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 (@annamckinneysmith) and TikTok (@magicinthemountains) for daily vlogs!

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

Day 154: September 8, 2025

Location: Northern Washington
Start: Tentsite – 2592.0
End: Brush Creek and Tentsite – 2612.6
Miles: 20.6
Ascent: 3722 | Descent: 3808
Sleep: Tent

Today was a great day on trail! We were up and moving around our normal time and hiking by 8am. It’s been nice to sleep a little longer compared to when we were doing so many miles in NorCal and Oregon. I like not feeling rushed to leave the campsite in the mornings (but I still wake up to an alarm).

The trail had us going uphill at a gentle grade for the first couple of miles to Rainy Pass. I was confused when I arrived because there was caution tape everywhere and an obvious detour. Apparently the USFS just started paving the parking lots at the pass, so the trail was rerouted down the road rather than going to a parking lot. There were cars parked all along the shoulder of the road. Thankfully there was good signage and it was easy to follow the reroute back onto the trail. It came out just behind the pit toilets which I used and then continued climbing towards Cutthroat Pass.

The next several miles to the pass were all uphill, but it was so of the smoothest grading of the entire trail. I crossed multiple trickling creeks that were dotted with moss covered boulders. The trail was mostly shaded by towering evergreens and I felt right at home and happy.

A few miles from the top I stopped for water with Truffles and Pimento. After a short break I pushed on behind Truffles. We broke away from the treeline and the views kept getting better and better. We had started the day in foggy cloud cover but the sun came out and had mostly burned away all the lingering clouds. As we got higher, we could see the clouds hanging low in the valley below us. Cloud inversions are always so cool, and looking down into the valley we’d just hiked out of made me feel accomplished.

Around 11am we made it to the top of the pass and took the short blue blaze to the top of the ridge where Pinky, Hangman, and Pimento were relaxing at some tent sites. We sat for a while taking in the views and snacking before I went to explore some of the surrounding campsites. By the time I came back, everyone had packed up and left. I took my time getting ready to leave and tired to soak in all the beauty surrounding me. It felt like I was in a bowl lined with jagged mountains all around. Only a handful of peaks had lingering snow clinging to the ridges, but off in the distance I could see several stout mountains lined with glaciers. Some of the most dramatic summits were just on the other side of the valley and looked close enough to touch.

When I was finally ready to go, I shouldered my pack and began walking along the ridge. The trail continued to gain elevation but at a barely noticeable rate. I rounded several corners, each turn bringing more and more mountains into view. The mountains looked like sleeping giants, when in reality they were all less than 10,000’. We are hiking around 6,800’ which doesn’t seem like much compared to the Sierras. Looking around, though, and I could swear we’re back in that granite landscape.

I caught back up with the group as the trial began to descend through a series of switchbacks. We wound our way down and eventually passed a stream where we collected water and then stopped at a nearby campsite for lunch. We all ended up taking short naps in the sun after we finished eating. I got up and moving around 2:30pm and was hurried on by some ominous looking black clouds that began rolling in.

There was one final climb for the day that was short and sweet. I crested out at Methow Pass and then the rest of the day was downhill. The trail from this point on was mostly under tree cover and the afternoon went by quickly. I passed a handful of people that were sitting in the shade taking breaks, but for the most part I just kept cruising. My audiobook was a good distraction and I tired to move fast to beat the impending rain.

Swish and Box Troll caught up to me and when I stepped off trail to let them pass they asked if I wanted to hike with them. We all hiked together for the remainder of the way to the campsite chitchatting about the difference between the PCT and the AT. Box Troll did the AT in 2014 and Swish did it in 2019. Swish will complete his triple crown once he’s finished on the PCT! We talked a lot of social media and how much thru hiking has changed in the past few years. It was fun to talk to them and hear that they shared some of the same thoughts our group had been having about the different community feel out here.

About a mile from the campsite the storm finally broke and we were caught in a downpour. We stopped to throw on rain gear and kept hiking through the deluge. It even started hailing! There was thunder and lightning but thankfully we were down low. We reach the campsite and bridge and they chose to keep hiking after collecting water. I bid them farewell and went to scout for campsites in the rain. There was only 1 other tent set up when I arrived, but I figured the bad weather would have lots of people wanting to call it early. Pinky arrived and together we were able to secure the best looking campsites we could find. The only good flat spots all had deep puddles of water so we were forced to set up in some less than ideal sites.

The boys arrived soon after and we were all able to get our tents set up in the rain. Truffles and I’s site was very narrow, so much so that we couldn’t have our tent doors fully staked out. It made for interesting maneuvering in and out of the tent, but we made it work and stayed dry. The rain subsided after a while, but everything was still wet and dreary so we stayed in our tent until we were ready for bed. Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow!

