Month: July 2025

PNT Day 32 – Cookies

Mile 528.3 to mile 534.9

A great rumbling truck rolls to a stop in front of Bookworm, Starman and I. Our hitchhikers’ chariot has arrived in the form of an elderly couple in a well-loved vintage truck. After we toss our bags in the bed and climb in the extended cab we are immediately offered chocolate chip, butterscotch chip and heath cookies. The woman then gently admonishes herself for not being able to offer us milk. Exclaiming, “what kind of grandma am I if I serve cookies without milk?!” I’m delighted, they are delightful. He is grumbly and respectful, she is bubbly and talkative, together they are curious and amazed by our journey. The conversation passes easily on the seven mile drive to the trailhead. And when they our paths diverge it is without ever having learned their names.

PNT Day 33 – Prime Time

Mile 534.9 to mile 551.4

There’s only 14 miles and 1,600 feet of gain to prime rib dinner and we are moving slow. Stopping on the side of the trail to snack on huckleberries and thimble berries ripe and warmed from the sun. Today the mileage comes easy thanks to the limited gain and the promise of dinner at the Bonaparte Lake Resort. By the time we roll up to the resort it’s only 2:30pm and I’ve barely cracked a sweat. This last section was brutal for everybody and I’m grateful that we’re taking it easy this time around. Right now all I’ve got to do is sit by Lake Bonaparte and try not to let my hiker hunger overwhelm me before dinner.

PNT Day 34 – Applesauce in the Shade

Mile 551.4 to mile 575.2

The day starts with a climb through the trees, the trail a dusty strip of ash from some long-ago fire as we climb towards Bonaparte Mountain just to turn down and slide off it’s shoulders into the valley below. As we drop the temperature rises and the call of an oasis whispers in our ears. The Havillah Lutheran church is yet another instance of trail angels being far too kind to us hikers and when Starman and I arrive it’s to find Bookworm already there. I flop down in the shade and am told there are popsicles and mini burritos and ice cold applesauce in the fridge. We snack and wait out the worst of the afternoon heat before pressing on another six miles towards camp. Tomorrow we’ll reach Oroville and our next zero, only the fourth we’ve had in over a month of hiking.

PNT Day 35 – Getting Ready

Mile 575.2 to mile 591.2, Oroville

I am, at best, unenthusiastic when my alarm rings at 5:40am but it’s also a town day and so I roll over and whisper to Starman, “you’re not going to like this but it’s time to get up.” He too is unenthusiastic but reluctantly begins to rise and pack away the tent.

Today we are rolling into Oroville, the official halfway point of the PNT and we’ve got 16 almost entirely downhill miles into town. My body is aching and my brain is fried from so many consecutive days on trail. The plan for today is to complete all the chores that need to be done, laundry, resupply, cleaning and packing, so that tomorrow I can vegetate so hard that even a zucchini would be jealous.

PNT Day 36 – Zero

Zero, no hiking – mile 591.2, Oroville

The plan for today is to do as close to nothing as possible. The chores are done,  the bags are packed, the AC is blasting in our room at the Camaray Motel in Oroville and I am bed bound scrolling aimlessly on my phone. Tomorrow we enter the Pasayten Wilderness, a remote eight day section known for an absurd amount of elevation gain and being some of the most isolated miles on the trail. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. Over the next eight days our hiker strength will be tested as will our resilience. This will be our heaviest food carry on the trip by about three days and each calorie and snack has been counted and accounted for. But for now I have a few precious hours in which I can vegetate, pretending that tomorrow is simply another day instead of the start of something epic.

PNT Day 27 – An Unexpected Zero

Zero day, no hiking – mile 400 North Port

I wake with the plan of going back to sleep, but when Bookworm tells me there’s coffee I know I’m up for good. They’re hiking out this morning while Starman and I will be hanging back for a zero. I’m afraid this is finally the end of our little trail family, though the trail may have surprises in store for us yet. However, my left ankle and foot are swollen from what I’m guessing is an aggravated case of peroneal tendonitis and it’s causing me pain when I walk. Even though I’d rather be hiking I’m forcing myself to sit today out and rest.

