Getting Lucky on the PNT

 

I’ve broken the 200 mile mark! (Explanation here ) But that’s not the only thing that made this trip a lucky one. Many have called the High Divide/Seven Lakes Basin the “crown jewel” of the Olympics, so luck is certainly needed to get a backpacking permit anywhere along it’s 19 mile loop – especially on a weekend. So when I saw an opening on a Saturday in September months ago, I snagged it. Advanced planning for anything outdoors in the Pacific Northwest requires weather luck for sure – which was ours as well. 

This classic loop begins and ends at Sol Duc Falls

“What are the chances” luck struck when after shooting the breeze with a fellow hiker while passing each other, we suddenly realized we had already met. Hilary had been our impromptu beach photographer in Port Townsend back when we did the Royal Basin hike. We laughed about the coincidence, but both encounters have left an impression that fate is telling us a hiking trip together will be on the horizon. 

I hope we find each other again, Hilary!

Salvation luck, though, is the best of all. We both knew a 14 mile day is pushing it for us 50+ years olds (especially with the large amount of uphill we were dealing with) except that is what our permit demanded.  It was the hour before needing headlamps (which mine had just run out of batteries the night before) when we saw below us what looked to be camp spots. “It has got to be Deer Lake!” we both agreed…even though it was clearly not a lake but several small ponds. (Exhaustion makes you ditch logic…it’s happened to me many times.) You may not think an unknown camp area we did not have a permit for with an available spot is luck (maybe just cheating?) but to us it truly felt like deliverance. Another mile in the dark and we would have been toast. 

Our perfect weather luck petered out by Sunday, but it was all good. We only had our five forest miles out, and a beautiful rainy woods walk is certainly not unlucky. 

Our last bit of luck was not on the PNT, but on our long drive home. I’ve had my share of bad luck with the Washington State ferries, but this time we outsmarted the cruel ferry Gods. Our empty stomachs and hangry attitudes determined that skipping the extra line outside of town (BEFORE getting in the actual line for a ferry ticket…this is to help the massive congestion on the main street when the ferry wait is over two hours) and instead going to dinner was worth the risk of having an even longer line once we were finished. But as luck and perfect timing would have it, we practically drove straight on the ferry with full bellies and contented spirits after our leisurely and delicious meal.(Two ferries clear out a LOT of cars! And we highly recommend The Kingston Ale House.) May your happy trails be just as lucky. (Trail log below with more detailed info.)

You’ll need more luck to NOT see a bear than to see one on this hike!

Trail Log:

Day 1: Not even a full mile to Sol Duc Falls camp. Considering the effort it takes to get here and the fact I had to work until noon, scoring this permit along with the second night was critical. This is tourist central, so it seemed weird there would be camping spots at the falls, but there are. Skip the first site you come to within full view of the gawking masses, and continue to find some very nice secluded spots along the tranquil river. If you are going clockwise like us, you’ll backtrack just a little to go behind a no longer used shelter to start the loop.

You can have a fire at the river camps–and of course wine

Day 2:  13 miles to “Not Deer Lake” camp. We might have been able to make the full 14 we were supposed to do, but the wine may have caused us to sleep in a little  Had I known there are SO many unlisted camps, I may have tried to legally switch. But whatever this camp is called, we both decided it was quite superior to Deer Lake.

Okay, maybe we were already toast 

The actual Deer Lake next morning. Meh.

Day 3: 5 downhill miles to complete the loop. We made it out by noon and soaked in the hot springs which were way nicer than I expected. Costs $15, and they do have towels to rent for $4 each. 

An Added Side of Flapjacks

 

Who doesn’t like an add on? Even though the “Grand Loop” (a couple posts before this one–I’m a little behind on this post) was a full plate of 13 thousand feet elevation gain in 43 miles, I still felt I needed another helping. I suppose I had “buffet syndrome”– shoving in as much as possible because I already paid for however much I could handle (by means of a $45 pass that includes as many ONP permits as I could obtain.)  So, after saying goodbye to my gals in Port Angeles that Friday, I kept heading down the Peninsula toward Staircase Campground for my next mountain meal. (Another three thousand feet of elevation gained in just 4 of another 15 mile hike — quite a mouth full!) Only problem was my permit was for Saturday (VERY hard to get…secured it months in advance) so I had to figure out where I’d put my tent up for the night.

Let me remind you, this was a beautiful Friday in August. Anybody who has tried to get a walk in camp spot pretty much anywhere in Washington on a weekend in the summer knows I was REALLY rolling the dice on this one. I knew a spot at Staircase was utterly hopeless, but being there are a handful of campgrounds on the way, I took my chances. Amazingly I found one on my first try at Seal Rock–water view and everything. Don’t try this at home people…it really was nothing short of a miracle. (Someone else had it saved for a friend who never showed, and I just happened to arrive exactly when they were ready to let it go.) 

A room with a view…SO lucky!

Being I was camped just an hour’s drive away from the North Fork Skokomish trailhead (where you access the Flapjack Lakes trail, along with many others) I arrived fairly early, but yet still found a completely full lot. If you don’t want to park on the side of the road and add another half mile to your trip, best to get there before 8 am. 

I really had to question my sanity when I hit the Flapjack Lake’s “time to climb” turn off at 3.7 miles in, and only decided my “extra portion” was worth it when the lakes came into view at the very end. But that last mile…let me tell you, it really had me doubting. This trail gave me more than my fill — of beauty and of pain — both of which I can’t seem to get enough of. Happy “full plate” trails– that hopefully don’t leave you overly stuffed! (A few “things to know” below if you are thinking of doing this trail, but no trail log since it was only one night.)

