Day 11 - A Day of Joggers! — Walking People Out of Poverty

walkingpeopleoutofpoverty.ca is the personal blog of Peter Thorpe, long-time Opportunity International Canada supporter and Walking People Out of Poverty founder. For Dan Murray’s blog and information on OIC, please click here.

Start Time: 7:30 am
End Time: 5:30 pm
Start Mileage: 2376.50
End Mileage: 2391.10
Distance Walked: 15.50 miles
Elevation Gain: 3040 feet

It was a pretty tight squeeze fitting 5 tents on the camp site last night, and so we had to be careful moving around. Miraculously no one tripped over the numerous tent pegs or guide ropes, otherwise it could have been a disaster.

I was the last one to leave camp this morning and was on the trail by 7:30 am. It was a lung busting, heart pounding first 20 minutes to the top, which had a gravel road intersecting the trail and that’s where I found the guys getting ready for breakfast.

After we had eaten, we started down the trail which led down into the forest which was very similar in appearance to the other forests we have experienced. Just like the other forests it was magical. I guess because they are National Parks they are protected, which makes me so happy to know the big trees will not be logged.

On the way down, a young lady came bounding by complete with PCT backpack and hiking poles. In a blink she was gone. A little while later I rounded the bend and the young lady was sitting on a log eating breakfast. I asked her trail name which was Hot Sauce. Turns out Hot Sauce is from a town just outside Melbourne, Australia and she enjoys running. My group caught up to me and after they had all had a chat with Hot Sauce we were on our way. Later that morning Hot Sauce came bounding by again and her parting words were she enjoys running so much she might just take up trail running.

The morning was proving very eventful and we were enjoying a fine spell of downhill walking which was lovely. We then came upon another climb and it was time to put the shoulder to the wheel and push on up. As we were climbing higher, a trail runner and his Black Lab heading down the hill, and they were coming at a fair rate. In a blink he was gone and I wondered how far he was going. I’m sure his dog was hoping it wasn’t too much further!

Being on the PCT is as much a mental challenge as it is a physical one. You have to be on your guard at all times. The trail can trip you up in so many ways. We have all been tripped by tree roots, or kicked rocks or stones, and as painful as these encounters are you just have to push through.

After lunch we had a short climb to the top before being catapulted back down to the bottom of the mountain to begin the process of climbing up all over again. On the way back down I was stopped by a young lady, who was climbing the hill, and asked if my name was Wanderer. I said it was and asked how she knew, and she said someone with an English ascent and Canadian cap was walking with Woody, and that’s who she was looking for. I told her Woody was two minutes behind me and asked the lady her name which turned out to be Judge! There was a great reunion and I decided to carry on so Woody could carry on catching up with Judge.

The afternoon seemed to replicate the morning with an up and a down. Around mid afternoon, during a break, a couple of hikers were passing us and I asked about their ascent. It turned out they were from Berlin, Germany and I told them I was there in May and how much I enjoyed their city. The trail names were Barber and Woodstock.

A short while late another jogger passed us with her dog who we had seen going down the hill we were coming up before the descent we were now on. These trail are very fit athletes, and it’s a nice change to see them rather than all the hikers.

After our glorious descent, we came upon a most beautiful lake and almost every campsite was taken. With it being both a beautiful day, and the weekend, it made sense. We were going to look for a site but decided against it as the campsite we were hoping to get to leaves us just a short 5 mile walk into Snoqualmie where we have a zero this weekend. The plan is to be up early, pack up, have a coffee and hit the trail. Upon reaching Snoqualmie, we are heading for breakfast and coffee.

But, back to today’s walk. We now were faced with a 1,000 foot climb and the sun had decided to make an appearance. After our thousand foot climb there, is supposed to be a thousand foot drop to our campsite. The climb began and I didn’t find it too bad although there were several places where it was hard going. Unfortunately, the downward climb was very gnarly and difficult and it probably took us twice as long as coming uphill, which is not the case on most downhill sections, and we lost a lot of time because the path was so tricky in places. We finally reached camp at around 5:30 pm after another eventful day on the PCT.

Here are some pictures.