This post originally appeared on The Trek, which you can read here.

If you want to see more from my 2025 PCT thru hike, make sure to check out my Instagram (@annamckinney22) and TikTok (@magicinthemountains) for daily vlogs!

*these posts are coming straight from trail, I apologize in advance for typos!*

Day 133: August 18, 2025

Location: Southern Washington
Start: Tentsite – 2185.3
End: Red Mountain Lookout – 2204.3
Miles: 19.0
Ascent: 4993 | Descent: 1684
Sleep: Cowboy

A shorter day on trail but it held a lot of climbing! Our plan in Washington is only to do about 20 miles a day. Secretly I’m hoping we can do more, but so far this seems to be a good fit. We all decided to try and get moving early since we knew we had a big hill out of the gate and wanted to try and get it done before it got hot.

Our goal was to leave around 6:30am. I woke up around 5am and couldn’t believe it was still dark! It remained dark until nearly 6am, I guess I’m just in disbelief that the summer is slowly started to end and the days are getting shorter again.

Pinky and Hangman were the only ones to actually leave on time, Truffles and I didn’t get moving until almost 7am and were just behind Pimento. We had a nearly 10 mile climb that took most of the morning. There were steep sections but it was mostly a gentle grade and wasn’t too bad after the first few miles.

We had expected it to be hot today, but it was actually quite chilly with a constant breeze and perpetual cloud cover. Fog rolled in the higher we climbed and I was cold when k wasn’t moving. It looked like it could downpour at any second, so I hiked with my pack cover on. The trail was super green and lush and with the fog I felt like we were back home in the Smokies.

I caught up to Pimento and we hiked together for a while before also catching Pinky and Hangman. Truffles was behind after stopping to sig a cat hole, so the 4 of us hiked together and slowly made our way up the mountain.

We kept a decent pace and made it to the top around 11am. From there it was a short descent to a campsite by a spring. We stopped there to filter water and eat some snacks. As we sat our swear made us cold so it was a super comfortable break, but it felt good to not be hiking for a moment. My pack has felt so heavy because of my enormous food bag. Supposedly I only had 4 days of food, but somehow my food bag is never getting smaller and it weighs a ton.

When we were too cold to sit, we started moving again. Truffles and I were in the back and we hiked for less than an hour before we walked up on the rest of the group having lunch at a campsite. We ate and hung out for almost an hour, it feels good to be with friends again! We all laid up during lunch and I hiked out with my jacket still on, it was that chilly!

We hiked another few miles and then Truffles and I stopped to take photos with the 2200 mile marker. It’s crazy to believe that at this point we’ve hiked further than we did on the AT but have been out here less time. We caught up with the others a trailhead where there were picnic tables and a pit toilet. We sat down and took a load off for a while and chatted with other hikers as they passed by.

Eventually we rallied ourselves and set off to tackle the last few miles on the trail. It was mostly uphill but was manageable. We stopped for water at Green Lake where one FarOut comment compared drinking the water from the pond to drink your own urine. In typical fashion the comments were grossly over exaggerated and the water was fine. We just had to walk out on a log to find a clear place to scoop from since there was a lot of grass and algae.

We filtered water and loaded up for our dry campsite. Pimento had found a fire tower off the trail and we agreed it would be a great place for sunset. We left the PCT and took Indian Racetrack Trail and headed towards the Red Mountain tower. It was only about a 2 mile side trail but I’m still shocked we did it since most of the time we can’t be bothered to go off trail.

The last mile or so of the blue blaze felt like it was straight uphill and was definitely the steepest grade we’ve climbed in a long time. It felt like we were never going to get there, but finally we made it to the gravel road and up to the tower. The tower itself was locked but we could walk out on the porch. There was an awesome view of Mount Hood behind us and then Mount Saint Helen, Mount Rainier, and Mount Adams in front of us.

We cooked dinner under the tower as the winds picked up. The only bad thing about this plan is how cold it’s going to be tonight since we’re so exposed. We all chose not to set up camp on the tower’s porch because of how bad the wind was, but Pimento wanted to brave it for himself. Truffles and I found hole somewhat out of the wind that’s just big enough for us to cowboy camp, and Pinky and Hangman set up their tent close to the tower.

After dinner and setting up we all gathered to watch the sun set near Mount Saint Helen. The clouds form earlier in the day had moved on and it was mostly clear with some weird clouds forming around the taller volcanic peaks. According to Hellbender it has something to do with the aliens being attracted to the volcanoes… we watched an epic sunset and tried our best or stay out of the wind. Once the sun was down we all scurried away to our shelters for the night with hopes of staying warm. Excited for sunrise in the morning!

