One mountain at a time.

One mountain at a time, backpacking experience.

A month of backpacking “vacation” was in Cascade Mountains of Washington state. Crossing the state on foot sounded like a crazy idea at first, but I quickly decided to go with it. Why not? Washington State was not new for me in terms of backpacking in the Cascade Mountains, and connecting the state’s borders from South to North, some 507 miles seemed exciting. Having the courage in our hearts and carrying heavy backpacks, my daughter and I embarked on a journey through the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) of Washington state.

We started the hike at the Bridge of Gods (Cascade Locks) coming from Oregon. Drivers were waving hands, greeting us as if we were triumphant conquerors of one of the longest trails in the world. It felt great and funny at the same time, because we hadn’t done much yet. That was our first 15 minutes of the month-long journey and already we felt victorious!

My beautiful daughter’s trail name was Cream. All over the trail she couldn’t stop talking about delicious food, especially made with cream: a bit of flour cooked in milk or cream adding cheese, butter, spices or poppy seeds, with peaches and blueberries. So it went. I decide my trail name to be Shani, which translates to Saturn in Astrology, because it is a very slow and tough planet. Sure enough, in comparison with my daughter I was dragging my feet - 17 miles a day was too slow for her. The planet Shani is fair and compassionate to women and children, protective against injustice, hardworking and goal oriented. I believe some of these qualities helped me to achieve my goal of reaching Canada.

PCT hikers in general are very nice, helpful, and always fun to talk to. There is something about the tough environment and difficult conditions on the PCT that makes people open minded and happy to meet others on the trail. It probably has to do with remoteness and being far from distractions of the civilized world. Some days we didn’t see a soul on the trail, other days – quite a few, as if there was a meeting arranged. On one occasion, we met a PCT hiker that was excited like a kid to get his donut with beer for breakfast. Sandy, also called a trail angel, brought all the free, tasty goodies that PCTers can only dream about. This is known as trail magic. A PCT hiker is sincerely excited to get simple things of life that we typically neglect to notice or appreciate. Things like baked goods, a shower or dry socks can bring a totally new and thrilling meaning when not having them for days. What a happy experience to get some sunshine after cold rains My favorite experience was to swim in the lakes in the hot summer day. What a happy time!

There is something that keeps striking me with the backpacking experience. We carried little food so we don’t get extra heavy backpacks. In general my backpack weighted between 15-30lb. Despite being vegetarian and limited food, in terms of health, I felt the best on the trail. Some could argue that covering on average 17 miles with 5,000 feet elevation gain per day, we needed to have a lot more protein for our health and strength. I didn’t notice that at all from my years of backpacking experience. Somehow, we were getting a lot of energy from the picturesque views, being outside at all times, drinking snow melted water, breathing pristine air, and eating blueberries and mushrooms. We were very happy and strong to hike the trail. I wonder if my daughter and I are unique with this observation.

Canada met us with the Monument 78, which welcomes visitors to Canada. There was a long, straight line of cleared trees, probably defining the border between the US and Canada. The line went from east to west on very steep mountains that made me wonder who actually performed this very tough and thorough job. My daughter mentioned, Canada looks exactly the same as the US, the forest looks identical. That reminded me that people are the only creatures in nature who create such borders and limitations in their lives. Don’t forget, we are the only ones who obey them. Chipmunks felt pretty comfortable crossing the border line between two countries back and forth, never minding of its existence. There is a lot to learn from nature.