Day 155: September 9, 2025

Location: Northern Washington
Start: Brush Creek and Tentsite – 2612.6
End: Tentsite – 2631.1
Miles: 18.5
Ascent: 4608 | Descent: 2274
Sleep: Tent

We stayed dry throughout the night and woke up to cloudy skies. This trail has turned me into a fair weather hiker, the thought of being out in the rain for a second day made me miserable! Putting on my wet socks and shoes this morning was painful, and I questioned how I did it time and time again in the AT.

This morning was warmer than the last and I was extra grateful since most of my clothes were wet. It wasn’t hard to get moving and I left camp ahead of Truffles. The rest of the crew had already started their days, so I hiked by myself this morning. I began climbing away from Brush Creek into a valley that seemingly went straight up into the mountains. The sun shown intermittently and I was happy to have its warmth.

I knew this was going to be the big hill for the day, but it turned out to be gargantuan. Switch back after switch back took me up from the valley floor. I climbed away from flowing water and was taken under tree cover for several miles. I didn’t think the climb was all that bad, especially when I reached Glacier Pass about halfway up the ascent. I felt strong and continued hiking, only to be dumbfounded when I rounded a corner and saw the rest of the mountain looming ahead of me.

I could see almost 10 other hikers ahead of me ascending the switchbacks. They looked like little ants climbing up towards the sun. It was demoralizing to see how much further I had to go, but I put my head down and kept going. The views outside of the trees were incredible. I could see the valley I hiked up and all the jagged peaks from yesterday. As I climbed I was no longer craning my neck to look towards the craggy summits, but instead was nearly level with them from across the valley.

The switchbacks felt steep and I went slow, justifying that the longer I took the longer I could take in the view. Eventually I crested the ridge and found a nice spot in the sun to sit and rest for a bit. Truffles caught up eventually and together we hiked towards a campsite to get water. We filled up on water and continued on along the ridge.

We got cell signal for a minute at the top of the ridge, so we took a break to play on our phone. Once we had our screen time fix, we pressed on. The clouds from the morning were still present, along with some looming darker clouds in the distance. We hiked hard to try and get lower in elevation and off the exposed ridge should a storm blow in.

It felt like it took a while, but we finally reached Harts Pass around 1:30pm. The rest of our crew was there along with Civilized, Jinx, and several other hikers I didn’t recognize. We laid out our wet tent in order to let it dry while we ate lunch. It’s crazy to believe we’re at Harts Pass because this is the trailhead we’ll hike back to after reaching the border. This road is the last road in the US before reaching Canada!

As we were finishing lunch, thunder began to rumble. Everyone packed up quickly and took off in order to try and get to camp before the rain started. Truffles and I were the last to leave and the darkening skies didn’t look promising. I threw on my pack cover in hopes that would ward off any rain.

There was a small climb out of Harts Pass but the views on the ascent were stunning. Honestly the views the rest of the day were breathtaking, even with scattered showers in the distance and the occasional raindrops. I hiked hard and didn’t take many breaks in order to try and cover ground before it started raining. The trail was cruisey and made it easy to keep a good pace.

I crossed a stream and filled up on water when Truffles caught me. Together we hiked into camp and found our friends already set up. We quickly pitched the tent just as the rain started to fall. It was short lived, but the threat of more storms kept us in our tents most of the evening. I think everyone is tired at this point and ready to be done. Only a couple more days!

Day 156: September 10, 2025

Location: Northern Washington
Start: Tentsite – 2631.1
End: Hopkins Lake – 2649.4
Miles: 18.3
Ascent: 3728 | Descent: 4079
Sleep: Tent

Almost our last day on trail! It’s wild to think that the miles we do these next few days we’ll have to repeat in order to get back to Harts Pass. It didn’t end up raining over night but it was very cold. We don’t think it got below freezing, but it was definitely in the 40s if not the high 30s. Truffles’ thermometer died so we just guess the temps at this point.

It was sunny when we got up and Truffles and I were the last to leave camp around 8am. We hadn’t gone far when we ran into Holly and Andy heading back from the border. We talked to them for a bit about how surreal it feels on the backtrack. We said our goodbyes, it’s sad to think that we’ll never run into them on trail again.

Truffles and I kept hiking and made it up and over the first ridge. All the mountains we can see in the distance are now basically in Canada (I assume). How freaking crazy to be this close! We caught up to Pimento at a creek and chatted with an older couple on their way back from the border.