Day 134: August 19, 2025

Location: Southern Washington
Start: Red Mountain Lookout – 2204.3
End: Trout Lake Creek – 2227.0
Miles: 22.7
Ascent: 2603 | Descent: 3485
Sleep: Tent

Another good day on trail! I woke up in time to see the sunrise from the fire tower. Truffles said he’d rather sleep and so it was just Pimento and I watching the sunrise. Pimento slept on the fire tower so he was tucked up in his sleeping bag, I tried to stay out of the wind. Pinky popped her head out of her and Hangman’s tent to catch the tail end of the sun coming up. The colors were beautiful and it was especially dramatic coming up over Mount Adams.

We all decided to sleep a little later so I crawled back into my sleeping bag. When my alarm went off almost an hour later I had a hard time getting up. When I finally did, though, I discovered that everything was absolutely soaked. We had cowboy camped in a small grove of trees to try and get out of the wind, but the condensation overnight was horrible. I doubt our stuff would have been much more wet if it had actually rained. Packing up wet gear is sad, but thankfully it looked like it was going to be a bright and sunny day so we knew we could dry out our stuff during lunch.

The other exciting discovery this morning was when Truffles went to pack up his food bag and found a bunch of mouse poop. A mouse had chewed a hike in his peanut butter and coconut oil. To add insult to injury, the mouse left a ton of little turds in his pot. It was hilarious and ridiculous especially on top of all our soaked gear. Thankfully Truffles was a good sport about it and did his best to sanitize the pot before swearing to not use it until after a deep clean in town.

When we finally got rolling it was nearly 8:30am. We were the last to leave and k was worried about trying to catch back up with everyone. We hiked the 2 miles back to the PCT and began heading north around 9am. The hiking was easy and the morning miles flew by. Truffles peeled off to dig a cat hole and I hiked by myself most of the morning. I climbed a hill and then it was smooth sailing past Blue Lake and Junction Lake. I had packed out a ton of water the night before to the fire tower and didn’t have to stop and filter at all during the morning.

I finally caught up to Pinky and Hangman near Bear Lake. We hiked together to the lake where we stopped to get water around 11:30am. Pinky and Hangman went ahead and ate lunch but wanted to wait a while long. While we were sitting Truffles caught up to us. We sat around snacking and eating for a while before continuing on.

I had seen a trailhead parking lot on FarOut that looked like it would be a large sunny area to dry our Truffle’s and I’s stuff. It was about 6 miles ahead and I set my sights on the parking lot. I hiked ahead of the group and our my headphones on to listen to an audiobook. The terrain was mellow and I was able to cruise.

Just after 2pm I walked up to the parking lot. There was a cardboard sign tapped to a sign announcing trail magic. I walked up to a group of hikers and several other people all hanging out around picnic tables. I set my pack down and was offered a cold beer as Truffles hiked up. The trail angels were from Portland and trying to get ride of the remainder of trail magic they have left over from a big hiker feed the weekend before. They had hot dogs, veggies, fruit wine, and strawberry shortcake! We were so appreciative as we dug in. Pinky and Hangman walked up and eventually even Pimento showed up. We thought he had been ahead of us but it turned out he’d taken a side trail for lunch. We were all together and enjoyed chatting with a sobo named Captain Hood from Bakersfield.

As more hikers started arriving we decided it was time to hike on. Truffles and I had laid our sleep stuff out in the sun to dry, so we got that all out away and hoisted our packs. I followed Pinky and Hangman out but passed them quickly. We had originally planned on camping at Steamboat Creek which was only 6 miles away but would mean we’d have to do 7 miles to make it to the shuttle in the morning. If we did an addition 2.5 miles and made it to Trout Lake Creek, we’d only have about 5 miles to do tomorrow into town. I mentioned this to Pinky and Hangman in passing and they said they were okay going a little further.

With just under 9 miles left in the day I set off. The train was mostly flat or downhill and I felt like I was flying. I stopped a couple of times to pee and for snacks buried to move quickly. Several hours later when I arrived at the campsite it was already crowded. I found a good spot and poked around to see if there would be room for my friends. Thankfully my friends were too far behind me and they were able to get their tents put up before even more people arrived. There are probably close to 15 people camped here, which is the most hikers we’ve seen outside of trail days in a while. We all made dinner and turned in for the night. By 8:30pm it was nearly full dark. I’ll be interested to see how many of these people make it to the 8:30am shuttle to Trout Lake tomorrow!

