Washington PCT: Day 1

Let’s take a break from the dehydrated recipes to have a throwback to my mom and my first backpacking trip together. We can call it mental preparation for the Vermont Long Trail. We were so fresh faced and bright eyed when my Aunt dropped us off at Snoqualmie on the first day. We were doing Snoqualmie to White Pass, South Bound, and had budgeted 12 ish days for 98.3 miles. We were not what you would call ultralight backpackers…it was a genuine challenge to pick up our packs and put them on. Once we made it up the ski slope and into the forest we immediately sat down to eat the fresh apples, like that would make a difference. What really made a difference was when we got the chance to pour out, honestly, pounds of rice, lentils and hot chocolate later in the trip.

Let’s talk about my mom’s boots for a second. They are from 1982. I was born in 1991. She was wearing boots 9 years older than the person she was backpacking with. Before we left she sent my cousin out to the store to pick up some super glue. Every morning before we set off she would glue the soles of her boots back on. At least her pack was new! This because when she tried on her 1982 pack a few weeks before the trip it literally fell apart on her back. You’ll notice I also have a fancy new pack. I had a different Osprey, one meant for plane and train travel. When we packed up our packs with equal weights and had my dad try on both packs apparently mine felt like a pack of rocks. In the living room it didn’t bother me that much, but I sure was happy with the new pack on the trail. You’ll also notice that my mug is on the outside of my pack. This is a good sign that I had way too much stuff in my bag. At one point though we passed day hikers who saw the pack and said “You must be thru hikers, your mug is on the outside of your pack!” So apparently it’s a sign of being legit. I must have gotten even more legit as I acquired other objects on the outside of my pack, like non-matching socks.

The first view!

We camped in Ollalie Meadow, which was amazing, but every campsite was amazing (even the road one). There was a small stream where we could soak our feet and work on my mom’s crossword, we then proceeded to hang the worst bear hang in the history of bear hangs. Our first day was hard, but short and overall successful. And no bears came to pluck down the low hanging fruit that was our food.