Trail Day 121: Tentsite (mile 2446.4) to tentsite (mile 2461.7)

15.3 PCT miles

Last night when I went to bed the rain had really picked up. After a while the sound of the rain got lighter, which I took for a good sign. I could still hear it hitting my tent in the early morning, so I waited until it started to get light until getting up. I didn't want to get up too late since I wanted to get into Stevens Pass fairly early in the day and I hadn't done as many miles as I had hoped the past couple days.

There was a lot of condensation in the tent but I didn't think much of it until I was getting up and bumped the side of my tent. I heard a small “whoosh.” Could that possibly be snow falling off my tent? I smacked the side and heard a larger “whoosh” followed by a “plop.” There was snow on top of my tent.

Still not quite believing it, I unzipped my tent flap to reveal a winter wonderland. There was a clean coating of white carpeting the ground and decorating the trees. And, it was still snowing. What the heck? It was 85 degrees F a couple days ago. I remember almost overheating as I was walking around Mt. Adams.

What the...?

So, this happened...

I packed up everything inside my tent so that all I had to do was stuff in my tent and fly in the top. As I was breaking down the tent, I noticed the tent and fly were absolutely soaked. They didn't leak, but they were very soggy. My pack was also collecting snow and starting to soak. I had to grab my pack cover and throw it on quickly.  This wasn’t the dry snow that we got in southern California and the Sierra, the dry, powdery snow you could easily brush off. This snow was wet and heavy, sticking to and melting on wherever it landed.

I finally got everything packed and slowly headed down the trail. It was pretty easy to follow even with the snow cover. Unfortunately, I realized pretty quickly that my ultralight gear was not meant for this type of weather.  My supposedly “waterproof” gloves eventually absorbed the water, sucking the heat out of my fingers. I had my “warm” pair of gloves too but I was hoping to keep them dry.

Morning snows.

My shoes were the biggest problem. I was wearing trail runners which were mostly mesh. They are supposed to be very breathable and dry quickly. Unfortunately they do nothing against the snow. My socks were quickly cold and soaked.

I was walking through very pretty scenery, but the realization that I was doing it without winter gear made me lose it mentally/emotionally. I imagined doing day after day of this, slogging through snow with soaked gear. I couldn't do it. I knew this storm system was supposed to last a couple days and I had no idea what the weather would be like after that.

Trail sign.

The PCT. 

View from the trail.

Not only did I realize I would be miserable all day (and hopefully my toes would be OK), but that I would probably have to quit the trail. I didn't want to do day after day of this. It would be an awful place to quit the trail as I only had about 9 or so more hiking days after today to reach the border,depending on my motivation and the trail conditions. I started to get teary eyed until I realized that would not add anything of value to the situation. I just had to keep moving. I calmed down when I realized that no matter what happened today, it would end with me being indoors and dry.

I raced down the trail, past little mountain lakes. The trail kept going up and down in this section. I would get down out of the snow “cloud” only to go back into it. I found if I kept moving my feet would actually stay fairly “warm.” My fingers were another story. I eventually had to switch to my special “warm” gloves,  the ones I almost lost the other day. They kept my fingers much warmer when wet.

Steaming lake.

Lower in elevation. You can see the snowline near the upper right.

Being all wet, I wasn't taking breaks because I would get too cold. I figured if I really needed one I could quickly set up my shelter and hop in my sleeping bag to stay warm. Eventually, I got too hungry and sat on a rock to quickly eat two protein bars.

As I was eating, I encountered a southbound hiker. I couldn't believe anyone would be heading out of town in this weather. He seemed more concerned about the upcoming fires than the current weather. It made me reassess my morning freak out and my current attitude.

Eventually,  I started to see signs of civilization. I passed ski lifts and heard the road. Near the road was trail magic. A bag full of beer and sodas. I grabbed a soda, then hit the road and walked to Stevens Pass Ski Resort.

Ski lifts.

The PCT near Stevens Pass. 

Soggy trail magic.

There was a coffee shop there and I was looking forward to a hot (non coffee) drink. I walked up just as the woman flipped off the “open” sign. There were plenty of other hikers there hanging out inside.  I went inside, defrosted a bit, and chatted with other hikers.

After that I went to find the hiker hostel on property. It turns out it is normally a skier hostel, but that worked to my benefit today since they had a heated drying room for all our wet gear.

The Mountaineers Lodge at Stevens Pass Ski Resort.

The hostel also had a fire going, hot drinks (hot chocolate mix!) and someone had made pasta with meat sauce. I took a hot shower and sat next to the fire with other hikers for a couple hours. Eventually, I not only defrosted, but actually got warm.

Hikers hanging around the fireplace.