Washington is hard.

/ carrot quinn

Snoqualmie pass. 268 miles from the end. Hiking through cold fog, torrential downpours, camping in damp valleys, everything is wet from the night before, the mountains are dark and there is no moon. Pulling my soaked sleeping bag over my cold core and shivering, trying to get warm. Eventually my body heat dries my sleeping bag a little and I sleep. Broke, hungry, and the rain won’t stop. Eating stale trailmix in the rain in my clammy rain jacket, just trying to get done. Flirting with hypothermia. Learning about myself. Waking up with some sort of crud but I’ve got to hike anyway, I’ve got to get done. There’s no time/money/reason to stop anymore, no meaning in the pauses between hiking, just go go go until it’s done. Wish me luck on these last eleven days.

28 thoughts on “Washington is hard.”

  2. Less than 2 weeks to go. You’ve already nailed this thru hike, you’ve toughed it out time and again. Hang in there. Be very wary of hypothermia, other than that it’s all just discomfort.

    All the best. And Bravo!

  5. It’s hard to believe, from a reader’s standpoint, how much you’ve accomplished already! You’re so close, stay focused and healthy! I’m rooting for you!

  7. Agree …. watch for hypothermia which can really take you down. Your hiking for fun; no pay, so pace it w/o serious risk. You can do it!

  9. You’re almost there. Hang in there. I can’t wait for you to fill in the blanks in your adventures. We were hoping to run into you on the PCT west of Bend, Oregon in August—we were at PCT mile 2000 August 15th—it would have been a trip to run into you all because I’ve been following your blogs for a couple of months but we had to keep going. Good luck.

  10. Hi carrot, we are all sending you energy!! go, go go, Colette and various students

    On Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 11:48 AM, CARROT QUINN

  11. There is a place, about eleven days from here , where you have just finished walking and you feel great. This life must suit you as despite all the hardships you are looking pretty damn good. I have loved this past six months following you and shall miss you when you start sitting down in your warm little trailer in Portland. I look forward to reading the book and the missing posts. Thankyou.

    On Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 7:48 PM, CARROT QUINN

  12. Keep it up, Carrot! It’s hard as hell but worth it. Try to find little bits of pleasure amidst the hardest days and focus on those – the berries, a good friend, not needing to carry so much water, the beauty of the wet ferns, etc.

  15. Carrot! I love seeing your pictures and recognizing every little place and sometimes even the tree! I was just up near mt baker, and the weather was beautiful and I was happy for you. maybe just maybe i’ll see you out there near highway 20, but what are the odds really? You might already be past there. I remember the last few weeks, and Alex was feeling entirely done and I was a little done and a little sad to be done. We had it really stormy near glacier peak. It got very difficult to keep our sleeping bags dry, but try as best you can! I think the trails will be better for you, and you have the warm light of the Steheiken Bakery. Which does cost money but is entirely worth it. And once you hit Heart’s Pass, everything opens up into a high desert kind of place different than any other part of Washington. And it’s beautiful. Hit me up if you want a warm bed and shower in Seattle.

  19. You got this!! Weather is supposed to be really nice this week once the morning fog burns off. You are an inspiration!

  20. I was at Deep Lake from Aug 30th to Sept. 7th doing trail work on the two turnpikes just after you pass the river coming out of Deep Lake with the Washington Trails Association. Enjoy these turnpikes and brushing we did up to Cathedral Rocks. I was hoping to see you fly by. While we were there, I asked thru hikers if you had come thru and they all said you were behind them. It was a very wet, week with lots of thunder and lightening shows at night. As we finished up our fabulous dinners we would offer passing thru hikers some of our leftover food. I remember JOT took the record for downing eight bowls of cream of broccoli soup. That soup wasn’t our favorite, but for him, it hit the spot. I ended up hiking out to Stevens Pass on the 7th which was raining and cold with Heather, a Swedish thru hiker. We got to the Pass early morning on the 8th. I took the Amtrak bus back home and Heather was going for a zero at the Dinsmores so he could pick up his PO package and continue on to Canada. The weather is now warm and sunny for a few days so you should be able to blast through to the end before the snows hit. When I finished the PCT in 2008, it snowed on me on August 31st at Mt. Jefferson area so I did not even see those beautiful mountains.

  24. You’re nearly there, wow! You inspired me so much I just finished cycling over three hundred miles here in the UK, wild camping and carrying all my gear on my bike. It was an incredible adventure and I often thought of you. You gave me the inspiration to do it and to power through. Thank you Carrot! Enjoy your last days on the trail.

  25. wow, wet sleeping bag from the night before is Rough rough rough. But you can do it! Can’t wait to hear about all the adventures. You are AMAZING!

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