Trout lake to Snoqualmie

Since Trout Lake we’ve hiked between 15-19 miles each day with an average of 3500 feet elevation gain each day. One day we were hiking the same pace as a group of young hikers, finishing 17 miles before 3pm. We were feeling pretty proud of ourselves. As we were getting ready to make camp for the night, they told us they were going to hike 17 MORE miles that same day. 34 mile days. Wow.

The highlight of this section was Goat Rocks Wilderness Area. A beautiful valley filled with wildflowers and waterfalls, followed by amazing campsites with views of both Mt. Adams (to the south) and Mt. Rainier (to the north), and The Knife’s Edge, a PCT alternate route along a mountain ridge.

Fires in Washington to the south and north. We’re never in danger since we stay well informed but it has definitely changed our plans. We are considering stopping at Steven’s Pass, 70 miles ahead, or maybe doing a re-route south of Rainy Pass. There is currently a new fire east of Manning Park in Canada, our projected finish for the section. Seems like we should just go and hang out with Emma in Idaho for a while and come back to finish this section another year. We’ll see…