Most of the people we would end up seeing today were folks I didn’t recognize, and that made me kind of sad. I remember knowing everyone we were around at the end of the AT. Even if we weren’t hiking with certain people, we still knew who was around us and the sense of community was there. I recognize maybe 5 of the 20 or so people we passed today. Where did these people come from? Everyone was nice and saying congratulations, but I still don’t feel bonded to these people. My favorite part about the AT were all the people I met along the way, but my favorite thing about the PCT has been the views. It’s hard to explain the difference between the two trails, but it felt tangible today seeing so many unfamiliar faces.

The trail trended down for the next few miles and we kept on rolling. There were tons of people heading south back towards Harts Pass. Eventually we made it down to Holman Pass and then began the long climb up towards Rock Pass. I grabbed water on the climb and it felt like it was going well until the last few miles. At this point it was nearing lunch and I was tired and hungry. I expected to find Pinky and Hangman in the large meadow campsite and was excited to eat lunch, but when I arrived they weren’t there. Pimento and I kept hiking to try and find them.

The trail continued up towards the pass and I was shocked when we still didn’t run into them. We took the steep switchbacks down after Rock Pass and then continued up the steep incline towards Woody Pass. Maybe it’s just because I was hungry, but I thought that 1.5 mile stretch was absolutely brutal! Thankfully Pinky and Hangman were waiting for us at a campsite in the shade and we were all able to relax together for a long lunch. We even took naps before packing up.

We only had about 5 miles left to do in order to make it to Hopkins Lake. We crested over the ridge and hiked along the ridge for several miles before coming to a small trickle of water. We filled up and communities on our way. Our last climb of the day was up to a viewpoint that boasted “spectacular views of the North Cascades”. The views were pretty spectacular and I was extra thankful for the clear skies in the high and explodes summit.

The trail took a series of switchbacks down and for the last mile and a half all the way to the lake. It’s going to be a pain to come back up these tomorrow… we made it to the campsite at the lake around 5:30 and quickly set up camp and got to cooking. We played several rounds of Phase 10 before calling it a night.

This is technically our last night in trail since we’ll be finished tomorrow, but the whole backtracking thing is weird. Maybe it’ll really set in tomorrow night that it’s our last night out here. I feel like I should be more emotional and maybe I will be tomorrow, but right now I just kind of feel like “yeah I did it” without anything else. Maybe there’s a sense of pride and accomplishment, but for the most part I’ve just been eager to be done. I’m ready for this adventure to end and to move on to something else. It’s been spectacular seeing these amazing places, but I think I’m ready to see similar stuff on shorter trips rather than another multi month adventure. Maybe I’m just tired and jaded and will feel differently after I’ve had time to let this hike settle. Either way, Canada tomorrow!

Day 157: September 11, 2025

Location: Northern Washington
Start: Hopkins Lake – 2649.4
End: Canada – 2655.8
Miles: NOBO 6.4, SOBO 14.7
Ascent: 117 | Descent: 2140
Sleep: Tent
Slackpacked

We did it! Today honestly just felt like another day on trail with a really long interlude at the monument. Maybe it will feel different tomorrow when we’re actually getting off trail?

The morning started like any other. We wanted to try and leave around 6:30am so naturally we actually left around 7am. It was all downhill to the monument so it was easy to get going. It felt like once we had momentum we could just roll all the way to Canada.

The trail was easy and very wooded. One thing we’ve talked a lot about recently was how different Washington was compared to what we were expecting. All the locals we’ve talked to has said that the western part of the state is the really wet and rain forest looking area that I imagined. The eastern part is the state is very dry, and we’re walking in the Cascade mountains which divides the state. There has been moss and mushrooms but it hasn’t been as dramatic and rain-forest-like as I thought. That being said, there’s tons of evergreen trees around and that’s mainly what we were walking through on our way down.

We all hiked together but were pretty quiet for the most part. I didn’t have as many emotions as k was expecting, and honestly I thought a lot about our last day on the AT. It really hasn’t sank in that we’re finishing the trail today. As we were heading down we passed a handful of people coming back up. The only people I recognized were Wildflower and Snapshot.

The 6 miles went by quickly and before long we could see the cut in the trees that ran along the ridge separating the US and Canada. That meant we weren’t far from the terminus! We took a couple more switchbacks down and rounded a corner and BOOM there it was! There was already a decent crowd gathered around and they began to cheer as we walked up. We all walked straight to the monument and laid a hand on it before moving off to the side to sit and rest.

The people hanging out at the monument were people we recognized. Rainbow and his crew were all there. More people I didn’t recognize filtered in as we took our turn taking pictures. It was surprisingly cold down in the little hole where the terminus is, and we all layered up in between pictures.

