PCT Day 98 – Cascade Locks
28.3 miles, near 2147.5
• Woke up to the soft and soothing sound of “Landslide” being played on a Bluetooth speaker from the tent next door. Ready for my last day of hiking.
• I packed up and left as soon as I was ready, knowing the others would surely catch up. The trail was overgrown and held massive amounts of dew from overnight, drenching us as we hiked through.
• I scrambled up a steep boulder field off trail for a view of Bull Run Lake, a big lake just over the ridge we’ve been walking and a major watershed for Portland. No view.
• A little later we hiked a ridge with wide open views of Mt Saint Helens, Mt Rainier, and Mt Adams. Love a clear day.
• We all ended up stopping for lunch at Wahtum Lake. Saw a few day hikers pass through, must be a road nearby. Guinea went for a skinny dip, Smokey tried a back flip off a log into the lake.
• Walked with Smokey for a while after lunch, talking normal life and jobs. Nice conversation to pass the time.
• The last section of trail to town was a really steep downhill with lots of rocky spots. It was pretty awful, on top of sore feet and a heavy pack. Downhills are way worse than uphill for me.
• Finally made it to the bottom and reunited with everyone before crossing over the Bridge of the Gods, across the Columbia River into Washington. Frodos family was there to provide celebratory beers and we took photos under the bridge sign. Claira, Carie, Alex, and MaKaila also walked across to greet us, they had driven up from Sacramento. Claira was wearing a unicorn onesie 🦄
• We all walked back over into Oregon and had a beer at Thunder Island brewing. Free pint for PCT hikers, I used Carie’s permit to get a second pint. We shared some nachos for dinner.
• Walked across the street to the ale house for another free PCT beer. Also picked up my resupply box and bounce box to bring home. We shared pitchers before people started playing dress up with the hiker box clothes and Yardsales friend gave us a ride to Portland in her truck.
Tandem Ride Photography 