Day 112

Mile 2137.8 to Cascade Locks

PCT Miles: 11.5 (18.4km)

Total Miles: 2149.3 (3438.9km)

The morning was a breeze: 10 miles of pure downhill into Cascade Locks! I was able to arrive before the post office opened at 8:30am!

I successfully got my packages containing 75% of all the food I’ll need for the Washigton section. Two items that I was very looking forward were also in the boxes: flip flops and my stove!! Cold soaking never again!

My plan is to spend the day today sorting everything into small boxes and send four resupply packages ahead. All of that before the post office closes again, at 5am.

On top of that, I needed to take a 30 minutes bus to another town (Hood River) to buy socks and fleece pants (I’m a bit afraid of getting too cold during the nights in Washington). To be able to plan things properly, I needed mind fuel. I stopped for a healthy breakfast before executing my plan: grilled cheese, fries and peanut butter milkshake.

After eating, I needed a room to do all the resupply sorting so I went to the cheapest inn in town. I was able to get an affordable room and check in at 9:30am! Great! Now, the plan was to go to Hood River, buy the equipment and the rest of the food, pack at least the first two resupply boxes and send them today. And leave the other two packages to send tomorrow. The clock was ticking!

My search for socks and fleece pants was successful and so was the groceries run. At 4:30 I was back at the post office in Cascade Locks just in time to send my boxes to the next two resupply towns: Trout Lake and White Pass! Check ✅!

On the way back to the hotel from the post office I meet some not-so-happy-looking hikers. They quickly shared the news: in the past hour a new fire started, closing the trail from Trout Lake to White Pass. That’s right: this new trail closure starts and ends literally where I had sent my packages to, just a few minutes ago.

The news completely destroyed my mood. I went to a brewery to have a burger (and my third portion of fries of the day) and a local non-alcoholic beer. After that I went back to the hotel and organized the last two boxes and don’t even want to think about another re-route. For now, I’ll just assume that the plan stays the same and that I’ll be leaving tomorrow morning. Let’s see!