Today is August 14. I’m writing from our hotel room in Cascade Locks, which is a small town at the border of Oregon and Washington. Today we are going to cross the Bridge of Gods on the Columbia river and start our final section of our journey; Washington to Canada. We are little over 80% done with the PCT.
It has been 8 days since my last post in Bend, OR. During these last 8 days we finished the Oregon section of the PCT and we got to see the pretty sides of this state. North Oregon was more enjoyable than South Oregon for many reasons: prettier views, see-through mountain lakes, view of the Cascades, way less mosquitoes and the best part (for me) was unlimited, delicious blueberries and huckleberries.
Finally we learned how much food we need to carry and we barley hungry these days.
NoBo vs. SoBo: We meet many South-bounders these days. They start at the Canadian border around mid July. Their hike starts later and ends later due to the weather in Washington, also South-bounding is a bit harder as there are less trail angel support and they need to get to the Sierras before the snow starts. Regardless we call them Newbies, they just started the hike and they will thin out by California. When they say they are SoBos, some also say that we are still good people. One of our fellow NoBo hiker blamed the SoBos when chubby chipmunks surrounded him during lunch time and he blamed the SoBos to make them persistent around our food.
All North-bound PCT hikers feel the end now, we all are fast-walking or sometimes running on the trail, like we are invincible. We need to remind ourselves to look up and see the surroundings. It’s easy to miss a 1000 feet mountain or a pretty lake when you’re just looking down on the trail and listening to an engaging audiobook.
It is time now to enjoy the last weeks in Washington and finish this hike.
Margo & Mike PCT Adventures 