Day 23 : Dirt road at Tacoma Pass

Start – Dirt road at Tacoma Pass (1055 m)
Finish – Mike Urich Cabin (1450 m)
Daily Distance – 28 km
Ascent – 1250 m
Descent – 850 m

Today was not without its mental and physical challenges, but has turned out as one of the nicest of the trip so far.

Shortly after leaving camp this morning was the only river for some 18km/12miles, and being only half awake, I missed the turning. Not having nearly enough water to last the distance, there was no choice but to walk back down the hill for 5 minutes to collect water, before walking back up again significantly heavier than before. Not the greatest of starts.

The longer than usual water carries through this section are making my rucksack feel considerably heavier. Going uphill with 2.5l water, rather than my more typical <1l, really does make a difference, despite being a tiny fraction of my overall bodyweight. Perhaps the greatest extra burden though is in the planning. Each water source has to be found on the route and the distance to the next calculated in order to judge how much to carry. Too much is added weight and energy expenditure, too little is miserable and potentially dangerous. And then there are the uncontrollable issues which pop up unexpectedly.

Perhaps 30 minutes before reaching the Mike Urich cabin and stream, which was my planned stopping point for the day, I met 3 hikers coming the other way advising not to drink the water here because is it infected with Norovirus. Without an Internet connection, I can’t really judge if this is likely, and the origin of the “water contains Norovirus” information is similarly uncertain. From past experience, I would tend to assume that it is more likely poor hygiene in a shared space is to blame, rather than bad water, but to be on the safe side it has been necessary to ration a bit this evening. The next water source is a solid 2.5 hours away from here, and my legs were already feeling tired upon arrival, so I decided against moving on. It would have meant a very late and very tired finish to the day.

Turning this minor disaster on its head though, was the first piece of trail magic (a kindly donation, typically food) of the trip. Upon inspecting the interior of the cabin (carefully, because Norovirus), we discovered that somebody had left a cool box stuffed with miscellaneous goodies.

So it came to be that a ragtag collection of hikers, brought together by coincidence, could take their repose on the decking in late afternoon sunshine, refreshing themselves with cool mountain dew (or the last Rainier beer), bags of crisps and even fresh apples. Given the lack of water and my suddenly increased hunger levels, this has proved especially timely (and certainly didn’t stop me from eating dinner).

Cabin Company:

– Art, who I met briefly yesterday, arrived as I was musing about moving onto the next water source, but ultimately we both concluded that our legs didn’t have the energy to do so. He is walking southbound and only has enough time to reach Oregon, before his extended home leave expires. Originally from Washington state, he now works in Vietnam doing financial analysis for the US state department.

– Kai, a retired kiwi now living in US, has been walking northbound since the southern part of Oregon, with plans to end at Steven’s Pass (and therefore avoid the blowdowns and general poor condition of PCT section k). He walked the south island portion of Te Araroa in 2021 and confirms that its increased popularity is sadly causing capacity constraints, especially in terms of hut access.

– Lydia, looks like a surfer chick, dresses like going on an African safari. An unemployed free spirit looking for a life outside the capitalist system who cobbled her gear together second hand and is just walking for the fun. Possessor of the most epically heavy rucksack I have yet encountered. Actively sneers at ultralight backpackers as “weenies, who can’t carry proper weight”. The lucky finder/drinker of the last Rainier beer.

Addendum – as far as I am aware, everyone survived Norovirus cabin without so much as a sniffle