August 8th – 13th 2025
Lisa and I road tripped out to the Nort Cascades to hike the PCT from Harts Pass to Rainy Pass section of the Pacific Crest Trail. Seven of us with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and three support hikers hiked 6 days and it was a resounding success, thanks to the meticulous planning of PassToPass.org (P2P) and the leadership of Hiro. Most of the photos were taken by AJ, who retired as a fireman and started F4 Photography.
Day 1. After meeting at Rainy Pass and some introductions we shuttled everyone up to Harts Pass and started the leisurely 5.1 miles, 934 ft gain / 618 descent hike to Grasshopper camp, where we setup camp on a ridgeline. Of course shortly after our tents were setup the wind picked up, the sun went over the horizon and the temperature dropped. Sometime in the night the clouds rolled in and we woke up to low 40s and thick fog.
Day 2. The hike was mostly down hill descending 2800 feet over 9.2 miles to the West Fort of the Methow River where camp was setup just after a wooden bridge. With 10 tents it was quite the challenge to find spots in the thick woods and a couple of tents had to be pitched very close to the trail. Sometime in the middle of the night we were woken up by a stampede of horses running across the wooden bridge – no that was not a dream. Later in the day after talking to other hikers, the horses got must have gotten loose from a camp and were running back – I guess – to where they came from. It took all of 5 minutes for me to fall back asleep, one of the benefits of long hiking days!
Day 3. After donating my trowel to the woods – I misplaced it – packed up and hiked 2400 feet to the Methow Pass arriving at the large field below the Snowy Lake in the early afternoon. The previous day a couple of people struggled with the downhill toward the end, yet today they had no problems at all. The life lesson here may be that tomorrow may bring a better day, so don’t sweat the off-day too much.
Day 4. We kept camp in the same location and used the “rest” day to hike up to the Snowy Lakes, pick blueberries and take naps. All of this leisure time is something I could get used to, it the past hiking has always meant waking up early hiking all day, wolfing down dehydrated food and crawling into the tent bone tired. The most impressive sight was watching Kosuke prepare a spaghetti dinner with fresh cooked noodles, butter, parmesan cheese, and smoked salmon. It was obviously not these guys first rodeo. Eric, who has been retired an “embarrassingly long time” has sea kayaked the length of Vancouver Island. John has been flown into the Brooks Range for multiweek backpacking trips. Kent, has backcountry skied many bowls and passes in the North Cascades. AJ hiked the PCT just a few years ago.
Day 5. The hike today was up and down for 7 miles, stopping at the last site big enough to fit our fleet of tents. Sitting around the campfire ring telling stories was the highlight of day; although I left with the trail name, Poor Judgement, so there is that.
Day 6. A short 3.5 mile hike to Rainy Pass concluded the hike. After retrieving the cars back up at Harts Pass we drove Highway 20 west to Anacortes.
Day 7. We took the ferry from Anacortes to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, rented E-Bikes and powered our way around the island. It was the first time on E-Bikes for both of us. I was judicious with the power, fearing that I would have to manually pedal the 50 pound beast back. Lisa on the other hand kept flying past me yelling, “turbo, I paid for it I am going to use it!” Maybe that should be her trail name.
Conclusion. The trip was a resounding success. The 2 level cervical fusion (ACDF) I had in October of last year felt fine and my PD symptoms are well controlled – provided of course I take my three C/L pills a day. I left seeing myself doing more hikes like this. Now it is time to start planning for the Mountains to Coast Bike Ride in Nort Carolina.