Wednesday, August 5. Mid-60s and sunny going up to 93. Smoky from Oregon fires.
Up at 8:30. Lazy morning. Confirmed my trail angel ride back to the trail tomorrow morning. I need to go to the sporting goods store, post office, and grocery store today. They are all within a 3-block walk of my hotel. I chose wisely 🙂
My package might not get to Etna post office in time due to the weekend, so I sent it to Seiad Valley instead. It’s more food than I need to get from Seiad Valley to Ashland, but I don’t want to carry that extra weight and volume.
I ran into Chinchilla, Niaal, Bonk, and Jacob in Shasta. Made my day. They are staying with a trail angel tonight and back on the trail tomorrow morning. Really good to see people from the original bubble on day one!
I also ran into Hell Yeah at the Black Bear Diner while having lunch. Another face from day one. Very cool! Unfortunately, the picture I took was messed up 🙁
Tried to get new toe socks and a CNOC at the local outfitter. No luck on either. I got a pair of knee-length compression toe socks. They are okay. I got a light 3-liter water bag that I can carry without leaking. It can’t support my water filter, but I can use it to fill my leaking CNOC and use that to filter water. Ugly, but will get me to Ashland, OR, where Pitcrew will send me a bunch of gear.
Did a bit more resupply shopping including replacing my nasty smart water bottles. Talked to Pitcrew about my new hiking plan and joined the Kile family Zoom call.
OK, now for the big thru-hike plan update. I’m worried about Washington state in the second half of September and early October. That gets into the rainy season as well as snow at higher altitudes. I have been concerned about this since well before I started my PCT hike. Hence why I thought through a contingency plan long ago.
I am going to flip up to the Oregon-Washington border at Cascade Locks from Ashland, Oregon. I should reach the California-Oregon border near Ashland on or about August 16. From there I will rent a car and drive to Portland, OR. There is a bus and light rail from Portland to Cascade Locks. I should be in Cascade Locks and ready to get on trail by August 18.
Depending on my Achilles, I should reach Canada and hike 2 days back to civilization by September 15. Once I finish Washington, I will flip back south and hike the remainder of Oregon. I should complete Oregon around October 10.
This plan significantly improves my chances of completing the most northern part of the PCT before bad weather sets in. It also puts me very close behind the bubble of hikers leaving north from the PCT Trail Days Festival on August 16/17. Bonus!
Obviously all this is dependent on wildfires in Washington, Oregon and successful completion of the final 218 miles of NorCal. This new plan has me completing the PCT close to my pre-hike guesstimate of the end of the first week in October.
For comparison, I started the Application Trail (2,197 miles) on April 15, 2024 and finished on October 6, 2024. Given my April 24 start date for the PCT and the 2,650 miles for the PCT, this all works out logistically and mathematically.
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