Start: ?? Dee
End: 2155 (about 30 miles to Cascade Locks)
Thank goodness the day is over, it was a rough one. It began nice and early, around 5:30am, which meant about 6 hours of sleep. Not enough for this thru-hiker.
We walked up the rest of the asphalt road, a couple miles, to where the road transitioned to gravel. From there we walked up the road about 10 miles to Rainy Lake where the gravel road turned into a rocky trail; although this did not happen without incident. During the gravel road walk we took one wrong fork and ended up walking an extra 3/4 mile past the correct fork to the end of the incorrect fork where we found ourselves at Black Lake. Since we were there and it seemed like a nice enough lake, we ate lunch and refilled our water before backtracking and going the right direction.
Once back on track we hiked up to a junction where there was a little shelter and, after a short break with a little iPhone research, we decided on a different route that was more direct to Cascade Locks. We took a side trail down to the Herman Creek Trail and followed that down the gorge where we caught a one mile connector trail to the PCT and then Cascade Locks. It was quite a nice hike down, but by the time we got within 5 miles I was ready to be done and eat some food as well as enjoy the next day without hiking. After the past four days I think that it was perfectly reasonable.
After eating a giant burger, onion rings, milkshake, and pie, my mom drove me back to Portland where I would spend the night. Aside from being tired, it was a strange feeling to be driving back to where the trip began. It felt almost as if the trip were over, even though I knew it wasn't. It certainly didn't feel quite right, whatever it was. Perhaps it's just tiredness.
Sent from the PCT
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