Day 173 (9 October) - Mile 2500.00 - 2504.20 + 8.5 miles

Arlington, WA to Large creek, wooden bridge

Woohoo...we are getting back on trail today. When the alarm went off at 6:00 AM Brad jumped into the shower and Tim and I went back to sleep. 20 minutes later it was time to wake. We all dressed and headed down to breakfast for some made to order eggs, a bagel with cream cheese, yogurt with granola and honey, and an herbal mint tea. It was quite a pleasant breakfast. Back upstairs to pack our stuff and we were headed to the trail right at 8:45 AM. 

It was a 1.5 hour drive back to the trail thanks largely to the 15 miles of dirt roads. When we arrived at the trailhead Dallas walked towards the 4Runner. What the heck!  We haven't seen him since just after Kennedy Meadows South...like 1,800 miles ago. Him and Chong were soaked and cold so came down the North Fork Sauk Trail to get into town to dry out. Lucky for them we showed up so Tim can drive them to town. 

Out came Brad and my bags and in went Dallas and Chong's bags along with Dallas and Chong. They were so grateful to have a ride and be in a car warming up after a night spent in the outhouse at the trailhead with all wet clothes. 

After they were settled in, we were ready to hike just after 10:30 AM.

Ready to hike

I am now in a much better mood than I was coming down the North Fork Sauk Trail on Friday. This is because as we were coming down I wasn't too sure if I would be headed back on trail or if that was the end of my thru-hike. Obviously it wasn't the end and Brad and I are back, so I am now taking photographs of this incredibly beautiful trail starting with the trailhead sign.

Trailhead of North Fork Sauk Trail

This trail is covered with different mushrooms, so I took the time to take photos of some cool ones. Also, the moss covering trees, rocks, and the side of the trail was so beautiful.

Mushrooms on the base of a tree

Crazy mushroom on the side of a tree

Brad hiking under a fallen tree

Beautiful forest

Cool mushroom

Cute mushroom

Ugly mushroom

Beauty all around

Purple mushrooms

Green moss everywhere

Huge, perfect mushroom

Self-portrait "About to cross a log bridge"

Shelter at the 5.5 miles point

The shelter marks the end of the pleasant part of the hike. It is now time to climb 3,000 feet in 3 miles...seriously steep trail!

My goal was to make the 3 miles in 1.5 hours. It will be hard, but I'll give  it my best. Here are my time hacks:

• 1:50 PM at 2,894 feet
• 2:20 PM at 3,991 feet
• 2:50 PM at 4,880 feet
• 3:20 PM at 5,655 feet
• 3:30 PM at 5,926 feet

​Just missed my goal by 10 minutes, but I was pretty happy. It was a hard climb, but I am back on the PCT to hopefully complete this thru-hike. It has been just short of 48 hours since we left the trail and now I am back. To make things even better, check out the blue skies that greeted me at the top!

Self-portrait "Back on the PCT!!!"

I could actually see around me, unlike on Friday when we were socked in with snow and clouds.

Great scenery

I just had to retake the 2,500 photo, but this time the numbers are written in dirt instead of snow.

My 2,500 mile pose

Unfortunately the climb didn't end when we got back to the PCT. We still had 651 feet to climb, but then we go down to where our planned campsite is. 

We couldn't get enough of the awesome views around us.

Wow

The valley below our climb

Glacier Peak

We planned on camping at mile 2503.3, but we got there too early to stop so we hiked on for 1.27 more miles. 

So here we are. Well, just Brad and I. We are sad that Share Bear isn't here, but are happy that we are back on trail after not knowing what was going to happen. We are camping just under 5,000 feet, so it will be a chilly night, but I'm sure I will sleep well. Until tomorrow...

Home for the night