I returned to the trail on a drizzly day – heavy gray sky, and trees that dripped like rain. It seemed fitting; the day I left in July had identical weather.

There is something magical about hiking in the rain, as long as I’m able to keep dry under my rain jacket. It feels almost illicit. Because there I am, miles from any solid shelter, walking straight into the depths of the vast wilderness during a time when convention calls the weather “poor” or “bad” or any of a dozen similar things, as if the weather is something other than a fact.

The trees were woven through with mist, and it was nearly impossible to tell when the rain paused, because the trees continued to drip long after the sky stopped. And the colors! It’s easy to see why we say that things can be saturated with color just like they can be saturated with water, because in the forest, it’s the same thing. Everything soaked wet is also vibrant. Emerald green and crimson red leaves, trees all shades of golden brown and deep ash.

I set up camp early that first day, throwing my tent up around 3pm in between fits of rain. The campsite was gorgeous – a tiny island of solid ground in the middle of a marshy meadow next to Twilight Lake. I spent the evening reading, and the next morning, I woke to rays of sun. I unzipped my rain cover and lay for awhile in the comfort of my sleeping bag, watching the mist burn off the lake.

The next couple of days were just as glorious. I crossed paths with dozens of NOBO hikers each day, all of them telling me that Washington was their favorite part of the PCT. I didn’t meet a single other person walking south. There was also surprisingly frequent cell service in this section.

I also got exactly what I was hoping for: an abundance of berries, and the most glorious autumn foliage. Hiking like I did this summer, I’ve gotten to experience all the best parts of what the trail in Washington offers. I got to experience the trail in the early summer days, when slopes were still jagged with snow and ice, and the hillsides were blanketed with wildflowers. And now that I’m back on trail, I get to see the other side of the hiking season – leaves flaming with color, and as many berries as I can eat. Bookends of the summer, each just as incredible as the other.

Let me leave you with a few more photos of these first days back on trail.