Day 2: Chinook to Stampede Pass

The trail up Blowout Mountain from our lunch spot.

The best thing about the second day on the trail was finding the best huckleberry patch I've ever tasted -- and I'm not telling you where it is. You'll have to follow me back to it in early August next year. I already have it on my calendar: "Go pick a ton of huckleberries and make pies and jams."

Near the "secret" huckleberry patch, which was passed by at least 20 hikers on August 4th alone, I met an author who was proud to tell me about the book he is writing. It will be called "How to Hike the PCT Using Your Bike and Buses." Here's how it works:

On this leg of his Pacific Crest Trail hike, he had dropped his car at Chinook Pass and then ridden his bike 66 miles to Yakima. From there, he took the bus to Cle Elum, another 60 miles. He didn't mind the $17 they charged to haul his bike, but he was surprised they made him disassemble it. "First time any bus company has made me do that," he said.

Back on the bike, he rode to Snoqualmie Pass, 30 miles of climbing. Once there, he chained up his bike and set out on the trail, a 58-mile walk in the woods that was taking him back to his car for the next section: Chinook Pass to White Pass. His pack was small, his pony tail long and his idea infectious, at least to some of us.

John and I got to figuring out the best way to do his next section, where to park the car, where to bike to, where to catch a bus. We figured the next best step for him was to park the car at White Pass, ride the bike again to Yakima, grab any bus going over Chinook Pass and hope it would slow down long enough for him to get out at the pass. Chain up the bike and walk to White Pass. Nothing could be finer.

This calculating may sound like lunacy to those who are not map and trail nerds. But for those of us with trails ever winding through our brains, this is great mental exercise. You could do this for every section of the PCT between two highways or two bus stops and then start the same thing on the Continental Trail, the Appalachian, and on and on since the trails never ends.

Or you could buy the book. Please look for "How to Hike the PCT Using Your Bike and Buses" in a bookstore near you.

I am so happy that I never thought of doing the PCT this way. I might have been crazy enough to try it.