As zeroes go there are worse places to be stuck. We have a free place to stay and Josh and Jami are endlessly gracious with their home. And North Port is a small and quiet enough place that I won’t be tempted to wander around during the day. So as Bookworm shoulders their pack and head out I plop my butt down with an ice pack and get to resting.

PNT Day 28 – Grinding

Mile 400, North Port to mile 422.3

The road climbs mercifully gradually as Starman and I work our way out of North Port. The sky sits heavy and grey over a dense green forest hemming us in on all sides. Today is another day of making progress towards a goal, grinding along, leveling up, working our bodies as we have and as we will continue to all the way to the Pacific Coast.

PNT Day 29 – Late Night

Mile 422.3 to mile 444.2

The wind whistles discordant and ominous through trees which jut into the sky, a forest of grey skeletal fingers. Just after we enter the burn left by the 2015 Stickpin fire the trail disappears beneath a pile of blow-downs and with it our forward momentum. The next three hours are more reminiscent of an obstacle course than a hiking trail as I am forced the shed my backpack countless times in order to crawl under a tree as the sun arches low towards the horizon. Discouragingly, through unsurprisingly, our planned campsite is a deathtrap, ringed with dozens of trees just waiting to come tearing down. We are forced to push on over and under blow-downs into the night, the sun glowing red on the horizon. Finally, after the last of the light has left the sky we arrive at a campground beside a road which has mercifully been cared for and is free of dead and scarred trees. We sleep without even putting up the tent.

PNT Day 30 – Grateful

Mile 444.2 to mile 460.3

Today I genuinely thought about quitting the trail. Surrounded chest-deep in blow-downs it occurred to me that I could simply turn around and walk back to the road we crossed this morning, hitch into town and be home by the end of the week. I thought about what I would be doing if it weren’t climbing over innumerable blow-downs while dripping sweat, how I’d have to go back to the gym to train for our October Nepal trip, how I’d still be planning meals days ahead of time and then being disappointed by what I’ve purchased for myself, how I’d be sleeping in my own bed and sitting on my own couch. How I’d be giving up the challenge of this trail and how, in the end, I’d be disappointed in myself for quitting.

But I’m also grateful for what this trail is giving me, and I think that without the challenge I would not have the joy and personal fulfillment that I find out here. So instead I began to think about what I’m grateful for on this trail. I’m grateful that even though I’m slower Keith hikes at my pace so that we can hike together. I’m grateful that I have a body that, while far from perfect, allows me to come out to these places and pursue these ridiculous things. I’m grateful for the food in my bag even if I’m sick of eating it, and I’m grateful that I have a handy map that shows me where all the water is. I’m grateful for the friends that I’ve made out here and the new people I’ve met along the way. I’m grateful for the generosity that the people in the towns along the trail. And beyond that I’m grateful to myself for trying, for putting in the effort and showing up every day, even when it sucks, even when I’m tired, even when I think about quitting.

PNT Day 31 – Laundry Goblin

Mile 460.3 to mile 473.7, Republic

We do 14 miles and 2,800 feet of gain before 2pm. It’s strange, I know that statistically I am getting stronger but it still feels hard. It’s not getting easier, I’m just doing more and in fewer hours of daylight. Nights are coming earlier and earlier and we’ve lost at least an hour of daylight since we hiked late on the first day of the trail. But today we’re getting a hotel in Republic, WA and so we got on the trail early and are cruising this ridge into town.

When we get there Bookworm is already in town! And we all pile in to a hotel room where our packs immediately explode their contents across the room to dry and clean. There always seems to be another chore in town and while I’m grateful for this break I’m already looking forward to our next planned zero in a few days time. The biggest chore of the day is laundry, which Keith generously volunteer. Upon his return he finds Bookworm and I outside in the hotel patio/parking lot. We then proceed to hang our wet clothes around the patio of this admittedly very quiet hotel. But I still felt a little self conscious. Still, it was definitely better than wear-drying my clothes and sometimes when you spend this much time tramping in the dirt, you become a bit of a goblin.

