[pct-l] South Washington PCT Questions

Wed May 3 13:01:25 CDT 2017

It used to be true that it was a tough hitch.  But on my second hike,I found it so easy. And it's so true that this is a super hiker friendly town. The whole town seems to have embraced hikers 
Marmot

Sent from my iPhone

> On May 3, 2017, at 10:56 AM, Paint YW <paintyourwagonhikes at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Garrett,
> 
> Trout Lake Grocery is about as hiker friendly a place as one might find off
> the trail.
> 
> The owner is widowed and lives in the house behind the store. She and her
> now deceased husband befriended short and long distance bicyclists, before
> turning their affection towards hikers.
> 
> There are 2 rooms above the store available to rent. Room A has two single
> beds and a TV with a VCR. Bedroom B has a queen size bed. I am not sure
> what accouterments are part of the furnishings in Room B as I stayed in
> Room A. Now that I think of it, a female hiker renting Room B came into
> "our" room (3 hikers shared the room) to watch movies and eat ICE CREAM, so
> Room B must be spartan in furnishings. There is a shared bathroom upstairs
> with a tub, sink and stool. The cost for either room is $25 and the owner
> didn't seem to care one way or the other how many people shared the room.
> Movies available for rent in the store are FREE to hikers that are renting
> the rooms. Also, fresh coffee is available and complimentary for hikers
> that rent the rooms starting around 6:30 am.
> 
> Downstairs, and located in the back of the store, is Room C, and is on the
> order of a typical master bedroom set up with a king size bed, big screen
> TV (not sure about a VCR) a full bathroom and access to the laundry room
> via a passageway off of the bathroom. I believe this room also rents for
> $25 and again, I don't think the owner puts a limit on how many hikers pile
> into the room. You simply cannot get more hiker friendly than that. The
> free movies policy applies to this room as well. There is also an outside
> door on the side of the building that gives other hikers access to the
> laundry room which consists of one washer and one dryer. If memory serves
> me correctly, the laundry use was part of the room rent and one only needed
> to supply their own soap and such.
> 
> Outside the store, and lying between a garage size storage building and the
> owner's house, is about a quarter acre yard of manicured grass that hikers
> are permitted to camp upon. The small "barn" has a small table and one 2
> plugged outlet for charging electronics. There is a water spigot outside
> but the location escapes me.
> 
> The store has a limited amount of "hiker like" foods, but with discernment
> one can resupply. Yogi says in her book that she does not recommend Trout
> Lake for resupply. I completely disagree with her opinion and find her lack
> of any kind of endorsement for this super hiker friendly store akin to
> malpractice, and you can tell her I said so (not that my opinion would
> matter to her). Hi Yogi !  Paint Your Wagon here- ;0) On second thought-
> don't tell her. Lol. I probably just earned myself an ass whoopin'. (more)
> Lol.
> 
> The store is a one off locally owned attraction and community hub for
> visitors and residents alike. There are several fresh cuts of grass fed
> beef available in the front cold case, and a small variety of fresh
> vegetables, both in one of the cold cases and in boxes and baskets on
> shelves in the back of the store. There are many car camper foods that can
> be un-packaged and substituted for the more desirable hiker friendly fares
> that are lacking, but- they do come with an obviously undesirable weight
> penalty. Hint: eat these items first.
> 
> Now about the important stuff- there are several varieties of Tillamook ice
> cream to choose from, and both low test and high test craft beers, and
> about a dozen types of hard liquor behind the counter.
> 
> The owner will give small amounts of cash back at the time of purchase.
> 
> The owner can arrange for shuttles out of town to places like Portland for
> hikers wanting to get off trail and reach national and international
> transportation services. Likewise a visit to a medical facility or gear
> shop elsewhere can be negotiated.
> 
> The front porch is spacious and well shaded and has an electrical outlet
> available for charging electronics, and local folks stop by to offer rides
> back to the trail heads for gas money. Note: there is a "north" and a
> "south" vector off the PCT to access Trout Lake. I hitchhiked both times
> into town with nominal wait times. An elderly gent gave me a ride on the
> southern route but misunderstood me, putting me out well over 10-15 miles
> from town. I walked a few miles and then landed a ride the rest of the way
> into town. A mushroom hunter picked me up at the northern route into town,
> and took me all the way in. To get back to the trail both times, the same
> local man took me all the way back to the trail heads. He would not take my
> money when offered the second time.
> 
> Lastly, there were several hikers gathered together, and we all bought more
> food than we could eat or carry, so we elected to have a cookout using a
> charcoal grill that the store provided. We had so much food and with hiker
> midnight upon us, the owner offered us the use of her gas grill at her
> house nearby, and she baked some potatoes in her house oven, to speed up
> the cooking process.
> 
> The people in Trout Lake are the bomb ! I unabashedly give a special shout
> out to the Trout Lake Grocery Store, for hiker friendliness, and going
> above and beyond the call of duty. I am sorry to say that the owner's name
> escapes me at the moment.
> 
> I believe that there was also a local bar / restaurant about 2 doors down
> from the grocery store one way, and a combination gas station / restaurant,
> very much like the grocery store, in that they are perhaps just as hiker
> friendly, and also have a lawn to camp on. Rumor has it that this location
> makes delicious sandwiches on the order of Paradise Valley Cafe, from way
> back at mile # 152.
> 
> FWIW- I south-bounded from Canada, to McKenzie Pass in Oregon, after first
> doing 210 miles from Mexico to the I-10 (Ziggy and The Bear's) back in
> 2015. I got off the trail in mid November after getting blown away by a
> snow storm that was about all I wanted that season, having started the
> trail March 3rd.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Paint (various miles of the PCT- 2012, 13, 14, 15, 16, & hopefully later in
> 17)
> 
> Woot! Woot!
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