Days 130 – 134: Snoqualmie to mile 2501.3 (2396.3 – 2501.3)

Day 130: Starting famous section J in Washington (15.96 Miles hiked) / Mile 2411.1

Section J in Washington is a 75 mile section from Snoqualmie to Steven’s Pass, and it is supposedly one of the most beautiful sections of the PCT, so we were stoked to check it out. We left at 10.30am and will try to do so last 17 miles.

We both feel better this morning. I had a great night of sleep, best one in weeks. Little hiking and no alcohol, 78 sleep score, body battery 63, more than 20 more than on trail.

We had a cappuccino at Laconia Market and Iceman talked to his parents, coordinating the pick up at Harts Pass in a few days.

We have an 8 mile 2500 ft climb ahead of us.

The climb was through forest, first with highway noises and many day hikers. But once we got to the top of the climb, we saw no more people and the views kept getting better and better. We kept climbing almost all day with little breaks and it was tough on the legs because the trail consisted of rocks and you have to pay attention in order not to trip or break an ankle.

I had two other knee braces earlier on trail that hurt my knee, this one seems to work better because you can adjust it

We enjoyed the sun and the views and later in the afternoon we saw marmots again – we haven’t seen those since the Sierra and they were really really cute and quite big – the size of cats. They conversed with each other over long distances with really high shrieks. They weren’t afraid of us as they’ve probably seen thousand of hikers walk by their „house“. I think they’re getting fat for hibernation – perfect as there were millions of huckleberries everywhere.

We were eating them too. After yet another climb, we didn’t make it to our desired campsite but one before it at a beautiful little pond, just before it got dark at 7.30pm. The views were so incredible at sunset, large rugged mountains all around us, beautiful green and red valleys, just wow!

I iced my knee in town and did some research on taping it with k2 tape and knee stretches. Did those too, plus the arnica cbd rub several times a day. I also found a knee brace in the hiker box at our hotel and took that too, and it actually seemed to work – my knee didn’t hurt for the first 15 miles – the last mile wasn’t great. But I also started paying more attention to how I walk and tried to focus on my gluteus maximus, hips and hamstring more and knee less so let’s see if that does any good. At this point I gotta try everything in order to make it to the Canadian border.

Miles hiked: 15.96

Ascent: 4751 ft

Descent: 2916 ft

Steps: 32.025

Day 131: 2433.2 (23.43)

We left at 7.24am, tent was wet, didn’t sleep well.

We had a gorgeous day: sunshine, beautiful glacier views, Spectacle lake, many more lakes, one huge lake, Waptus lake from high above in the afternoon and then hiked around it on the other side, climbs and descents. My feet hurt but it was great. We started listening to the book “Chaos” about the Manson murders. Wild! Very interesting.

Got to camp at 7.00pm right next to a water source.

Miles hiked: 23.43

Ascent: 3723 ft

Descent: 5367 ft

Steps: 46.163

Day 132: Deception Lake 2455.3 (24.2 Miles hiked) / 200 Miles to Canada

Alarm at 5.30am, we left at 6.47am – yay – we usually take 2 hours in the morning but we’ve been trying to shorten that to 1h – so we did better today.

We noticed to our shock that a mouse had chewed through our tent and my odor proof food bag to eat our granola breakfast. Because we camped next to a river, neither of us heard it.

We started with a long climb, and had phenomenal views all day. We stopped at Cascade creek for lunch which was beautiful. We had done 12 miles at noon.

Then we climbed 2500 ft up again and around 4 we stopped at Deception Lake and jumped in – it was gorgeous and very cold. We cliff jumped and cannon balled into the cold water. It was wonderful.

Then we started climbing again and got into a boulder wonderland with phenomenal views over Glacier Lake.

We camped at the most epic spot on top of a gnarly climb. Maybe the most elevation we have done in a day?

We are at mile 2455.3 which means we will reach the Canadian border in a mere 200 Miles. 😳😱

Miles hiked: 24.20

Ascent: 6201 ft

Descent: 3661 ft

Steps 48.029

Day 133: Steven’s Pass / Mile 2478.4 (24.15 miles hiked)

We left at 7.10am and had sunshine and blue skies again. This section is gorgeous, many climbs and incredible views of mountain ranges.

We got to the top of a ski lift and got close to civilization, seeing many day hikers hiking up the other direction on this sunny Saturday.

We got to Steven’s Pass shortly after noon and were delighted the restaurant serving burgers that according to Google was closed, was indeed open. We ordered two cheese burgers and Pepsi, hooked up our electronics to charge and got the resupply box we had sent ourselves.

Food for another 5 days. It is our second last resupply box. We will pick up the last box in Stehekin in 5 days. Crazy.

We had ice cream for dessert and left at 2.15pm to hike 12 more miles, entering Washington Section K, We got to camp just before it got dark, at the end of a 2 mile hill. Our packs were heavy with the 5 days of food and we were tired.

Entering yet another wilderness area – Henry Jackson Wilderness

Miles hiked: 24.15

Ascent: 4.759 ft

Descent: 5.478 ft

Steps: 49.466

Day 134: 2501.3 (24.03 miles hiked) 2500 miles / 4000 km!!

When we woke up to our alarm at 5.30am, we could hear the rain so we slept a bit longer. We left at 7.40am and it was rainy and very cold for the first 5.5h. We tried not to stop much for water or to take pictures because we were completely wet, despite rain jackets, from climbing and sweating and wet bushes.

It was still raining when lunch time came but luckily we found space to sit between some boulders and threw Ice’s tarp over the top, fixing it with some rocks. We were still cold with our puffies so we kept hiking soon.

We started an audiobook to get us through the cold: about ranger Randy Morgenson in Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park, called “the last Season”, which was super interesting. Highly recommend.

It stopped raining and the next climb warmed us up. The clouds lifted a bit and we could finally see the beautiful landscape with an abundance of red huckleberry bushes and some yellow bushes, rugged mountains and soft rolling green pine covered valleys.

Groundsheet as rain skirt, why not? Looks great, right?

We only saw a few people all day and a few times the sun broke through the mountains, feeling warm on our skin. We hiked till 7.00pm and did more than the 23 miles we have to do, as it took a mile to find a flat spot to camp.

We found a beautiful meadow to camp in. Two French PCT hikers we have been seeing for hundreds of miles came while we were eating and set up next to us.

Today is our 3 month anniversary but with the rain this morning we both forgot. We celebrated in our little red home this evening with a simple but cozy dinner. Time flies!

The stars were clear and bright, the wind howling and rattling on our tent, we finally in dry clothes and our warm sleeping bags, slurping hot ramen soup with bear creek, passing out at 9pm. Another day done. Good. Not many left. Scary.

Miles hiked: 24.03

Ascent: 5393 ft

Descent: 5429 ft

Steps: 52.775 (usually what I do in 5-7 days)

Thanks for reading along! Only 155 miles to go – will we make it?

As always, let me know in the comments what you’d like to see and read about or if the post sparked any thoughts in you. I love hearing from you.

Happy trails,

Disco