Of Mosquitoes and Mice: Hiking the Washington PCT

July 17, 2019

In April 2016 we began hiking the Pacific Crest Trail north from the Mexican border. Our goal was to hike the entire trail in one year, but after 1,828 miles we stopped at the Columbia River in Oregon. A little over 1,000 days later (1,052 to be exact), we stood at the same location, ready to pick up where we left off. 

After our attempt three years ago, we had two sections left to finish: 500 miles covering the entire state of Washington and a 300-mile portion of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. The late spring snowfall in the Sierras made completing Washington our first priority for this summer. 

We got permits for a late June start and kept an eye on the snowmelt. Based on what we saw at the beginning of June, we chose to push out our start date by two weeks to July 11. While being more optimal from a snow standpoint, we knew that we would be hiking in the height of the mosquito season. But it was worth the tradeoff to us. 

Our Washington route north from the Columbia River

Entering Washington on the Bridge of the Gods

To cross the Columbia River into Washington, the PCT follows the Bridge of the Gods, a 1,858-foot long metal bridge that is 140 feet above the water. It was exhilarating to walk across the river and see the “Welcome to Washington” sign on the other side. We were now hiking in the third and final state comprising the Pacific Crest Trail!

The town of Cascade Locks, on the Oregon side of the river, is the lowest point on the entire PCT at 140 feet. So there was nowhere to go but up from there. And up we went, gaining about 12,000 feet in elevation during our first three days on the trail, as we hiked up and down a series of hills.

It was challenging, and we both had a couple of nagging leg issues: I nursed a sore heel and Darren had a sore calf. Overall, we were pleased with our level of fitness from working out at home and completing a 200-mile trek on the Arizona Trail two months prior to this hike.

We kept our trekking to an average of about 15 miles a day as we traveled through the first section of climbing. The terrain was mostly beautiful forests full of pine trees, with occasional ferns and bushes.

There were also many kinds of wildflowers adjacent to the trail.

We were pleasantly surprised at the density of the forest, as well as the old-growth trees that we periodically encountered. 

Except for an 11-mile dry stretch early on, we had ample access to water, crossing numerous rivers and creeks.

Camping in the Indian Heaven Wilderness and a Rest Day at Trout Lake

The trail mainly traveled through the 1.32 million acre Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Within the national forest were several designated wilderness areas. Created by an act in 1964, the higher level of protection in these places prohibits motorized traffic and machinery, for example. We entered the first wilderness area, Indian Heaven, on day four of our trek. 

Indian Heaven was full of stunning lakes. It was also where we encountered our first significant number of mosquitoes. We had success two years ago on our NPS journey with spraying our clothes and did so with our PCT gear before leaving home this year. We found that it kept the mosquitoes from landing on us (and potentially biting us through our clothes). Thus, we both received just a couple of bites. 

Besides mosquitoes, we also had to deal with mice issues at our campsites. After reading stories of hikers who had mice chew holes in their tents at night to get to their food, we came armed with two Ursacks and Opsaks. At night we hung our food in the bulletproof fabric Ursacks, lined with the interior odor barrier Opsaks, on trees away from our tent. Our food stayed protected, but we could see and hear mice running around the campsite during the night, which sometimes made sleep difficult. 

Because of the continual elevation gain and loss, campsites were mainly located on the flatter ground near water sources. Accordingly, we set up our tent by lakes and creeks. Some nights we camped by ourselves and other nights we shared sites with other PCT hikers.  Our favorite campsite in this section was at Blue Lake in the Indian Heaven Wilderness.

While most people hike the PCT from north to south, a small percentage make the journey the opposite way, typically starting in late June. We started seeing southbounders on day three of our trek. As they passed us, we stopped to share trail conditions (and mosquito reports) in both directions. Because of the heavy snow in the Sierras this year, many northbound hikers skipped that section and came up to hike south from Washington instead. So we met many of these “flippers” as well. 

Our choice to hike in July paid off so far with beautiful weather. We had a couple of clear days with views of the Oregon mountains of Mount Hood and Mount Jefferson behind us.

We only had to walk a half-day in the rain, and it kept the mosquitoes away from us on that portion of the trail. 

Overall, we were happy with our first week on the Washington Pacific Crest Trail, culminating with a rest day in the small town of Trout Lake (population 600). We picked up our first resupply box at the general store.

With 82 miles under our belts, we look forward to trekking through more wilderness areas, adjacent to Mount Adams and Mount Rainier, as we make our way north towards the Canadian border. 

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