Pacific Crest Trail Hikers at Cascade Locks

Spent more time last night and this morning chatting with the fascinating Pacific crest Trail hikers we’re staying at our campground in cascade locks. There was:

Juice - A 26-year-old woman from so named because of her tendency  to spill the juice from her canned tuna fish when she opened it. This morning she boiled the coffee she was making and spilled it all over the picnic table.

Water Rope - This was the 19-year-old Austrian  kid i had dinner with last night. He was so named because not knowing the English word hose, he referred to it as a water rope. Water rope left camp well after dark last night to hike over the bridge of gods and into Washington. He said he wanted to wake up in Washington.

Yes Man - Did not meet him but he reportedly is a real laid-back kid of Asian descent from the San Francisco Bay area who is very agreeable to anything.

No Man - An Asian man in his 20s from Phoenix Arizona. Despite the fact that he is much taller than Yes Man and bears no physical resemblance To him aside from the fact they are both Asian, he was constantly being mistaken for for Yes Man. After Correcting many of the hikers who called him yes man, he became known as No Man,

Pizza - A man in his 20s who is so named because of his love of pizza.  No other name could’ve worked for this guy. He has pizza-related tattoos all over his body, including the ones below.

I was tempted to spend the entire day meeting and talking with the dozens of hikers to pass through Cascade locks every day.

Here are some things I learned in talking with these hikers:

1. Your trail name becomes your real name as far as other hikers are concerned.

2. Over 2000 hikers started the trail from south to north this year. Most started in April or early May. Most were young kids in their teens and 20s. The second largest demographic is retirees. By the time they reach cascade locks, many of the retirees had been forced to retire from the hike due to injury. It was all kids when I was at Cascade locks. About a third of the through hikers make it this far.

4.Everyone who made it to Cascade locks Is dealing with some form of injury – joint pain, foot pain, blisters, athletes foot, etc.

5. There is a definite hierarchy on the trail with through hikers being at the top. We need through hikers are section hikers and, the lowest form of hiker, the day hiker. When encountering a female day hike here it is common for a through hike to say he smells perfume.

6. through hikers average between 25 and 30 miles a day. Rest days are called zero days. They are generally on the trail 12 to 13 hours a day.

7. When in close proximity to a town, the hikers or a designee will generally hitch a ride into town for supplies. The longest they go without replenishing supplies is about six days.

8. All of the hikers are at some kind a crossroads in their life. Just finishing high school, just finishing college, changing jobs, Going through a divorce, retirement, etc.

9. All of the hikers are very familiar with the book and the movie, wild. Some say it was their inspiration to hike the Pacific crest Trail. Others were dismissive of her having only hiked 1,000 miles of the PCT (about 40%).  Everyone I spoke with was also very familiar with Bill Bryson’s book about hiking 400 miles of the Appalachian Trail, a walk in the woods. By the way, juice hiked the Appalachian Trail in its entirety last summer. She Said that even though it is shorter than the PCT it is more physically demanding.

10. The Pacific crest Trail could be called the love hike. Romances among kids break out all over the place over the course of 2650 miles of walking.

11. There is a tremendous amount of drama among the small groups of hikers. Sources of drama include competition for leadership roles, disagreements Over when and where to rest, what to eat,  romance-related issues, pace, etc. some people treat the hike as a race.

12. Just about everyone I spoke with had a lot of interest in bicycle touring and what I was doing. Most expressed a desire to do a bicycle tour at some point.

13. There are “trail angels” who assist hikers by bringing food and water to the trail, occasionally supplying lodging, etc.

These guys make me feel like a slacker. Below is a picture of a couple of PCT hikers getting ready to hit the trail this morning.