Thursday, July 13
Start: Timberline Lodge
End: Wahtum Lake
Miles: 33.4 (+1mi, 200′ to car camping area)
Elevation gain/loss: 5620’/7874′
I was awake overnight being sick around 1am. The Lodge was locked up, with no bathroom access, so I made do with a cathole.
I was up at 5:30am and out by 5:55am. I made good time throughout the day, and saw a lot of day hikers and weekend backpackers too. The morning had lots of winding around Mt Hood and its many creeks/washes. As I went north, I crossed paths with at least a dozen SOBO thru-hikers, but we were all in our hiking-miles phase of the day and didn’t chat at all.
Rather than split this day into two pieces, I decided that I wanted to finish out my PCT thru-hike in a more typical ‘Aubri on the PCT’ kind of way – so I pushed through to my finishing point for the whole PCT at Wahtum Lake. I did Eagle Creek, Wahtum Lake, and the PCT as a big 32-mile trail run in October 2022, so I’d already done Washington-Canada border down to the Lake, so this was my first of two PCT finishes. I knew I’d celebrate my PCT finish in Cascade Locks on Saturday with friends, but this was the start of me processing that I’d completed the entire PCT, every foot between Mexico and Canada.
I was at Wahtum Lake at 5:45pm, where I filtered water and set up my tent, after taking a bunch of PCT finish pictures (as well as a little fashion show by photo timer with my Jollygear shirt). I walked over to the car camping area to check it out, see how far away it was, and see if I might have cell service but no luck. I’ll try hiking up to Chinidere Mountain tomorrow. My friend Emily will be meeting me here tomorrow evening and then we’ll head down toward Eagle Creek to meet the crew!
Transcending Mountains 