I continued on to Oregon, not knowing where I would end up after Mount Rainier. The original plan was to move on to Idaho and hike Borah Peak, the state's tallest point, and then proceed to Nevada. I didn’t know it yet, but everything would change after I reached Mount Rainier.
I set up camp under darkened skies and fell asleep to the slow drizzle and then to the soft downpour of rain through the tall trees. I was greeted by the Pacific Northwest the way God intended it to be. Cold, rainy, and beautiful. I ended up hiking into the next day along the Pacific Coast Trail in the rain and watched it filter through the leaves. I made my way down into Zigzag Canyon, where I took a snack break by the river.
I ran into many PCT’ers on the trail traveling in the direction of the PCT sign that pointed to Mexico. I thought about how hard it would be, whether they were walking from the Canadian border or from a long section of the trail, to keep up their spirits in the rain and try their best to avoid getting things wet while living outside for an extended period of time.
“Great weather we’re having,” one hiker said, and I had to respond with a laugh, “yeah, it’s some weather.”
I wore a rain jacket in between the pauses and the pouring of the rain, and didn’t think about climbing Mount Hood because I couldn’t even see the mountain through the thick pillow of fog looming over the surrounding wilderness. The trail was muddy, pools of water dripped down onto the top of my raincoat like mini cartoon anvils, and I couldn’t eat my ramen until I set up my tent because of the constant rain.
I thought about bears in the surrounding area. Every sign, school, restaurant, whatever had a bear on it. PWN was bear country, and I wanted to make sure I was bear aware and secured anything that smelled into a bear canister away from me and out of sight. It felt like overkill at times, but I was also met by a bear lying in the road that was killed by a driver on my way into Oregon.
The ordeal left me wanting to take it slower on the road and to enjoy every moment while I can because tomorrow isn’t promised. I made sure I was careful about everything. What I told people while traveling, and where I camped. It wasn’t about arriving at the next destination, but about ensuring that you get there safely. So I took my time before moving on to the state of Washington.