PNT Day 23 – Three Whole People

Mile 5.8 on the Jackson Creek alternate to mile 5.5 on the Pass Creek alternate

It’s almost 10am and we are, a little embarrassingly, still in camp when Josh walks by. Our first sighting of another thru hiker on the trail! Though we actually met Josh super briefly in Eureka where he was a day behind us. I think we’re both shocked to see another hiker out here after spending so many days more or less alone. Which, is exactly how Starman and I spend the rest of our day. That is, until dinner time when Silver and Wayward roll out of the forest, they must have been just behind us on the trail all day. Wild!

The PNT only attracts about 100-200 hikers annually with some of those folks going eastbound. Spotting a thru hiker in the wild on this trail feels like a special treat.

PNT Day 24 – Smell that?

Mile 5.5 on the Pass Creek alternate to mile 354.2 Metaline Falls

The PNT is blessing me with the ability to endure new levels of stinkiness. After six days on trail and one very graceful full-frontal face plant I know, intellectually, that I am dirty and I smell atrocious. But somehow I don’t mind. Somehow I’ve transcended the barrier where normal funk lies and moved into a whole new land of dirt and grime that comes with living and exercising all day in the same clothes day after day. Maybe I do remember how to be a thru hiker after all.

PNT Day 25 – I’d Rather Not

Mile 354.2 Metaline Falls to mile 369.5

Abercrombie Mountain soars more than 5,000 feet over the town of Metaline Falls; a hulking beast of trees and rock. What begins as a paved road walk out of town transitions into a dirt road and then finally a trail over the course of 15 miles. And I for one am frankly not in the mood for it. Today will be our biggest elevation gain to date and I’d just rather not. My body feels fine and after a night in a hotel I’m well rested enough but my mood is not there. I mean, I’ll do the climb, I’ll get to the top, but I’d rather not. I’d rather crawl into my tent and doom scroll on my phone for the rest of the day. But you know what? Sometimes that’s just not an option. So after breakfast (including pie) at the local cafe I follow Starman and Bookworm out of town and begin the slog.

The joy of walking on a road is that the elevation gain is doled out in one long, smooth gradient. The downside is the traffic which luckily disappears once the road turns to dirt. Per usual Bookworm pulls ahead of us and vanishes around a corner. This is likely the last time we’ll hike with them and I’m both sad at their departure and grateful for the fun we had so far. Also per usual on the PNT we are hiking through the trees and we weave in and out of an active logging zone as the road switchbacks up Abercrombie’s broad flank. To pass the time I put in a podcast as the sky overhead gradually clouds over, providing much appreciated shade and a cooling breeze.

Some hours later when we get to our planned dinner spot for the night Starman ducks into the bushes to find a spring, our water source for the night, only to come back empty handed. The spring has dried up for the summer and now we have a conundrum: do we push on five miles to the next water source and then another four miles after that to the next camp, or do we take the half liter we each have and make that do for the evening. Being over it as I am and ready to crawl into the tent I push for the later. So we each eat the least dry snacks we have for dinner and complete the final climb to camp at a snail’s pace so as not to sweat and waste any further precious water. Tomorrow, after all, is another day.

PNT Day 26 – Josh and Jamie

Mile 369.5 to mile 381.4 then a hitch into North Port

A mop of curly brown hair sits atop kind, crinkling eyes; Josh greets Starman, Bookworm and myself and ushers us into his home. Jami, his partner, is an enthusiastic artist who arrives an hour later, gracefully welcoming three strangers into her home. They speak hiker lingo like a native and show us where we can charge our devices and shower. They feed us—burritos with ice cream cones for dessert. In the end, Josh and Jami were everything you’d want from a trail angel. And better yet they personify the treatment we’ve received on this trail so far.

PNT Day 19 – 400 Blow-downs

Mile 255 to mile 9.5 on the Long Canyon Creek alternate

I look up and smile as Keith snaps a picture of me, my hands and knees planted in the dirt as I crawl beneath one of many blown down trees that obscure the trail. Actually, according to one PNT hiker there are more than 400 blow-downs on the Long Canyon Creek alternate that we will have to navigate around, over, under, or through. Killed by a forest fire and toppled by severe weather the trees that have fallen in the proceeding years haven’t yet been cleared by trail crews on our somewhat obscure little trail.