I hadn’t really expected to get emotional and I didn’t shed a single tear. It was more a sense of excitement and accomplishment that I felt, but again it still hasn’t sank in yet. We hung out at the monument for over an hour before we all got cold and wanted to get moving again. Truffles decided to sit and take it all in for a while longer, so we made plans to meet back up at the lake.

Pimento left first and Pinky, Hangman, and I followed shortly after him. I quickly left Pinky and Hangman behind and hiked by myself back to the lake. It was around 10:30am when I started heading south, and I passed tons of people on their way down to tag the border. It made me sad that I didn’t recognize most of them, many of the I don’t think I’d ever even seen before. I recognized Scout Master and talked to him for a bit along with Hot Dog and Little Wolf, but the majority of people were strangers. We all said “congratulations” in passing but I still was kind of bummed by the lack in connection I’ve felt in this trail and lack of community.

I made it back up to the lake and found Pimento back at the tents. We had slack packed down to the monument and only taken our packs, layers, and food. We’d left the tents standing with all our sleeping gear inside. I packed up the tent and started cooking lunch as Pinky and Hangman arrived. We all ate lunch and sat around resting waiting for Truffles.

Eventually around 3pm Pimento got tired of waiting and heading out. Thankfully Truffles arrived shortly after and we hiked out behind Pinky and Hangman. It sucks to have to repeat miles back to Harts Pass, but going in the opposite direction has been beautiful! And it’s been nice to know what was coming in terms of the terrain. I thought the hike after the lake would feel so much worse because of the steep switchbacks, but it honestly wasn’t bad. The views along the way were spectacular looking out towards the north cascades. I was reminded what an absolute blessing it’s been to be out here and see these incredible places.

Truffles and I talked intermittently about how we were feeling, what our favorite parts have been, what we’ll miss, and general sentimental stuff. The steepest part of the day was the mile and a half back up the ridge from the lake and we talked about how gnarly this section would be in the snow. Once we made it up too it was cruisey miles for a ways. We stopped to filter water and caught up to Pinky and Hangman. They hiked on and Scout Master, Hot Dog, Little Wolf, and their crew rolled up while we were filtering. We talked for a while before continuing on. We were all planning to camp at the same campsite and while it was large I wanted to get there to ensure we had decent campsites.

We hiked back over Woody Pass and then began the winding switchbacks down before beginning the long ascending switchbacks to Rock Pass. We passed a handful of people hiking north and said congratulations and tried to get out of their way. We kept joking that at this point we’re just day hikers and the real thru hikers have the right of way.

The switchbacks up to Rock Pass were extremely long and we could see where we were headed the whole time. Halfway up we caught back up to Pinky and Hangman and they were chatting with 100 Grand. We talked to him for a while about how we were all feeling and it was so good to run into him again. After we wished him well and sent him north we finished out the switchbacks and then put the hammer down to get into camp. It was all downhill from Rock Pass and the views were spectacular! It’s amazing all those great views were at our backs yesterday.

We arrived at the campsite right at 7pm. Pimento was already set up along with nearly a dozen other tents. There is a large trail crew stationed here so they were taking one good chunk of room. Some problem had slack packed from here so their tents were still standing, and people were filtering in at the same time we were. Thankfully we found decent spots and were able to get set up before more people crowded in.

We cooked dinner as it grew darker. It’s chilly so we were all layered up, but I’m glad we hung out for a while eating together rather than just hurrying to get in our tents. It’s hard to believe this is our last night on trail. I wish we had gotten to camp earlier so that we could have hung out more, but it is what it is. We all hung out until it got dark enough to need our headlamps. Tomorrow we’ll make the final trek back to Harts Pass and try to hitch to Mazama. I really can’t believe it’s over!

PCT Day 158: September 12, 2025

Location: Northern Washington
Start: Tentsite & Spring – 2641.1
End: Harts Pass – 2625.2
Miles: SOBO 15.9
Sleep: Tent

Our last day on trail and it ended up being a weird one… we woke up before the sun around 5:30am in order to try and get an earlier start to crank out our last miles of the trail. It was foggy and cool when we broke down the tent, and Truffles and I were the last the leave around 7am. The hike out of the campsite was beautiful with the mountains surrounding us and the foggy swirling around the peaks. We had a short hike down to a water source where we caught up with Pinky, Hangman, and Pimento. Civilized was also there and we hiked with him down to Holman Pass.

From the pass we began climbing upwards and Truffles and I took our time behind the rest of the group. The ascent was mostly shaded and it felt like it went by quickly. It’s strange to be repeating a section of trail because there are parts that I remember and parts that felt completely new. Maybe my memory just isn’t as good as it should be!

