Miles Hiked 5.3
PCT Mile 510.9
Elevation 1,486 teet
Miles Hiked Today 5.3
Here I am back on the PCT Trail again. I flew into Portland two days ago and today I took a bus to Cascade Locks. This is where I left the trail last year because of problems with my right foot, which included a fractured bone. After testing the healed fracture on the Ouachita Trail last November and when I hiked in Bermuda last month, I’m sure that I’m ready for all of Oregon.
I started out with a very heavy pack today. I packed some extra provisions and tried a new lunch item, which is heavier than lunch items I’ve brought in the past. I sort of got sick of spam all the time, so my favorite lunch item, peanut butter and jelly, is in the backpack. Unfortunately, it’s a lot heavier than spam. Hopefully it’s nutritional value will outway the extra weight that I’m carrying.
The bus reached Cascade Locks at 12:30 and by the time I got onto the trail, it was 1:00 p.m. The plan is to hike about 9 1/2 miles to the first tentsite listed in my navigation app, Far Out. The bad news is there is about 3,500 feet of elevation gain in that 9 1/2 mi. Most of that elevation gain occurs within a 2-mile span, so you know it’s going to be steep. I don’t know if I’m going to make it the whole 9 1/2 miles.
Today’s hike started climbing gradually. It wasn’t too bad. It felt good to be back on the trail. Almost like coming home. The first couple of hours went well. I covered four miles, which is a respectable pace. Then the steep climb began. There were numerous skree fields as well. In the list of things I hate the most on trail, rocks and loose pebbles rank right up there at the top. Of course, there were plenty of those as I continued my climb. By hour three, I considered the possibility of finding a tentsite before I reached my target. I saw no reason to kill myself on the first day. And as luck would have it, I found a place after 5 miles.
The tentsite wasn’t ideal. It had a slight slope to it and it was small. Nevertheless, I was able to fit my tent on the site and the slope wasn’t so bad that I went sliding off my sleeping pad. I’m glad I made the decision to stop rather than try to go another three and a half to four miles to the target tentsite. I’m tired but not exhausted as I’m sure I would have been had I continued on.
The tentsite has a super view of the Columbia River. Strictly speaking, I couldn’t have asked for a better site than the one that I now have. Tomorrow I’ll see if I can put in a couple of extra miles to make up the difference in what I shorted today.
