PCT Day 121 – Timothy Lake (2079.6) to Timberline Lodge (2100.1)

August 4, 2026

Total PCT miles: 20.5

Non PCT miles: 0.3

Total: 20.8 miles / 33.5 km

Total elevation gain: 4383 ft

Total elevation loss: 1778 ft

Steps: 50255

Remaining Distance: 554.9 miles

Today was supposed to be a simple town stop. Hike to Timberline Lodge, pick up my resupply box, enjoy a hot meal and an ice-cold cola, then head back out on trail. Instead, it became the first day on this hike that I truly felt the safest decision was to stop walking.

The promise of that hot meal had me hiking by 5:00 a.m. It wasn’t that long ago that I could start hiking without a headlamp, but the days are noticeably getting shorter now. The sun is rising later, setting earlier, and autumn doesn’t feel nearly as far away as it once did.

When I stepped out of my tent at Timothy Lake, I could immediately tell the wind had shifted overnight. The smell of smoke was much stronger than it had been the evening before. Instead of blowing away from the trail, the wind was now carrying smoke from the fires east of me directly toward where I needed to hike. The Grasshopper Fire was burning only about 10 miles from the PCT. To be honest, I was surprised the trail hadn’t already been closed.

The first few miles around Timothy Lake were peaceful. The trail was flat, the forest was quiet, and the orange glow of sunrise slowly filtered through the smoke. Most PCT hikers make the short detour to Little Crater Lake, but the trail is currently closed for repairs, so I continued north.

Thankfully I had cell service for most of the day, which meant I could regularly check wildfire updates and trail closures. I also kept an eye on my escape options. If conditions changed, both Highway 26 and Highway 35 crossed the trail before Timberline Lodge.

Echo, VanGoh, and Bump all passed me fairly early in the morning. I still wasn’t moving particularly well after yesterday’s long day. My legs felt stiff, my ankles were sore, and I knew I wasn’t hiking at the pace I normally could.

Then the day changed.

Somewhere between the two highways, tiny grey flakes started drifting through the trees. At first I wasn’t sure what I was seeing, but then I realized it was ash falling from the sky. It was an eerie sight, like a light snowfall in the middle of August. Only a few minutes later, my phone buzzed with an emergency alert. I had entered a Level 1: BE READY evacuation zone.

It definitely got my attention.

A Level 1 evacuation isn’t an immediate order to leave. It simply means conditions could change quickly and people should be prepared. The PCT was still open, I had a highway I could use to leave the area if necessary, and Timberline Lodge was only another five miles beyond Highway 35. After thinking it through, I decided to continue.

The higher I climbed toward Timberline, the worse the smoke became. The views that should have been opening up never really appeared. Somewhere behind the thick haze was Mount Hood, but I could barely make out its outline. The final mile to the lodge was slow going, climbing steep volcanic sand while breathing some of the worst air I’ve encountered on the trail. The Air Quality Index near Timberline was over 500, well into the “Hazardous” category, especially for someone hiking uphill with a backpack.

Timberline Lodge sits at roughly the 2,100-mile mark on the Pacific Crest Trail and is one of the most iconic landmarks on the entire hike. Built in the 1930s as part of the Works Progress Administration, it’s also famous as the exterior filming location for the Overlook Hotel in The Shining. For decades, it has been a place where thru-hikers celebrate with its legendary all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet. Unfortunately, the buffet was discontinued this year.

Reaching 2,100 miles should have been a celebration.

Instead, I arrived to find staff laying out fire hoses and positioning sprinklers around the historic lodge in preparation for the approaching wildfire.

Standing there watching that unfold, I had one overwhelming thought.

What the hell am I doing hiking in this?

There’s a difference between hiking through uncomfortable conditions and hiking through unsafe ones. Heat, sore feet, exhaustion, and even smoke are all part of the experience. Hiking uphill through hazardous air quality while ash falls from the sky, inside an active evacuation zone with a wildfire only a few miles away, felt like crossing that line.

So I made the decision to temporarily leave the trail.

Fortunately, Timberline Lodge has a straightforward escape route. I caught the shuttle down the mountain, transferred to a bus, then onto the train into Portland. It wasn’t how I imagined today ending, but sometimes the smartest decision on a thru-hike is knowing when to stop.

The trail isn’t going anywhere. The wind will eventually shift back to the west. The smoke will clear. The fire situation will improve.

And when it does, I’ll be right back where I belong, walking north.