It’s one of my trail traditions to blame Murphy’s Law whenever things go wrong, so I’ll not stray from that tradition here, even though in reality what happened was my own fault. (Right after I posted about being prepared, too!)

It was day zero – my Dad and I were driving up to the trail. He was joining me in this first section from Hart’s Pass, the nearest road access to the trail before the border, where we’d hike in 30 miles and tag the border, before returning to Hart’s Pass. We stopped at a taco truck in Mazama, where I got butternut squash tacos which turned out to be the actual best tacos I’d ever eaten in my life.

And then we returned to the car. I went to plug in my phone to top it off, only to realize I’d somehow grabbed the wrong charging cord. I wouldn’t be able to use my battery bank this stretch. 110 miles on 76% battery? Well, I’d make it work. I sent a frantic text to my brother Phil to add a cord to my next resupply box.

We drove up the winding road to Hart’s Pass. The campground was full (thanks Murphy). But the helpful ranger there directed us just up the hill to another parking lot, where she said we could put up our tents.

I had just gotten my tent out when I looked over at my Dad. “I think I’ve made another mistake.”

“Oh no, what?”

I held up my floppy tent poles. “Elastic cord is completely dead.”

“Let me see if I can order you more elastic for the next leg,” my Dad said, reaching for his phone, but of course there was no service.

I set to work shortening the cord and cutting off the ends until I was able to get the tent up. The thing about it was that I had mostly checked this piece of gear before leaving. I’d pulled it out to make sure everything was there, and intact, and the elastic had even bounced back a bit when I examined the tent. But I hadn’t set it up. (It works alright with the shortened non-elasticky cord now, it’s just a little more finicky.)

As starts go, it was, well, a start.

But the next morning we started hiking, and the trail was absolutely breathtaking. Stunning. Fairly gentle grade. Well defined trail. It was a dream compared to the CDT. Hiking again felt less like starting something new, and more like falling into a comfortable old routine.

There was snow on the way to the border, but I got to use both my new ice axe and microspikes, and they were AMAZING. My new favorite pieces of gear. Even Rock Pass, which we’d heard was sketchy, felt totally doable with my snow equipment. I even got to practice some self arrest techniques on a safer slope.

We made it to the border early on the third day, and I finally got to “officially” start my southbound (SOBO) hike.

With the heat wave, we were treated to a return trip with significantly less snow. In many places, it was hard to fathom the difference just a few days had made.

The above pictures are not the best before and after photos since one was taken looking up, and the other one was looking down. But this is the same hillside, just five days apart.

Side note: I’d love to add so many more pictures, but the internet I’m currently using is very limited and slow.

We made it back to Hart’s Pass where I grabbed the resupply I’d left in the car, and said goodbye to my Dad. Next stop would be the tiny town of Stehekin.