely clear. The lack of snow was good for us; it removed a potential safety consideration. It did, however, introduce another issue: like an army of the living dead thousands of mosquitoes hatched, rose from the ground and lay in wait. If you’re thinking of hiking the PCT note that the impact of the mosquitoes should not be underestimated. When we wanted just a 15 minute break our options were: don’t take a break; put on full rain gear (gore tex) and head net; pitch tent (whilst being bitten). This wore us down pretty quickly.
The jump off point for the PCT southbound is an unassuming trail head called Harts Pass. Getting from Seattle to here is a feat in itself. Suffice to say we saw the best of the PCT trail angel community during that journey. From Harts Pass we agonisingly turned north and walked a casual 30 miles to reach the Canadian border. Here we joyously turned around to retrace our steps for 30 miles to end up back to where we started. Although walking north can feel like a false start this stretch is: a) stunning and b) a nice testing ground for life on the trail. Along with many others we removed a lot of “nice to have” gear when we returned to town; it would be posted further down the trail to retrieve another day. I remember vividly thinking on this stretch not that I wanted to quit, but quite simply that we wouldn’t physically be able to complete the trail if we didn’t change our setup.
With our gear refined and additional mosquito repellent secured we hitched back to the trail. Over the course of the following month we would hike just over 500 miles, climb around 30,000m and lose a stone (6kg) each in weight. The temperatures were typically 25-30 degrees C (77-86 F) which would represent an unprecedented month long heat wave by UK standards - sun burn, cheap barbeques and buckled railway tracks. Unfortunately that’s what it felt like, hiking through a heat wave (minus the barbeques).
Below are a series of pictures and reflections from the Washington sections. The start and end points also represent our resupply locations. Unlike some parts of the trail there was no option to resupply or even pick up an ice cream in-between, bar one small town that we didn’t visit. We practically staggered into Oregon but had been promised that it would be easier to hike through than Washington; it wasn’t.
Harts Pass - Rainy Pass: 91 miles (including 30 miles north)
Mile 0-61
Wilderness Areas: Pasayten
This section, 30 miles to Canada, 30 miles back to Harts pass and then an additional 30 miles to Rainy Pass is dominated by early milestones such reaching the Canadian border and taking your first steps south. The build up to and aftermath of these milestones mean you can ride a short lived wave of excitement and sense of accomplishment! Beyond these feelings for us there was a concern of how we could lighten our packs and, in honesty, a degree of fear for sharing our living space with bears. The Pasayten Wilderness feels very remote, dense forest, wild camping, bear scat on the trail, all of these things played on our minds the first days and weeks.
Many who have grown up hiking around bears do not share our fear and we ourselves relaxed considerably over time. There seems to be some debate whether grizzly bears (the ones you really should worry about) inhabit the Pasayten Wilderness. The confusing consensus amongst hikers seems to be that they are there, perhaps in small numbers, but it is not spoken of. Black bears are far more common, we would meet them soon enough.
Rainy Pass - Stevens Pass: 127 miles
Mile: 61 - 188
Wilderness Areas: Stephen Mather, Glacier Peak, Henry M Jackson
This section is notorious on the PCT for being especially tough due to the rugged, overgrown demanding trail conditions and large ascents. We didn’t actually realise this at the time and thus feared that the whole PCT might be similar. At 128 miles it is also one of the longest sections which meant a lot of our learning was still to be done. Seeing Glacier Peak for the first time is a special moment; by luck more than design we emerged from the forest early one morning with clear blue skies that had been shrouded in fog just the day before.
And then the bears. When we told people in the UK our plans the first question was frequently “what about bears?”. It was strange and became almost a running joke, one that wasn’t actually that funny for us, not knowing what things would be like in reality. What we did know is that getting too close to a mother bear and cubs was…undesirable. Not far from Stevens Pass on an overgrown descent this scenario is exactly what we encountered. Mother and cub were roughly 30m/90ft away and slowly making their way into the brush on our right. The trail headed down towards the left and so after a few minutes we decided to continue, slowly but loudly just to make sure we didn’t inadvertently bump into them. After a minute or so, Claire quietly but firmly said my name and told me to look to my right. Within 5 metres of us were both bears. We stared at each other, trying to process what the other was about to do next. This essentially represented our worst case scenario.
