Cushman Trail to Tacoma Narrows Bridge
Date Hiked: July 27th, 2025
Trail Hiked: Cushman Trail, Tacoma Narrows Bridge, Borgen Loop, Grandview Forest Park
Distance Hiked: 25.3 miles
Elevation Gain: 1877 ft.
Duration: 7h 13m
The day before this, I hiked Mt. Si to the top, which is another story for another edition of this series, but mentioning it now is to put this in context: The day prior I set my AllTrails record for elevation gain in a hike and highest point reached. For some reason, I decided that the day after doing that would be a great time to go for my longest distance and time duration spent hiking.
Is it obvious I wasn't in my right mind this summer?
I didn't set out on the hike to break any records. Mostly, I wanted to distract myself from the gaping void in my stomach, as well as the bizarre set of circumstances from the previous few days. Everything about my life seemed to be crashing in on itself, so why not jingle some keys toward my physical well-being and hike until my limbs rebelled against my entire system? It was easier than thinking about the mental pain for a while, if nothing else.
I was the loneliest I've ever been, wandering as if I'd never again find the correct path to be following. The Cushman trail was a relatively boring, paved trail likely meant more for biking than hiking, but I didn't care. Along the way were some Geocaching Adventure Labs to knock out, and those small boosts of serotonin helped out a bit. The fact that it has a lot of road crossings and barely seems to fit the definition of a trail was annoying, but the point at which I was supposed to turn back was noticeably close to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which had not only an Adventure Lab but was, obviously, a bridge, and one that I learned that very day had a walking path next to the cavalcade of vehicle traffic. I love bridges, I am autistic, what a great combination.
One more annoying road crossing later, the gentle but noticeable grade of the walking section of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge led me to some amazing views over the waterways, and possibly even my first sighting of an orca in the wild, but the bridge was too high to get a decent confirmation. It also added a solid four miles and a few hundred more feet to the elevation gain of the journey. If my consciousness couldn't be happy, might as well add measurable stats about which only I give a shit, right?
As the return trip on the Cushman Trail was coming to an end, I noticed that I was approaching my distance record, though the remaining time on the Cushman itself wouldn't end it. Taking a small diversion to the Borgen Loop was little more than an excuse for extra distance and time, just as the Grandview Forest Park was an excuse to complete an Adventure Lab, but it added up.
Pacing back and forth on the first hill of the Cushman after all that, I hit for time, then passed 22.4 for distance, and then thought "why not go for a 25er too?" Maybe not the best decision, but it certainly was a decision.
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