We got to the top of the first climb, but my limited memory thought it was the end of climb. I was mistaken and spent the next couple hours angry and confused as to why we were still going up. At this point in the day we were also passing a lot of people heading towards the monument and it felt like it was hard to get momentum because we were having to stop so often. This ended up being nice because it was fun to congratulate people and see old friends. We ran into D&D and talked to them for a while along with Jubilee and her husband and Crampa.

We finally cleared the actual top of the hill and began descending. We made it to the campsite we stayed at a couple nights ago and stoped for water at the nearby creek. This would be the last time we’d have to filter water! We hiked along a rocky section and then the trail mellowed out. We were passing through wide open meadows with long range views of the Cascades out beyond us. The trail hugged the contour of the mountain and kept winding in and out so that it felt like it went on forever. This section was also uphill, but the grade was gentle and we hardly noticed we were still climbing. At this point we’d caught up to Pinky and Hangman and hiked with them for the rest of the way.

When we reached the trailhead for Slate Pass we knew we didn’t have far to go! Yesterday and all this morning the hikers heading north kept telling us about the “epic trail magic” waiting for us at Harts Pass. We were promised couches, astroturf, StarLink, brisket, and homemade marina sauce. It all sounded too good to be true and we tried to keep our hopes low as we neared the parking lot. Truffles also thought it would be fun to trade packs for the last mile, so I wore his pack and he wore mine. Turns out his pack is significantly lighter than mine…

We arrived back at Harts Pass just before 1pm. There was a crowd of people there already and we got in line to sign the log book. Afterwards we made our way over to the multitude of large tents set up harboring trail magic. World Class was the trail angel putting on this large production. There were indeed 3 couches and Astroturf rugs along with StarLink so that we could all connect to the WiFi and send our finish pictures to friends and family. World Class had propane generators powering a full fridge, freezer, and kitchen stove. There was a cooler full of beers and water, but no food to be found. It was lunch time and we were hungry, but we figured maybe the big hiker feed would start later. We got drinks, connected to the WiFi, and sat around with all the other hikers milling about.

We hadn’t been there long when a forest service volunteer came over and said that there were too many hikers congregating and that people needed to start moving on. Considering we didn’t have anywhere else to go we weren’t sure what to do, but the hikers who still had to touch the border hiked out and the rest of us waiting around for rides went to stand by the road. This is really where things started to go downhill. Hitching from Harts Pass into Mazama was supposed to be super easy, but it turned out to be a real struggle. It started with 7 of us trying to get a ride and quickly grew to over 20 people lined up hoping to get a ride into town. There were no cars coming or going on the road, and we all felt stuck.

At one point a car came down and pulled over to offer a single persons ride. We sent Pimento on his way and continued to wait. Several hours passed with nothing, and finally another car came and said they had room for 3. Stanto, Ryder, and Steel Toe hopped in that car, and we all continued to wait. Pinky, Hangman, Truffles, and I were next in the queue of a car would ever show up. We waited for several more hours and finally a truck drove through and offered 2 people a ride. Truffles and I hopped in since we were always the last of our group to get hitches the entire trail.

The gentleman giving us a ride were camping in the area for the weekend and had picked up another older hiker who was sick. They were all from Seattle and we talked about the city, our hike, and other traveling for the hour ride into Mazama. I was so thankful to be making our way towards town! We ended up waiting almost 4 hours for a hitch.

We were dropped off at the general store/bakery around 5:30pm. Pimento was there along with a handful of other hikers. The store closed at 6pm so we rushed into get some snacks before walking over to Lion’s Den hostel. The hostel is definitely very AT like which made us feel right at home. We got to meet Mary/Lion who gave us a tour of the property. There was a large space to camp, laundry, showers, port-a-potties, and a huge hiker hang out area with some nice tents for shade. There were even loaner clothes for laundry and loaner bikes to ride back into town. We set up the tent and then borrowed some bikes to go to the single restaurant in town.

Pimento, Truffles, Steel Toe, and I ended up eating dinner with Jaba and Handstand. Pinky and Hangman were still waiting for a ride at Harts Pass. We ate and got drinks to celebrate the end of the trail, then rode the bikes back to the hostel. We got a text from Hangman that they’d finally gotten a ride around 8:30pm and were heading down into town. We stayed up to wait for them and then headed to bed once they arrived.

All in all today just felt weird. The actual hiking was great and it felt awesome to finish, but our experience at Harts Pass just put a big damper on everything. I’m so glad we all made it to town, but not we have to figure out how to get to Seattle. Our planned ride fell through, but hopefully it’ll work out tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to sleeping in a bed and taking a shower!