After a few moments the mother bear awkwardly clambered on to the tree, not up the tree, but just kind of hugging it. The cub, next to its own tree did the same. We took this as a gesture that they wanted to be out of that situation as much as we did and so we walked on with a fair degree of purpose. During our time on the trail we’d see another 7 bears, all of whom completely ignored us or made a swift exit, more afraid of us than we were of them. Whilst a little unnerving each encounter was also an incredible moment and as we adjusted over time we became more relaxed about sharing this space with these amazing anmials.
Stevens Pass - Snoqualmie Pass: 71 miles
Mile: 188 - 259
Wilderness Areas: Alpine Lakes
The Wilderness Area naming convention is matter of fact. During this section we encountered many alpine lakes - at least you know what to expect. Glaciers have carved out more than 700 lakes and ponds within this area. You do get a range: some small and stagnant that will make you twitch with fear of the inevitable mosquitoes, but for the most part the lakes we saw were deep clear blue and majestic with trout meandering by and dragonflies darting over the water.
As you wind through the mountains you are frequently greeted by views looking down onto these incredible lakes nestled amongst a backdrop difficult to rival. Towards the end of this section we were given our first glimpse of “The Mountain”, Mt Rainier dominant on the horizon. We wondered how long this mountain would be visible for and whilst we didn’t actually count, weeks had gone by before it was no longer a feature.
Snoqualmie Pass - White Pass: 98 miles
Mile: 259 - 357
Wilderness Areas: Norse Peak, Mt Rainier
Wildfires are a regular occurrence on the west coast of America and often impact those hiking the PCT in addition to countless home and business owners each year. We were aware before the trail of the possible/ likely scenario of encountering fires and later in the trail we did have to skip a section that was closed for this reason. What we were less prepared for was the hiking through areas which had been burnt in previous seasons.
We started to encounter this for the first time during this section and sadly it would be a regular fixture later in the trail, especially in Oregon.
What we also encountered was a closer view of the almost 5000m/ 15000ft Mt Rainier. We only dipped into the Wilderness Area surrounding it and so what we had were impressive views, not mountaineering. An active volcano that is meant to have last erupted in the mid-1800s today it towers in the horizon for countless miles and can be seen clearly from Seattle - which is in fact where we first unexpectedly and rather ominously saw it.
White Pass - Trout Lake: 66 miles
Mile: 357 - 423
Wilderness Areas: William O Douglas, Goat Rocks
One of our favourite days on the trail came during this section at Goat Rocks. The PCT can be strange in that you spend a lot of time climbing but reach very few peaks. Mostly you are gradually climbing and traversing across, and the sense of accomplishment that comes from reaching a peak is not always there. With Goat Rocks this is different, it’s a challenging, epic hike up along steep ridge lines with loose and broken rock to the top.
We hiked this section with two friends we met on trail which made the day much more enjoyable. Fast forward a thousand miles and a couple of months and we would be climbing Mt Whitney, the highest peak on trail and the highest mountain in the contiguous United States (i.e. not including Hawaii and other outlying states) with the same pair :)
Trout lake - Cascade Locks: 82 miles
Wilderness Areas: Mount Adams, Indian Heaven
Mile: 423 - 505
Finishing Washington has to be mentioned as it represented such a significant moment for us. Whilst we had no intention of finishing here there was a feeling of what ever happens now we have hiked the state of Washington.
It is also the moment you cross the famous Bridge of the Gods, connecting Washington with Oregon. The crossing itself was quite an experience, high above the Columbia river the bridge floor is a metal grid like structure, i.e. you can see straight through and down. Furthermore the crossing is into oncoming traffic on a busy road and when we crossed it was a busy day. The growing sense of excitement to finish the state is met by a rather strange reality of what for some is quite a terrifying few minutes. For all the mountains and bears unsurprisingly it is when we reached civilisation that we felt most vulnerable. Throughout the trail we often found this was the case, for various reasons. Dodging cars and perilous falls aside - we crossed safely and Washington was complete!