Day 122,      31 miles

Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest

I like to think of California’s Sierras as the meat and potatoes of the Pacific Crest Trail. Washington’s Cascades are the dessert.  So delicious.

This morning I hiked on and off with several section hikers.  Stoic from Australia, Grateful from here in the US, and Left-Behind from Germany.  Left-Behind had spent a year planning her pct hike with a workmate.  They came all the way from Germany to spend 6 months hiking the pct together.  On the 1st day of their hike, her workmate left her behind and she never saw him again.  That’s how she got her trail name.

The trail was sweet.  Damp, soft ground.  Familiar smell of fir and cedar.  A wide path clear of debris.  There are plenty of volunteers out sawing and moving trees that have fallen across the trail.

Lots of hummingbirds whirling near me today.  They like to check me out.  As I was hiking along a very high ridge I heard a hawk’s screeching below me.  I looked down the mountainside to see the hawk gliding above the forested valley.  Also seeing other familiar birds.  Ravens, Whiskey Jacks, Yellow Finches, and Bushtits.

This afternoon I hiked with So Far and So Good.  I met them a few months ago and hit it off immediately.  Tonight I am camped with them at a not so nice spot, but hey, the company is great.

To mark the trail there are silver or red diamond markers on the trees.  Sometimes people leave messages on them in felt pen.  This one is my favourite that I’ve seen.