July 13

Distance today: 17.2 miles

Mile marker: 200.0

At 7am, we were pushing south to Stevens Pass. The trail got easier and wider the closer we got to the trailhead. We eventually heard highway before we saw it. Cars are loud and obnoxious. They should make them quieter. It’s quite jarring to hear the highway after days of more subtle noises from nature.

We got to Stevens Pass right at 9am and found the guest services to collect our resupply box. It was very easy. We also found a box of Kraft dinner in the hiker box – breakfast!

Turning on our phones meant a flood of emails and notifications hit us as we made sure we didn’t miss anything too important. While Alex made a call, Jason went to get two iced lattes for the hefty price of $18.

We loitered around the deck for the next few hours cooking our mac n cheese, charging our phones and battery banks, and restocking our backpacks. Turns out this is just a four day carry, not six. So we were relieved that our packs weren’t the heaviest. We left Mark’s hat at the trailhead sign with a note on it.

At 2pm, we were off again! The start of Section J is quite literally walking up the ski slope in full sun. They could’ve turned on the lift to give us a ride up, and maybe then the $18 coffees would make more sense.

We passed a few day hikers. A dog was being carried because he got tired. Another dog passed and she was the smallest and cutest trailrunning pup.

Compared to some of the previous days, the trail was a bit tamer. The ups and downs were shorter and generally less steep, generally. Rather than going up and down thousands of feet every hill, we went up and down a few hundred feet. Some sections of trail were still rocky and slow. Other sections made for easy striding. It’s amazing how the footing of the trail, not necessarily the incline, sets the pace. A hiker going northbound who was familiar with all the Washington PCT sections said that things will get very cruisey in southern Washington and into Oregon. We’ll be able to pack away miles there.

Also in contrast to a lot of the last section, there were a lot more lakes and ponds that we passed by. And a picturesque meadow led to a run in with two marmots.

We inadvertently set camp right at the 200 mile marker as we detoured to camp near Trap Lake rather than the pass above. It was slightly windier today and we didn’t want to get blown away up on the exposed pass.