A thru-hiker known as Too Short has wrapped up the final leg of a northbound Pacific Crest Trail hike, rolling into Seattle a few days after reaching the northern terminus. The Washington stretch took roughly two weeks — shorter than planned, because fire closures forced the hiker to skip about half the state — but it still earned its own send-off as one of the trail's strongest sections.
The route from Mount Adams through Goat Rocks, Chinook Pass and on to the terminus delivered some of the best scenery of the entire hike. Our writer goes as far as saying Washington gives the Sierra Nevada a run for its money on vistas: Rainier and Adams looming on the horizon, knife-edge ridge walking in Goat Rocks (sketchy in places thanks to a rockslide on Old Snowy), green tunnels under towering conifers, and crystal ponds scattered along the way.
Autumn added its own colour. Larches — a conifer most people don't realise turns yellow — were flaming gold near the end, with red and orange meadow bushes alongside. The smaller stuff impressed too: mushrooms, mosses and lichen everywhere, plus pikas chirping in the rock fields, elk bugling in the distance and mountain goats grazing below the trail. No bears, though one scary-sounding large cat got spooked off.
Conditions were the flip side. Rain was near-constant — in it, waiting it out, or racing to town ahead of it — and late-season cold turned wet gear into a genuine safety issue rather than just a nuisance. It snowed near the end, and the final morning brought frost so heavy the hiker found a snowball inside the tent. Valleys stayed mild; the mountains were frigid.
Trail conditions, oddly, were the best of the whole 2,600-mile route: less brush, fewer blowdowns and a well-maintained corridor, even if the treadway itself pooled water in all the dips. Towns were sparse and functional — remote Trout Lake, a gas station at White Pass, single-street Snoqualmie and the laid-back, hippie-ish Mazama, the only one worth lingering in. Most were quick resupply stops rather than destinations.
The social side carried its own flavour. After losing a week to a cold, the hiker fell in with what felt like the last stragglers of the northbound class — the ones doing the mileage maths to stretch out their hikes while still finishing before the weather turns. Conversation shifted away from daily stats toward scenery, chance encounters and home.
Why care? If you've ever dreamed of hiking the PCT's Washington sections, this is a realistic preview: world-class ridgelines and fall larch colour on one hand, soaking rain and early snow on the other. Late September into October is gorgeous but cold, and fire closures can reshape your route any given year. For day hikers and section hikers, Goat Rocks in good weather is the clear standout — bring layers, expect mud, and don't count on towns for much beyond a bed and a resupply box.
The full finale write-up is still to come from the hiker, who plans to return one day to hike the closed miles they skipped. Credit: The Trek.