One may be forgiven for asking why a person would choose to follow a hiking trail turned game of jungle gym twister. A fair question indeed. And the answer my dear reader is that this is in fact the lesser of two evils, by which we are avoiding a 6,000 foot BLANK mile waterless climb from the highway outside Bonners Ferry. So as Keith takes my photo I laugh to myself and remind myself that I choose to be here, and that if I’m being honest, I’m still having a pretty good time.

PNT Day 20 – Birthday

Mile 9.5 on the Long Canyon Creek alternate to mile 277.1

A dirty bundle emerges from Bookworm’s backpack; tobacco, a gift from Ronda, the proud Black Foot woman who gave the three of us a ride to the Eastern terminus. A blessing, enough for each of us to bestow luck on our journey down the trail. I’m delighted that bookworm has been carrying it until now. We each pour a little in our hands then, starting facing east, we each give a yell then toss a pinch of the tobacco in each of the cardinal directions. It feels fun and special to be celebrating our trip this way on this day. Afterwards, we share the birthday brownies my mother sent me. I feel a heartswell of adoration for the wonderful people in my life and an enormous sense of wonder to be celebrating my 37th birthday how I got to today.

PNT Day 21 – Bushwhack

Mile 277.1 to mile 285.2

The bushwhack is notorious. Five miles down a river drainage with no official trail, through brush, bushes, and blow-downs. This median quagmire is positioned solely at our feet. Between the trail we are on now and a road that will take us into Coolin, ID is a literal mystery on our map and just after leaving camp we dive right in.

First we shoot the ridge, steeply up and scrambling hand over hand through bands of granite rock and grassy brush. From this new vantage point I can see down to the glimmering Ball Lake below as well as out to the east where we came from and to the west with it’s looming fire and uncertainty. The trail stops here and we plunge off the side of the mountain into head-high bushes spotted through with evergreens both standing and fallen. Starman is out in front, leading this parade straight into a wall of greenest green. And lead he does. Between following the guide on Far Out and his general sense of route-finding we are able to follow game or use trails about half the time. Still, it takes us nearly seven hours to go six miles.

PNT Day 22 – Coolin’ in Coolin

Mile 259.9 to mile 5.8 on the Jackson Creek alternate

I wake early and tired thanks to an all night wind storm and quickly begin to pack away my things. Starman and I are trying to get on the trail faster each morning and this morning in particular we have lots to do. We hitched into the micro-town of Coolin, ID yesterday with plans to eat, resupply, and get back on the trail but only managed to accomplish one of those things, leaving resupply shopping and hitching back to the trail for today. Luckily Coolin’s size makes it extremely walkable and by 9am we’re fed, our food bags are once again full, and we’re standing on the side of the road with our thumbs out being passed by car after car. “This town feels like a trap,” I say to Starman who sleepily agrees.

Finally after three hours and two separate rides we make it the 19 miles back to the trail and start walking just after noon. We have 15 miles and 1,500 feet of elevation gain before camp but if I could curl up in my sleeping bag right now I would.

The first part of the afternoon finds the trail meandering up and around the shores of Priest Lake. Dappled sunlight slices through the canopy to dance across the pine needle strewn floor while those same branches provide ample shade to keep us cool. We walk past innumerable campsites and my tired body envies each and every set up tent. However, if we want to make it to camp before dark it’s imperative that we keep moving. At one point during the afternoon I try and calorically boost my energy and mood only to be left feeling heavy and, if possible, even more sluggish.

Early evening finds us eating dinner alongside a forest road that we’ll follow for four of the final five miles to camp. After dinner we push, my legs are finally starting to feel stronger and more capable and I’m able to match Starman’s pace as he streams along the road. The road winds and narrows, necking down until we are once again pushing our way through an overgrown trail and only then, beside a small and burbling creek do we stop and set up camp. Finally, after writing this post, I allow my tired spine to unravel atop my crinkly pad and I sleep.

