Day 4-5 Section J of the PCT 8/4-8/6 2019

Day 4 was going to be almost entirely climbing.  First a winding climb up and up through huckleberry filled forests and brushy slopes, and then after 7 miles of that, another nearly three up 1200 feet of switchbacks.  The day started out promising, with me spotting a bear about 100 ft off the trail eating huckleberries - he saw us and ran into the bushes as quick as I could call, "Bear!"  So Bradley didn't get to spot him, but we both saw and heard his crashing path through the bushes as he ran away.  I felt kind of bad interrupting his peaceful breakfast like that.

As the heat of the day kept steadily climbing and we kept steadily climbing, I started feeling worse and worse. I could live with the various pains, but I was overheating, feeling constricted, and having trouble catching my breath.  The stretches I could push myself were getting shorter and shorter.  I felt bad because Bradley was worried about me and to be honest so was I.  You have to know your limits.  I reached a point when I knew I would not be able to push that last 1200 foot climb up Cathedral Pass where we were planning on camping with the day as hot as it was.  I suggested we only finish hiking to Deep Lake and call it a day early, hike up Cathedral Pass early the next day while it was still cool, and then take the exit trail from Cathedral Pass and end our backpacking trip two days early.

Despite being a bit sorry I didn't finish this section, this was the best decision - we ended up having a wonderful camping day by Deep Lake.  Such a nice change to soak our feet in the lake and watch fish jump, watch the changing light over Cathedral Rock and laugh and talk and enjoy where we were.  We found our happy again and limped around the camp area with smiles back on our faces.

Day 5 we got up and hit the trail by 6:15am.  We made great time and got to Cathedral Pass without a hitch before the day heated up.  Cutting off the PCT on to the Cathedral Pass trail was rough.  We had been spoiled by the nicely graded switchbacks.  The Cathedral Pass trail descends 2200 feet into the Cle Elum River Valley and a lot of the descents are just straight slopes down without switchbacks.  To make it worse, they are very churned up by horse hooves, so it's dusty with a lot of loose rocks.  We slipped, slid, and stumbled quite a bit until we got into the forest and the trail was more firm and reasonably graded.

The forest itself was beautiful.  A lot of little ponds and creeks with frogs which refused to hold still for a good picture.  Also there were some beautiful cedar stands and huge Douglas fir.

We were both a bit worried about hitching a ride from the trailhead into either Roslyn or Cle Elum.  I pretty much told Bradley not to ever hitchhike all the years I raised him, and now I was telling him it would be just fine.  haha  Also it was a week day so we weren't sure how many people would even be there.  It is not an area I'm familiar with at all.

As luck would have it, we met two of the nicest characters you could imagine.  Two brothers in their 70's, one retired Forest Service, who had had to end their backpacking trek 2 days early as well because the younger one had thrown out his back.  They were heading into Cle Elum anyway, and were happy to give us a ride.  They didn't seem to want any money for their troubles so I bought us all lunch when we got into town as a thank you since non-rehydrated food was high on the list of things we were all looking forward to.  It cracked me up and inspired me to no end that the older brother brought in a stack of backpacking books and maps to the cafe so they could plan out their next adventure.

Not long after they each went their separate ways, my own personal hero, Dave, arrived to take us home.

Lessons:  I learned a lot from this adventure!

• Make sure you are striking the right balance for yourself between challenge and enjoyment.
• I had hiked quite a few trails the length I was planning on doing for this hike, but not consecutively.  Discomforts from one day compound in multiple days - aspects of this lesson include trail length, average temperature (I usually hike cool cloudy days), pack weight, and gear.  Each will feel different in 5 long days as opposed to 1.
• Don't just do training hikes on other trails.  If you can, do day hikes into sections of the trail you're actually going to backpack to get an idea of water source and terrain.
• I thought I had done a good job of lightening my gear/pack, but I definitely could think of things I could have cut out, and weight really is going to make a difference.
• Don't assume there will always be water where there is usually water.
• Talk to people on the trail when you get a chance!  Lots of really great people out there and we learned a lot about the trails intersecting the PCT, water sources, and gear choices from others.
• If you're doing a long stretch, don't just look at the map of the trail, but also the surrounding area and have some exit strategies planned.  The gentlemen that gave us a ride and ourselves were not the only ones that exited where we did. Another hiking group we talked to had lost one of their number to a knee injury the day before and she had exited the trail at the same spot.

Thoughts:

• There are still a lot of really good people out there.  Whether it's as big of a blessing as giving you a ride when you need one, to just sharing the view with you and sharing trivia about the peaks you're seeing, the people on this trail were a pleasure.
• It's amazing the simple things we take for granted.  As I washed my hands at the cafe with water just rushing out of the faucet I reflected on how cautiously I poured water from my container on the trail to not waste one precious filtered drop.
• Whether the lessons and realizations you come to on the trail are good or bad, adjust to those things and get back out there!  Our world is a staggeringly beautiful place!

When I'm in my 70's I hope to find myself wrapping up one hike or backpacking trip and already planning my next!
Happy Adventuring!