Another late start – early finish day, it seems as if I’m building up some fatigue by now. On reflection, I had been pushing since trail days without an awful lot of rest. I had needed to push a bit if I was going to see the end of California, most of Oregon, and still catch up to a point where I could make the northern terminus before the snow. I left camp at 9 am, and within the first hour I knew I wasn’t well rested. The trail took me around the side of Mt Daniel above Hyas Lake, then climbed up the Cle Elum River to Deception Pass. As I was filling water at Deception Creek, I decided I’d better get to Leavenworth sooner rather than later so that I could have at least a couple of zero days to rest. I followed the trail around the lower slopes of Mac Peak to the Deception Lakes trail junction. From here, I left the PCT and headed down a shortcut route which would allow me to cut 10 miles and get to Leavenworth tomorrow morning.

When I woke up this morning, there was smoke in the valley again. The haze made the sunrise look quite good on the mountains above, but I could smell it in the air, and it probably didn’t do me much good while I slept.

As I walked around the side of Mt Daniel, I could just see through the smoke to the valley below. The mountains on the other side, visible yesterday, were now lost in haze. I crossed a stream on the way and saw layers of smoke hanging in the air.

I covered my face with a damp bandana as I walked through the forest. On the climb I was breathing heavily and although a bandana isn’t ideal, it seemed to work better than nothing. The smoke was visible in the air and the sunlight looked cool coming down through the trees. Overall I felt lucky the smoke wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

After reaching Deception Pass, the smoke improved quite a lot. I was able to see over the valley to the Blue Ridge mountains on the other side. Looking back where I’d come from, mountains were layered in the smoke.

As I walked this afternoon, I was working out how many days I would need for the coming sections. At my realistic pace, it would take 7-8 days to complete section k to Stehekin, then another 8-9 days to reach the northern terminus and return to Harts Pass. A couple of days rest might help improve my pace, but it could also cause me a big time crunch at the end of the trail.

For the first time, my plan for the trail’s end had crystalized. To guarantee my time at the terminus, I would leave the trail at Deception Creek, head to Leavenworth to rest, and then skip ahead to Stehekin to start my final section. Having such a clear vision for the final leg felt truly surreal.

After leaving the PCT, the trail became much less worn. There was a deep loam on the surface, the ground was soft to walk on and I really felt like I was in the backcountry. I walked down through rich forest for several hours before making camp near Fisher Creek where it joins Deception Creek.