My husband Conrad and I decided to hike the Oregon and Washington sections of the PCT in the summer of 2016 on a bit of a whim. This was to be our first ever brush with backpacking and true wilderness. I can’t stress enough what TOTAL amateurs we were! The trail transported us from living in a tiny flat in London, into the unknown wild, which was seriously out of our comfort-zone. It’s painfully evident through the blog I kept that we didn’t find it easy! We suffered in many ways. It was brutal. Just physically, neither of us were uber-fit marathon runners to start with! All-in-all, deciding to join the trail was a leap to say the very least…
But once we found our feet, the proportion of good days to bad increased. Below are the journal entries I kept during those 10 weeks. Most of these were written by torch-light at the end of a gruelling day, so apologies for my often fragile state of mind, and lack of attention to detail. I hope you enjoy the read. Please reach out if you have any questions!
Oregon
Day 3: This bag is going to kill me
Day 6: Back to where it all began
Day 9: So near yet so far (…from Crater Lake)
Day 12: Nero to Crater Lake Lodge
Day 13: Crater Lake Rim Killer
Day 14: Mount Theilsen snow slide
Day 15: Highest Point snow fields
Day 18: Zero Day at Odell Lake
Day 19: Why did we leave Shelter Cove?
Day 32: Timberline Lodge buffet calling
Washington
Day 37: Washington Starts Here
Day 43: Mount Adams Wilderness
Day 57: Easy ride to Skykomish
Day 59: It’s a long way to Stehekin
Day 63: The 100-mile Countdown
Day 64: Best Cinnamon Rolls EVER!
a life to wander 