Jordan Summers - Oregon & Washington: From the California Border to Canada

PACIFIC CREST TRAIL: OREGON & WASHINGTON

FROM THE CALIFORNIA BORDER TO CANADA

First edition 1974

Second edition 1976

Third edition 1979

Fourth edition 1986

Fifth edition 1990

Sixth edition 2000

Seventh edition 2004

Eighth edition 2020

Copyright 1974, 1976, 1979 by Jeffrey P. Schaffer and Bev and Fred Hartline

Copyright 1986, 1990, 2000, 2004 by Jeffrey P. Schaffer and Andy Selters

Copyright 2020 by Jordan Summers

Cover design: Scott McGrew

Book design: Travis Bryant

Maps: Scott McGrew

Cover photo: Glacier-cloaked Mount Jefferson is a favorite Cascades destination and stands as a landmark just a few miles beyond Russell Lake.

Frontispiece photo: Mount Winthrop, the last mountain before Canada

Opposite page: Through Indian Heaven Wilderness, Mount Adams Wilderness, and on to Canada, the PCT visits dramatic scenery.

Cover and interior photos: Jordan Summers, unless otherwise noted on page; by Dan R. Lynch

Index: Potomac Indexing LLC

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Summers, Jordan, 1951 author.

Title: Pacific Crest Trail. Oregon & Washington (from the California border to the Canadian border / by Jordan Summers.

Description: 8th edition. | Birmingham, AL : Wilderness Press, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018037053 | ISBN 9780899978444 (pbk.) | ISBN 9780899978451 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: HikingPacific Crest TrailGuidebooks. | HikingOregonGuidebooks. | HikingWashington (State)Guidebooks. | OregonGuidebooks. | Washington (State)Guidebooks.

Classification: LCC GV199.42.P3 S854 2018 | DDC 796.510979dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018037053

Published by WILDERNESS PRESS

An imprint of AdventureKEEN

2204 First Ave. S., Suite 102

Birmingham, AL 35233

800-678-7006, fax 877-374-9016

Manufactured in China

Distributed by Publishers Group West

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DISCLAIMER

Although Wilderness Press and the authors have made every attempt to ensure that the information in this book is accurate at press time, they are not responsible for any loss, damage, injury, or inconvenience that may occur to anyone while using this book. You are responsible for your own safety and health while in the wilderness. The fact that a trail is described in this book does not mean that it will be safe for you. Be aware that trail conditions can change from day to day. Always check local conditions, know your own limitations, and consult a map.

As any hiker knows, nature and our pathways into it are ever-changing; wildfires reshape whole forests and open up views, floods and landslides obliterate long-established routes, roads and trails change as new routes are built and old trails are abandoned, and businesses close. Your comments on recent developments or changes for future editions are always welcome.

While this guidebook revision has been under development for more than four years, at press time in the summer of 2020, COVID-19 is widely spread at critical levels in California, Oregon, and Washington. The Pacific Crest Trail Association is currently only recommending local, fully self-supported trips on the PCT that dont include travel to communities along the trail. Follow local regulations and maintain physical distance between non-family members. Explore the PCT locally or visit other beautiful trails near your home until its safe to travel more fully. For the latest information on PCT restrictions, visit pcta.org/covid-19.

DEDICATION

With gratitude, to the trail makers and caretakers

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

T hese precedent-setting volumes, begun nearly five decades ago by fellow hikers and authors Thomas Winnett, Jeffrey P. Schaffer, John W. Robinson, J. C. Jenkins, Andrew Husari, Ben Schifrin, Bev Hartline, Fred Hartline, Ruby Johnson Jenkins, and Andy Selters, have been invaluable to me. Their work still stands as a solid foundation for my observations.

I am grateful for the many special efforts of the professionals at Wilderness Press. Scott McGrew produced the new cartography for these books, and his work has vastly improved the usability of these trail maps. Editors Holly Cross, Amber Henderson, Kate Johnson, Ritchey Halphen, and Emily Beaumont kept me on track grammatically and guided me patiently in the direction of the readers eye whenever I needed to buy a vowel. They have a tactful way of managing the need for fewer words, more facts, and clearer descriptions. I am continually grateful to Molly Merkle for giving me the opportunity to work on these special volumes. It is due to Mollys generous efforts over the past few years that these guides are maintained in print today. I am proud to work with you all and would not have known which way to turn without you.

I am especially thankful for the kindness of trail angels who picked me up when I hitched or who handed me refreshments when I was hungriest and driest. I can only say it again: thanks for the ride; those cookies were great; sweetest watermelon I ever had; that bottle of water saved me. There are more of you than anyone can know and you are, each one, appreciated.

When friends drive long distances to meet and feast off-trail, its uniquely special. I am eternally grateful to Dave and PJ Dye; Randy and Mary Peterson; Tim Stumbles; Eddy Malik; Jodi Friedman and her crew, Matt, Kai, and Nicu; and Dan Hyland and Darlene Marcellay-Hyland. All of your rescues are fondly remembered.

Home cooking is often the stuff of dreams on the trail. But when I hike, I truly enjoy eating the nourishing and delicious dishes from Austin-based Packit Gourmet. Loren Mullins-Divino and the Mullins family hand-pack their meals in which every ingredient tastes fresh.

Many thanks to those who watched my route, alert to a lack of check-in or any signal of distress. In successive years, this important role was filled by my son-in-law, Andrew Herum; my Tahoe hiking partner, Wayne McClelland; my Sacramento hiking partner, Trig Rosenblatt; and my son and John Muir Trail hiking partner, Jason. And thanks to my friends for putting up with all of the calls I failed to make and all of the get-togethers I postponed. You were there for me while I walked north, cheering me on, tracking my daily hike, and massaging my spirits with each cheerful message. Then, while I sat at my desk writing for months on end, you would call and pick up as if I had never wandered away.

I owe much appreciation to my research assistant, Taylor Herum, for her web skills, which saved me hours of tediously valuable work. Thanks, as well, to her mother and my daughter, Ashley, for producing my first Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) blog in 2009. My son, Jason, rendezvoused with me at each resupply point throughout Northern California. I am grateful that he could and that he would. Each one was a day of stories and news, laughter, and reflection. I am thankful that my partner, Karin, could be my lifeline for all of my last-minute forgotten items needing delivery by drone, as well as for handling my ever-fluid resupply dates in an indoor voice. I would not have had the meals, the treats, or the zero-day hotel rooms without her.