Day 99: Here We Come Washington!!

August 17th, 2021

Mile Marker: 2163.8

Miles Hiked Today: 18

Today, I was on cloud 9.

We slept in this morning and headed to breakfast around 8. We went to a restaurant called Bridgeside and I was surprised by how delicious my meal was. It may turn out to be one of my favorites on trail thus far.

I ordered the egg, bacon, cheese, tomato sandwich on a biscuit and it was incredibly delicious. A soft made from scratch kind of biscuit? Yummmm.

We also had an amazing view of the Columbia river and Bridge of Gods in the background.

It was going to be a great day.

After breakfast we went back to the hotel to hang around finishing up last minute things until everyone was ready to go at our checkout time of 11.

About 20 minutes before we were to head out Gator had texted me asking where we were.

She had just walked into Cascade Locks as well! She was just like how Sasquatch was for us on the AT. They kept showing up, always steadily behind us.

It was so nice to see her again and all of us are hoping that she will catch up to us on trail once more before she has to leave.

We headed out shortly after embracing in hugs with Gator and were all amped up on adrenaline. It was time to cross the Bridge of Gods! One of the most iconic pictures people show when they are on the Pacific Crest Trail.

The Bridge of Gods is quite an accomplishment for many because this is where we cross into the last state on the PCT. Washington! From here, we have just barely over 500 miles left of trail. Can you believe that?!

Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

We started walking across the bridge, the wind whipping at us, and each one of us had a smile from ear to ear. We were bounding down this bridge like we were champions.

We were high on adrenaline, proud of ourselves, and embracing one another. Our little tramily has come so far.

In the middle of the bridge where we crossed from Oregon to Washington we decided to stop and take our shots of fireball before any other cars came. (Maybe a stupid decision but… a memory for the books)

We cheered and chugged our little shots.

This, was a once in a lifetime experience.

I truly felt like I was on cloud 9.

I was elevated and out of this world happy.

What an epic journey thus far.

We took pictures and then said our goodbyes to Some Guy since he would now be heading home.

I look forward to hiking more with you someday Some Guy!! Much Love!

We then set out for some big climbs. Washington was known for this. We weren’t in flat elevation anymore, it was time to hike big mountains again.

I was ready for it, I felt like my body had missed the climbs like we had in the Sierras.

The trail was bursting with green and a light sprinkle started coming down. It was perfect hiking weather. A nice cool 60s and some cloud coverage.

We all were cruising right along one behind the other and I had yet another laugh attack. I was walking behind Planner and she didn’t have her hat on like she normally does. The trail was a bit overgrown and one of these huge spikey ball plants (No idea what it was) literally stuck to her hair as she walked beside it and pulled a chunk of hair out of her pony tail.

It had looked like the plant was attacking her as she whipped her head back with her hair attached to the plant. I was out of control laughing so hard that my stomach physically hurt.

I’m even laughing now as I write this. So sorry Planner. 😂

Since we had started later in the day we kept moving and kept our breaks relatively short. We ended up stopping around 6:30 with a total of 18 miles completed. Not bad and even better was the early camp time.

It was the first time in a long time that I had arrived at camp so early. We could take our time setting up and socializing and getting good sleep.

Goldie takes a video on his phone most days recording what he is doing and who he is with. Tonight he had each of us talk about the bridge and crossing into Washington and what we made for dinner.

I had made a “fancy” dinner that I was proud of. Butter and herb Knorr pasta side with chicken, coconut oil, and instant potatoes. It was delicious. (At least for my hungry thru hiker self, not sure it really is in real life)