Day 111

Mile 2105.2 to mile 2137.8

PCT Miles: 32.6 (52.2km)

Total Miles: 2137.8 (3420.5km)

It rained the whole night. I was more than happy to have set up my tent’s rain fly again. All my gear (and myself) dry in the morning!

Another day on trail, another day of trail magic! This time it was just this guy who hiked the PCT a while ago and now he’s retired and does trail magic in different parts of the PCT every year. He said his favorite part is when there’s a heatwave and he brings ice cream to the hikers. They go crazy, he said.

Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables later, I continued my day. The plan was to get as close as I could from Cascade Locks, where I have my resupply package waiting for me. Hopefully I will be able to sort all my food for Washington and send 4-5 packages tomorrow still. If that works, I won’t take a zero in Cascade Locks!

The highlight of the day and certainly one of the highlights of the whole trail was Tunnel Falls, on an alternate route that I had to take due a fire closure. This alternate (Eagle Creek Trail) is widely more used than the official PCT path for this section, because the Eagle Creek Trail is so scenic and you can see the Tunnel Falls, this majestic waterfall where you hike behind the falling water through a cold and dark tunnel. It’s absolutely splendid.

Earlier, still in the morning, I crossed paths with a girl who stopped me to ask if I was a PCT thru hiker. I said yes and then she told me that it’s her dream: that one day she would also thru hike the PCT. She looked me in the eye and said “Thru hiking the PCT? it’s a gift, dude. It’s a gift”.