Day 5 – Sunset

Mile 0 to mile 7.6 on the Tuchuck alt (+ 8 miles of road walking on the hitch out of Polebridge

The climb was a brutal 3,000 ft of gain in three miles and began with a soaking bushwhack through head-high vegetation. But the end of the day was spent watching the sunset dance across stormclouds.

PNT Day 6 – No Way Out

Mile 7.6 to mile 1.2 on the Tuchuck alternate

I’ve been moving slowly all day, so when Bookworm mentions an alt that runs down valley instead of climbing a ridge, I’m all in.

The only problem is that the trail may not be there at all, erased by time, erosion, and fire. Or, the trail may be only a winter snowmobile track and thus only visible in the winter. We won’t know until we drop off the ridge. But what I do know is that it’s all downhill and ends in a dirt road walk instead of a half mile horrific  bushwhack.

Starman leads the way off the ridge at 4:30pm.

What follows is 3.5 hours of our own horrific bushwhack. The trail we are looking for never materializes and instead as we work our way down hill to a road we hope is there we run into dozens upon dozens of downed trees from both a fire and an avalanche. Progress is slow going and painful as my feet slide across loose rocks and I bang my shin more times than I can count. As we descend the trees and the undergrowth thicken, shading the ground into near darkness. At one point the vegetation is so overgrown that we resort to walking through a creek as the easiest means of passage.

At several points I am close to tears and I think longingly of the Centennial Trail and how I had been able to simply call my parents to pick us up when my blisters got too bad. But there is no out of this situation but through and so we continue painfully on. Pushing over and through trees which tear at my skin and clothes. I remind myself of the words inked on my skin “it’s a privilege to choose one’s method of suffering.” I choose to be out here doing these hard things because they fill me with a sense of pride and strength that I don’t find elsewhere in my life. And in this I find a way to fight down the tears and push forward until finally, finally we break out onto an old road, overgrown and difficult to navigate but mercifully easier than forging our way through the forest. The road also signifies progress and only half a mile to a real dirt road where we will be able to walk in a straight line and that won’t be filled with trees. Eventually we make it to the dirt road that will lead us into camp. Exhausted, bloodied, and ready for dinner.

Day 7 – Only Eight

Mile 1.2 on the Tuchuck alternate to mile 104.5

The PNT is often faint, usually overgrown, and almost always climbing. Which is exactly the situation I find myself in now. Each step forward, each slap or scratch of a plant makes my bloodied shins scream in protest. After a week of walking through overgrown trail and dense underbrush my legs have been reduced to a welt of scratches and mosquito bites. And this morning I am having to force myself through, over, and across any number of bushes and felled trees. The fatigue in my legs after yesterday’s ordeal is intense and I find myself counting my steps to 100 before allowing myself a short break in the shade. We’ve decided to scale our mileage back today to 8.7 miles and 2,700 feet of gain and save some mileage for the day we hit Eureka, MT and can look forward to some flat mileage for once. Still, the going is slow and more than once I think to myself that if I felt like this on a day hike I would just go home. But that’s not an option today, there is no car waiting for me or even a road I could successfully hitch from for miles in any direction. My best, and truly only option is to finish the remainder of the 8.7 miles with a climb to a lookout where we can spend the night and not even have to set up our tents. Glorious.

PNT Day 8 – Tired

Mile 104.5 to mile 125.2

Today was another hard one with 2,700 feet of elevation gain and 21 miles. But even though I’m feeling tired and struggling on the climbs I decided to opt with the others and push on for our first 20 of the trip so that we can be in town early tomorrow and really enjoy our first town stop of the trip and our first zero. Something that I have been needing.

PNT Day 9 – Town Miles

Mile 125.2 to mile 134.1

The road pitches down and I roll into motion on the mild grade. We’re only ten easy miles from town this morning and we’re on the trail early, a collective eager for the comfort and food that comes with a town day. At first the miles slide by, three, five, six, then slowing as civilization grows up around us and the walking becomes less pleasant. Forest roads giving way to paved to neighborhood to the narrow shoulder of highway 93 where we walk duck-like in a dirty, stinking line. Cars rush by while overhead the sun is high even this early in the morning and the scratches on my legs burn with the heat radiating back from the asphalt.