1. Like I mentioned, it’s hard to get a permit at the lakes. There is, though, a really nice camp right at the junction a half mile before (where you could continue on to Black and White Lakes if you wanted) that I think would be awesome and is probably easy to get since it’s not listed. (You’d have to ask for it at the Ranger Station, which is actually manned there right in the parking lot!) Not having to haul your pack up that God awful last half mile, and not having having to deal so much with bugs (which are horrid at the lakes) are a couple good reasons to consider it. 
2. That dreadful last half mile mentioned–well, it is also infested with ground bees. They didn’t go after me (just a lot of buzzing) but if you have a fear of bees, this trail is not for you.
3. I have never seen so many berries! They literally surround the lakes, so if berries are your thing, this is your ticket.

   

   Fresh berries in your Rose’? Yes please!!

4. The campsite all the way to the left is the best, imo. But if you choose the first one, right smack in the middle of the trail, you really shouldn’t act all annoyed that everyone is walking through your camp. I’m sorry, but that’s the price you pay for that spot, so lighten up!

   

   I didn’t really explore the lake to the right much, so the camps over there might be pretty good too (if you have the energy to walk that far)

   

Love is Patient (Finishing Section L on PCT)

I try to reserve my spiritual thoughts for my other blog, but sometimes I can’t restrain myself. Though I do love the freedom to just write whatever it is that I feel like writing. Anyway, “love is patient” is something that has been swimming in my head a lot lately. If you grew up in church, it will immediately be recognized as the beginning of 1 Corinthians 13, which defines the qualities of love. And though I’ve heard this verse quoted more times than I could count, it only recently struck me how odd “patient” is for the very first descriptor for love. Patience is a virtue hard earned through self discipline, isn’t it? I think of patience as something I need when I DON’T love something…like waiting in the grocery store line.

But to say that love IS patient — to say that is the VERY FIRST thing it is — well, that makes me see it in a new light. It will wait and endure and believe against all odds…but why? To prove something? 

Ambition has patience too, but with a different agenda. It produces a different kind of driving force. Hiking has taught me a lot about both. I’m not saying the driving force of ambition is bad – but I do believe love is better. 

While finishing up this last portion of Section L of the PCT (my final miles to complete all of Washington –woot woot!) I’d try to say “congratulations” to all the thru hikers I saw. And whenever they would reply back, “congratulations to you, too,” I’d feel the need to explain I was “just a section hiker.” Almost always they would correct me; “Not ‘just’…Washington is no joke!” “This has been the hardest state.” “Section hiking is even harder because you don’t have your hiker legs,” and so on. So gracious. So kind. So…well, loving. 

You feel a strength from the thru hikers who have made it to the end (usually at least five months on the trail) that comes from something other than the need to accomplish a goal. I’m feeling it growing in myself too. A brand of calm and resolve and endurance I never used to have. What a beautiful thing love is. May your happy trails have the same kind of powerful, loving patience. (Daily hiking log below as always.)

Day 1: 4-ish miles from Hart’s Pass to Brown Bear TH and back. I had to do this because last time (seven years ago on my first PCT section) I had my friends drive me down to skip these miles to make my day easier…because I’m a cheater like that. But no skipping this time. I really did want to experience every step on the PCT. Love, remember?  

Day 2: 13.5 miles to Holman Creek Trail intersection. This is where the PNT comes in from Ross Lake and follows the PCT north until the Pasayten River Trail turn off in 13.4 more miles. (The only place they collide.) At first I was bummed I had to do an up and back instead of going into Canada as I had always imagined, but now I can count those 13.4 miles towards my PNT list too without feeling I’m double dipping. 

Day 3: 10.8 miles to Hopkins Lake. This is going on my top 10 list. (See previous post.) The whole day was breath taking and none of it was too hard. Rock Pass and Woody Pass and then a 360 degree view just before descending the Devils Stairway to the lake…it was all mind blowing and something I didn’t expect because nobody talks about Section L. I think maybe they are trying to keep it a secret? 

Day 4: 12.8 miles to tag the border and turn around back to the lake (with light day pack — hallelujah!) then pack up stuff and tackle that damn Devils Stairway going up this time for another 4.9 miles to camp just after Woody Pass for a total of 17.7 (ugh…almost a record, but the slackpack made it very doable.) This was the day I was told to look out for the 75 year old woman hiking alone who was confused and getting turned around. When I spoke with her the next day (Pee-Kew was her trail name) she said she’d already been out there 10 days, was minding her own bushiness, likes to be alone and “if I wanted to be rescued I’d hit my SPOT button.” She was a bona fide bad ass that I don’t think anyone needed to be worrying about. Please let me be her when I’m 75.

Triple crowner “Pooch” (over 7,000 miles on 3 trails) one mile before his goal

Another triple crowner!
“Ninja”…they are like rock stars to me

Day 5: 12.2 miles to a really nice spot just before heading up Windy Pass. I actually past it because it’s really hard to see until you get higher and are looking down on it. I was so thankful it still had a stream running through it, because I thought it would be dry and had lugged a bunch of water that I had not sealed properly and therefore didn’t have anymore. Sheesh, not the first time I’ve done that. You’d think I’d learn. 

Last night on the PCT

Day 6: 7.1 back to Hart’s Pass. I brought a grill and coolers full of hot dogs and Coke and I finally got to do trail magic which was a blast. “Sausage” (who ate FOUR…a fitting trail name obviously) had just finished and needed a ride so I got to be a trail angel too. I absolutely loved hearing his stories and he made the drive home go so fast. I’m sad it’s over, but I know there are plenty more trails around to be loved. 

“Good Vibes” said she was dreaming of hot dogs for weeks <3

“Sausage” in the shadows. Congrats to them all!