Crossing into Washington state when you're on the northbound Pacific Crest Trail, or NOBO, is a milestone–a damn smile-stone. Crossing the Bridge of the Gods with no proper pedestrian path is akin to Frogger. But once across, you might have the urge to fling your arms up to the sky and shout a victory hoot. After replenishing your supplies in town you hit the trail again, and that's when Washington hits, and hits hard. The conditions and terrain change fast. Just when you're ready to call it quits, the next peak comes into view, coaxing you north. Alone in your tent? You wonder if you'll survive the cold that night, kicking yourself for not setting out a month earlier. You fall asleep imagining your trail family is camped out in tents beside yours. But some of them pulled the pin on the trail days earlier. And you're left missing them like a phantom limb.

Let's get into it.

Washington's nickname is the Evergreen State. Doesn't that sound inviting? Cozy even? Sweet, like a week at summer camp? Well, Washington is no laughing matter.

Washington has serious weather, active volcanoes, not to mention creepy lore about UFOs, Bigfoot, globs raining down on towns, teen vampires and werewolves and the all-too-real-serial killers. This is where all that subreddit-binging catches up with you. What seemed entertaining in the safety of your bedroom, funny even, alone on the trail, far removed from population center, those stories flood your imagination. Add a little fog, the cries of an owl, not spotting another hiker for a few miles, and the trail can feel brutal and endless.

Show Sources and Materials

I just hiked 90 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail on McDoubles, GorillaTaco, YouTube

Pacific Crest Trail Horror Stories 2024, HalfwayAnywhere.com

Discovering the Spooky Side of Washington: Haunted Hikes in the Pacific Northwest, Pacific Adventure Club

A 'haunted hike' brings a Washington disaster to life, Courtney Flatt, Northwest Public Broadcasting

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Washington Ghosts of the Pacific Crest Trail