Day 135: August 20, 2025

Location: Southern Washington
Start: Trout Lake Creek – 2227.0
End: Creek & Tentsite – 2233.1
Miles: 6.1
Ascent: 1618 | Descent: 911
Sleep: Tent

A very short hero in and out of the “town” of Trout Lake! There was a shuttle running at 8:30am and we had 5 miles to do before the road. We woke up with the goal of leaving around 6am. As we were packing up I couldn’t believe how many people were already up and moving or had already left. When Truffles and I left at 6:15am we were some of the last people to leave. Since there were so many people at the campsite last night I assume folks were worried there wouldn’t be enough room on the shuttle and wanted to get there early to secure a ride.

There was a big hill separating our campsite and the road. We climbed up and over and then had a mild descent to the road. Truffles and I talked most of the ascent so it went by quickly. We caught Pinky and Hangman about halfway up and cruised by them. We hiked through a meadow at the top and had some mild flat ground for a bit before the steep descent to the road and makeshift parking lot.

When we arrived at the trailhead around 8am there were already a lot 15 people there. We were some of the last to arrive and people were milling about anxious for the shuttle. We talked to Scout Master, Mackenzie, and Riley for a while passing the time. As we were waiting, Chris/Sprinter drove up and offered a ride to as many people as he could fit into his van. We first met Chris back in Big Bear and he’s been following the bubble up the trail ever since. He managed to squeeze 10 or so hikers into his Sprinter van!

As he pulled away, 2 pickup trucks arrived landed down with hikers. It was the shuttle bringing the hikers who stayed in town back to trail. As they unloaded we started piling in. We briefly talked to D&D as they got out of the truck and were heading back out on trail. Soon we were whisked away in the trucks. Thanks to Chris there were only 7 of us that needed a ride and we were able to split up comfortably between the two vehicles.

Peter was our shuttle driver and we talked about Trout Lake and his love for live music. The drive was about 20 minutes long and he dropped us off in front of the general store. The town of Trout Lake is super small with a post office, general store, and gas station/restaurant. The trial community is vibrant here with multiple trail angels willing to shuttle hikers and amenities galore at the store. The store had a large and shaded back yard with grass and several picnic tables. There was a charging area for hikers along with several port a potties. It looked like a perfect place to spend the day!

We didn’t waste time when we arrived and went straight in to pay for showers and laundry. There is a small campground in town that had a bathroom with flush toilets and showers, and the $2 for a shower for you a towel, shampoo, and 5 minutes of hot water. I was the first to brave the shower and misjudged my timing so that I was left sudsy and without water. I ended up having to leave the shower and finish rinsing off in the bathroom sink wrapped in my towel. I even had to rinse my hair in the sink… I’ve never felt more hiker trash. At least I was cleaner than when I arrived!

After everyone else had showered we sat around enjoying the shade and writing for the Station restaurant to start serving lunch. At 11am we walked over to get some food. I had a patty melt with potato salad and everyone else got a burger and fried. Truffles and I rushed out of the restaurant to try and get our laundry out in only to find out we missed our turn in line. This meant we’d have to do sink laundry, and I was thankful for my mini Dr. Bronners soap.

We walked back to the campground bathroom to rinse out our socks and underwear. Truffles washed his pot several more times just to make sure it was free of mouse poop. Afterwards we mailed home our goodies from train days and did a light resupply at the general store. We had a lot of excess food from Cascade Locks so we didn’t have to buy much other than snacks.

Our plan was to catch the last shuttle back to trail, but there were mixed comments about whether or not it was at 4 or 5. Either way we had plenty of time to kill. Hangman, Pinky, and Pimento found a shady spot to nap in while Truffles and I talked to Hotdog, Gandalf the Green, and Jolly. The afternoon went by quickly and soon we were rushing to pack up our stuff for the shuttle.

There ended up being 20 people signed up to go back to trail. Thank goodness for the motile trial angles who helped organize the rides! They had all of us loaded into trucks and we were heading back up the mountain right on time. There were campsites 1 more from the road, 5 miles, or 10 miles. We knew there would be a bottle neck leaving town, so we weren’t sure where we’d end up for the night.

The trail angels dropped us off and a heard of hikers hike the trail. It became obvious quickly that everyone was trying to out pace each other, and we knew we wouldn’t be fast enough to secure spots if the further sites. Rather than fighting for a site or having to sleep in a crappy campsite, we decided to call it early at the 1 mile campsite. We were setting up camp around 5:45pm and got some of the few level spots. As we cooked dinner more people filtered in and I was glad we set up when we did. Since it was early we got play several rounds of Phase 10 before calling it a night.