Hiking Through Hyperbole: A Walk in the Clouds

Thanks so much for writing about your PCT adventures here on BPL. You are an excellent writer – I was hooked from the first installment. Carol

These articles were truly excellent. Among the best I've read on bpl.

The weather in Washington seemed pretty close to what you can get in Sweden sometimes. Very few people use tarp tents here. Considering your experiences would you you choose a different tent, say a 500 g heavier double-wall one, if you were to choose again ?
Would the added comfort be worth the weight difference?

Ryan, I hope you come back to Washington (maybe in August) so you can see it!

I agree with Miner – of all the sections on the PCT I loved – and there were many – I'd put Washington stretch from say from Stevens Pass north up with the very best sections of trail. Heck the Goat Rocks are great as well. But the stretch from Stevens Pass is some of the most beautiful on the trail, with sweeping mountain vistas and deep glacier-cut valleys. It's a shame it was so rainy last year – I really didn't get to go out and enjoy it much because most of the Cascades were socked in the clouds.

But that's the great thing about the northern stretches of the PCT – it doesn't actually follow the Pacific Crest in the truest sense…It begins to jog east, which keeps it considerably drier than if you were hiking in a beeline towards Mt. Baker, for instance.

Terrific series. I really enjoyed your writing style. Please come back and do Washington during a good summer, I think you'd be pleasantly surprised by how nice it can be.

Dirk

Good question, Gustav. I haven't used a double-wall tent in a really long time, so I doubt I would have gone with one for Washington. My other shelter is a rectangular tarp, which is really nice for camping in the rain, since I can sit around and cook in the shelter, and stay very dry. There wasn't always enough room for that sort of thing though. I guess it comes down to whatever you're most comfortable with.

Mary and Dirk– I do really want to come back to Washington sometime. I spent a month in Packwood and a month in Concrete several years ago, with much better weather, so I know how nice it can be. I'll be back, I hope!

> Reading accounts about other people's thru-hikes generally leaves
> me with the sense that all NOBO PCT thru-hikes are alike.
> [earlier comment by Brian Lewis]

Brian's probably right: there are fundamentals that are the same in each thru-hike — challenge, freedom, magic, all that good stuff. But reading these awesome articles made me appreciate how *different* each hike is! I can finally understand why any fool would want to do a thru-hike more than once. (Not saying I'm convinced yet, but at least I'm starting to get it…)

Tangent and I had some parts easier, some parts harder — the Sierras were *totally* different in '97 (yikes, way better our year)… but so was Washington! Trail magic has changed so much in the last 13 years. The people you meet are… well, they're all over the spectrum, and just leave it at that. No two alike.

Love the way you cut through the "hyperbole". Let the magic show through just the straight facts. No need to *tell* us it was amazing; you couldn't hide it if you tried!

(And thanks, Guthook, for making me feel welcome on the trail despite just being out for the last half of Washington!)

Thanks for the thru hike report- I think this tells the experience quite well! Loved sharing in the adventure, hardship and perseverance.

Great diary of the trip Ryan. Interesting reading. Brings back many memories of a trek I did in '07. Cold and wet, it sounds too familiar. On your food storage topic, like you I have had a Ursack food bag that failed to mice. I have switched to a wire mesh rodent proof Grubpack. Have used it now since 2009 without problems. The mice are more consistently intrusive and damaging than any other animal I run in to. Best of luck to you.

"Mary and Dirk– I do really want to come back to Washington sometime. I spent a month in Packwood and a month in Concrete several years ago, with much better weather, so I know how nice it can be. I'll be back, I hope!"

It'll be worth returning to! I've only been living in Washington for a few years, but I'm already hooked. You had the misfortune of reaching Washington as El Nino was setting in, leading to the worse than usual weather that you experienced. Usually the views of Mount Rainier don't vanish until later in the year, but my first here here it was several weeks before I got to see The Mountain!

Great series of articles.

Welcome to the wet corner of the continent! This Spring has been exceptionally wet and cold. Your experiences on the PCT match much of my lifetime spent on the wet side of the Cascades. The condensation and soggy down is what I deal with any time I hike.

When it is clear and warm, the views are incredible, but you still have the morning dew and wet brush to deal with. Last week at Barclay Lake, at the base of Mount Baring (there is a 6100' peak in the clouds):