Congratulations to Joseph Jamison who is a Hiketri-cities reader. Joe served our country in Afghanistan and is in the Army at Ft. Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma. He came to the great Northwest to enjoy hiking in the Cascade Mountains.
One of the most memorable trips of my life!
A beautiful day on Joe’s 15 day hike!
He just finished a dream hike from Mount Hood to Mount Rainier on the Pacific Crest Trail. Joe contacted me about a good camping spot at Wood Lake (from our scout troops high adventure two summers ago, click here for more on that hike). I’m not sure if Joe found the spot at Wood Lake, hopefully he’ll fill us in on that in the comments on this post. Joe covered about 220 miles in 15 days. Joe reports about 15 miles a day with a full pack. He also reports the total elevation gain during his journey was 38,727 feet (I imagine he carried a GPS).
Joe’s pre-trip pile of supplies and food
Joseph finished up at Paradise on Mount Rainier.
Paradise on Mount Rainier
He then took the train back to Portland.
Hopefully, we’ll get the chance to hear from Joe in a guest post here on hiketricities.com! Way to go, Joe!
I am originally from the PNW, I spent my late teens and early 20’s in Vancouver Wa hiking around Mount Hood, Indian Heaven, Eagle Creek and Mount St Helens. Then after 16 years in the Army I was stationed at FT Lewis WA, so I spent 3 years hiking around Mount Rainier, So While I was in Afghanistan I came up with the idea to hike from Mount Hood where I grew up Hiking, to Mount Rainier where I was currently hiking, to physically connect to two and really get to know what was in-between. I had never really spent much time around Mount Adams and had never been to the Goat Rocks so those two areas would be the highlight of my trip, even more than I had even realized at the time of my planing. I spent a year and a half collecting new lightweight gear, and doing research (to include contacting Paul for Camp site recommendations). I had never done a hike of this magnitude before, the longest I had ever hiked was maybe 40 miles, so I was very meticulous in my research. I planned out every mile, campsite location, daily calorie intake, resupply points, points of interest, geocaches and even areas where I expected cell reception. In early February 2014 I got notice that the Army was moving me to FT Sill Ok in March. So in the middle of my planing I had to move halfway across the country away from where I planned to hike, to an area of very little hiking trails. I did training hikes in 100+ temperatures on roads in the FT Sill Training area to get ready physically. I saved money and planned for time off from work to fly back to Oregon where my parents live to do this hike. Everything worked out and I was able to continue on with my plans. I will do a full write up in the coming days and weeks of my full hike and share it with Paul so he can post it here. Just too much to share in a reply. This hike literately changed my life, so I want others to know that it is possible to do something like this. It’s also worth noting that I was one of the youngest guys on the trail at the age of 41, most Section and many thru hikers were 15-25 years my Senior.
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Thanks to Joe for this wonderful description of why hiking is so awesome! Glad you had a great hike in the Pacific Northwest, Joe. We look forward to a full report and we’ll post it here on hiketricities.com