August 26
Miles: 15.3
Mile Markers: 2396.3 – 2411.1
Miles to Canada: 244.7
I slept incredibly well last night. I was so tired. I turned the air conditioner all the way down as low as it would go. My room was so cold, and I loved it.
In the morning, I was ready for breakfast, but it was like herding cats getting everyone to the restaurant, so I just went alone and got a table. Warpaint joined shortly after, and then everyone started trickling in. I saw Sprinter, the same guy who gave me a beer and a ride to Mammoth. I also saw Ole! I hadn’t seen him since Kennedy Meadows.
My brother and Emily were passing through Snoqualmie on their way driving to Denver, so they stopped by to say hi again as well which was nice to see them again.
We all got packed up and then ready to go back to the trail. Today is about 5,000 feet of ascent up over 15 miles which is really steep. It’s also really hot today, about 90°. I’m not looking forward to today. I hate the heat and I was really hoping Washington was going to be colder, but it really hasn’t been.
There was one very long ascent up 1,500 ft over the course of two miles and I felt like I was dying on the way up. It was so hot. It’s 90°. I hiked with Fonda for a while. We talked about hockey, which was a really good distraction for a while. I love asking people questions about things they love and letting them talk to me while we’re hiking up a big hill. It always helps. But then he went ahead after we got to a water source, where Bap and Roses were waiting.
I continued up the ascent alone and met everyone at the top, near a pond. They were having lunch, or had already had lunch. I ended up staying there for a really long time. I jumped in the water to cool off, twice. Even in my clothes. I didn’t care that they were freshly washed. It was just too hot and I was already so sweaty. I don’t know how long I was there. Maybe an hour, but maybe more. It felt really hard to cook my lunch and get going again.
Two women came along. They were doing section J for one of their 40th birthday celebrations. They left all their kids with their husbands and went on this girls trip. One of them told me that doing this one section didn’t inspire her to hike the entire PCT though, and I told her I didn’t blame her at all. I’m so ready to be done.
I think it’s a little bit difficult being so close to home, and being almost done with the trail. Mentally, I don’t feel like I’m fully on the trail anymore. I’m kind of ready to move on. I feel really bad, because I haven’t been enjoying Washington as much as I thought I would, mostly because it’s been so fucking hot in the 90s the last few days. There was another heatwave where it was above 100° when we were coming into Cascade locks. I’m just kind of over the heat in general.
Rocky showed up at the water source, and we hiked together for a little bit. She gave me some leukotape for my ankle, because I had sent mine back with Mama Warpaint. I’ve been trying to lighten my pack as much as possible, but I think it was a mistake to get rid of the tape.
I’m in the luteal phase of my menstrual cycle again, and everything hurts more during this phase. The heat bothers me more. I feel more tired. I feel more irritable. I don’t want to be hiking right now. During the luteal phase, progesterone starts rising, which is a hormone that helps create laxity in the joints, in preparation for growing a baby in the body, and widening the hips. But this can cause issues for people who are already hypermobile. Studies have shown that there’s more ACL tears during the luteal phase of people cycles for this reason and athletes. You’re more likely to get some kind of ligament injury than in another part of your menstrual cycle.
Anyway, my ankle really hurts today. It feels horrible, and I’m just hiking uphill which makes it feel worse, and most of the day has been hiking on loose rocks which makes it even worse because every single step is unstable. At one point, Rocky went ahead. It started raining, and I had hoped it would finally cool off. I put my poncho on, but it was still really hot. It rained for maybe an hour, and afterwards it became really humid, and I was still climbing uphill which was miserable on these fucking rocks. It’s really beautiful but I hate these fucking rocks. I’m just annoyed. I yelled FUCK!! out into the mountains, and I heard it echo in the distance miles away. I haven’t seen anybody for hours. I don’t think there’s anyone else hiking around me, and if there is, well, they probably heard me. I don’t care.
I’ve hiked uphill close to 5,000 ft of ascent today. I’m fucking tired. I hate these rocks. I found myself speaking to them fuck you, fuck you rocks, I fucking hate you. That wasn’t a joke though. I meant it.
When I got to the final ascent, I went around a ridge, or a saddle I guess you could call it, and it came out to this view of the Cascades. The last mountain range I’d be hiking through – just massive rocks in the distance. It is really beautiful. I wish I appreciated it more, but I’m really tired. I get why the man last night said that most hikers at this point are just kind of trudging along, trying to finish. I fully get it. I just want to finish. I just want to be done. I just want to move on.
Being so close to home, I keep thinking about all the little conveniences of my life. The things that I miss – my exercise bike, getting my hair done, wearing perfume, buying anything at Met Market, Lopez Island ice cream sandwiches, snuggling with my dog. I can do all of those things soon. I’ll never have to wear this disgusting sun hoodie ever again. Hallelujah.
I sent Roses and Rocky some messages telling them I was struggling, and they said they weren’t far ahead at a lake. They had saved me a place to camp. It was getting dark by the time I approached the lake, and I just felt so angry about the heat, the rocks, everything. I set up a bit away from everyone in a grove of trees on a little hill because it seemed a bit marshy. I felt bad, but I was so tired and in such a bad mood I didn’t go over to say hi to anyone. I cooked some dinner, and completely passed out.
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