This was an exciting and fun stretch of trail!We rejoined the official PNT, had some visitors meet us along the trail, rode in a ferry, and returned to our favorite activity on the PNC so far — beach walking! We traveled through S’Klallam, Coast Salish, Suquamish, Chimacum, and Nuwhaha ancestral lands.
Day 12 – Alternate Mile 110.9 – Lucky Renee
The weather today was perfect! It was sunny and warm from dawn until dusk (and presumably beyond). Shortly into the day we switched to T-shirts — it was Renee’s first time without long-sleeves all trail. The walking was pretty flat and easy, so we made good time and could take plenty of breaks despite a late-ish start (7 am). Our lunch break was beside a gorgeous river- we both took a nap. It was also very close to a National Forest Service campground, so I took advantage of the outhouse (a rare luxury) for a bathroom break without digging! After lunch Renee spotted a four-leaf clover! This area has been crawling with clovers, and she’s had her eyes peeled the whole hike. I’ve never found one, so I’m a little jealous… We walked past a nice swimming hole after lunch where I couldn’t help but jump in and rinse myself off. Our campsite is a beautiful open area surrounded by flowers and sun. For dinner we dehydrated restaurant food from our friend Sabi’s restaurant. We have been waiting for this meal ever since we dehydrated it back in March before we left Germany for the summer. Yum! -T
Day 13 – PNT Mile 228.2 – Visitors!
Today we had to get into Port Townsend by 2pm for the post office. We had 19+ miles to hike, so we woke up early, hiked fast, and only took one break. Soon after starting, we reconnected with the official PNT! We are bummed we missed 111.7 miles of presumably beautiful trail, much of which would have been up in the mountains. Instead we hiked 114.8 miles on self-mapped alternate route in the foothills with many great views of the snowy mountains above us and the ocean below us. We met a 10-year-old boy biking from Canada to Mexico today and had fun chatting with him for a bit. And best of all, we got our first visitors on trail!! Abby and Peter, Tim’s Seattle-based siblings, and two of their friends, met us near Port Townsend for a fun night of camping. They cooked amazing hot pot for us, and we enjoyed a campfire. We’re super lucky to have family near the trail this year. Thank you Abby and Peter for your support before and during our hike! -R
Day 14 – PNT Mile 243.9 – Ferry & Beach
We took our time getting out of camp this morning. We haven’t had a day off since starting, and even though we have no plans to take a full day off any time soon, we felt like it would be nice to have a lower-mile day. More importantly, it was nice to hang out with Abby, Peter, Angela, and Zack before hitting the trail. When we did get back to hiking, our first stop was the Port Townsend Ferry. This is the only long-trail we’ve done that officially includes motorized travel for a portion of it, but swimming the 6+ miles across the Puget Sound would not be so fun… Ferries are the best! We enjoyed eating “Beyond” burgers while looking out the window, and then we went up to the deck and saw orcas in the distance (the ferry workers confirmed that’s what we were seeing). We also saw dolphin porpoises right by the boat, but the workers weren’t so excited about those. We were!
After the ferry we did a little over 10 miles of beach walking on Whidbey Island. It was hot, sunny, and beautiful out. We went for a swim and saw some sea lions. We also spotted two submarines surfacing! It seems like there is a naval base nearby. We called it a day nice and early and set up camp on the beach while we relaxed and waited for the sun to set. It was a very nice day. For dinner we had macaroni and “cheese”. Yum! -T
🍀🤞🏻👍🏻🙂 toi toi toi for the days and ways to come
There is NOTHING like Mac’n cheese when camping. Simply the best! Hike on!