Wednesday, July 5
Start: near Byway 138
End: 0.4mi north of Cowhorn Mountain
Miles: 35.6
Elevation gain/loss: 5748’/4603′
I was up at 5 and out by 5:30am. There was a lot of snow today, with two major misses for me on trail navigation. The snow made the trail hard to follow, and I mindlessly followed footprints twice and ended up ~0.2-0.3mi off trail and needed to climb back to the trail (always uphill, go figure). I made it to the high point of the OR/WA PCT.
Partway through my day, I chatted with two 2017 PCT hikers out on a section hike – Snackmaster and Do-Over. I passed by ~6 SOBO folks who looked like thru-hikers, and 2 NOBOs as well.
There were longer water carries today with 8, 16, and then a cache 6mi beyond that one. On my way back up from the 0.25mi off-trail water after that 16mi carry, I bruised and scraped my leg pretty badly trying to climb over a ribs-high downed tree when one of the branches I was using to boost myself over broke and dropped me partway over the log. There was a lot of blood, which I tried to keep from staining my clothing (successful) and from staining and sticking to my sleeping mat (less successful).
It was very hot – high 90s actual and 100+ degrees in the sun. I cooled myself off a few times by placing snow on my wrists and neck, though the snow was often a bit dirty so there was a trade-off.
I stopped to camp at 7:40pm, after pushing past my original stop point, passing up one good spot, and then passing another spot with 2 hikers in it. In despair from the horrific mosquitoes and willing to stop anywhere, I managed to find a tent spot just off the trail on the ridge. I’m hoping for some cool breezes overnight, but the mosquitoes nearly carried me off. They’re making shadow puppets on the wall of my tent. I’m lowkey worried about them eating through my tent!
Transcending Mountains 