Today will be for doing chores; laundry, resupply shopping, cleaning, and getting ready for the next section. Tomorrow I plan on doing so little of anything it may not be worth writing about. Stay tuned.

PNT Day 10 – Eureka

Zero – no miles hiked

Every surface in our hotel room is covered; in drying clothes, in food, in towels, in myriad little items that come from the depths of three hikers backpacks. Mercifully, the chundering AC unit keeps the smell at bay. The blinds are drawn against the midday sun and I luxuriate in the cool while snacking on chilled grapes. Tomorrow looms large in both mileage and elevation gain and I hope that if I hold very still my body will heal enough for me to manage it.

PNT Day 1 – An Attempt

Mile 0 to mile 19

“There are bears in your campground” says the ranger.

“We’ll have to move you.”

And move us she does, disregarding our original permit and assigning us a new one 19 miles and 3,100 feet of gain away. It seems far, it seems too far for me. But who can argue with bears and so we take our new permit and hike out.

The first part of the day is easy walking as we bump and bob our way down into a verdant valley beneath soaring craggy peaks. Starman leads our little possy and with Bookworm between us I am left to bring up the rear and ponder my various anxieties. The sudden departure from the carefully planned mileage of our first permit has upset me more than I care to admit and it has my brain tumbling.

What if I’m too slow. What if I get injured. What about my knee or my back. What if I can’t keep up. What if I can’t do this.

As I hike I notice every tweak and tightness, wondering if they’ll be the undoing of this nacient hike. To me, every adventure of this nature is always an attempt, never a guarantee. So many things both large and small could go wrong and take me off the trail and today they are all lining up to make themselves known. The fore of my mind cluttered with what ifs and maybies.

PNT Day 2 – Easy

Mile 19 to mile 26.5

We wake late and are still in camp early. The abbreviated day courtesy of our alerted permit, though one I do not begrudge. Though I feel surprisingly good after my longest day of the season yesterday.

The trail drops from Stony Indian Lake into a brush and bramble paradise. More often than not the trail is so overgrown it’s impossible to see your own feet, and making forward progress is akin to wading into hip deep water. Every couple miles the verdant plant life breaks apart and we are gifted 200 meters or so of clear trail, rejoicing in the sudden ease of moment.

At three we reach Goat Haunt Camp and find Bookworm there to greet us. I spend the afternoon variously snacking and watching the thunderstorms roll pell-mell across the lake. Mosquitos signal that evening is come and the three of us make our way to the designated campsite for the night.

PNT Day 3 – Bullshit

Mile 26.5 to mile 42

The descent from Brown Pass to Bowman Lake is, as I have heard it told, bullshit. And all afternoon I wait for that to be true. I wait for the impenetrable wall of shoulder-high brush and vegetation to arrive, only it never comes. The trail is overgrown, surely, but never to the severity that we have been warned about. And in general this makes me feel good about myself, as well as sorry that the hiker who warned us about this section was having such a hard time. Because as I hike through intermittent rain and sun I realize how dramatically our internal lives shape the experience we have on trail. Today, for me, is a good one and as such the trail feels generous and kind.

PNT Day 4 – Polebridge

Mile 42 to mile 49

I wake early just in time for the rain to start and then proceed to roll back over to blissful sleep until I hear Bookworm packing away their tent and rolling out. They are perpetually faster than us, both on trail and when it comes to getting ready and I wonder vaguely how much longer they’ll tolerate our casual pace. But today there is no reason to hurry as we only have a seven mile day to Bowman Lake before we hitch into Polebridge—the location of our first resupply and town stop. Though, in this case town is being rather generous as Polebridge consists of nothing more than a mercantile, a saloon, and a hiker hostel. Still, it’s where we’ll pick up our first box and get the first food we haven’t had to carry in four days.

The walking this morning is easy as we gain and lose less than 500 feet winding our way around a startlingly blue lake. The bushes here are expectantly overgrown and despite relatively little rain falling in the night, I am soaked within minutes as I follow the trail into a wall of green only to emerge three hours later in a lakeside parking lot filled with tourists frolicking in the waters.