I heard Stormtrooper packing up at 4:30 AM and take off. I follow shortly behind him. The other guys and the mysterious tents next door are rustling when I leave. We are headed to Snoqualmie today, so my objective is to knock this out with as few breaks as possible. I’ve put the headphones on and I’m blasting my angry hard rock mix. Rage Against the Machine, LImp Bizkit, and the like. I need to Rage against the trail today!
Sky has finally cleared of smoke, so there are some better vistas. Mostly the same stuff. Oddly the most interesting segment for me was crossing the powerlines. Facinating seeing how much work must have gone into clearing hundreds of miles of forest to put these bad boys in. I’m suspect some nature-nazis see this as a scar…but I see synergy. The modern and the timeless. Even the zealots need their phones charged, heh.
For some reason, I liked this waterfall. Looking at the video, I’m not sure why.
I’m running into more weekend backpackers. This guy has a good spot on the lake.
I’m skipping some seriously tasty looking Huckleberries on the way in. No long breaks for me, just miles. My feet are developing a bunch of hot spots and I’m getting concerned about new blisters. The foliage is wet so it nearly impossible to keep my feet dry. Around 3:00 I get some service and Stormtrooper texts me. He hit town a little after noon. I figure he did the 20 miles about 2 hours faster than me. I keep saying it, but that boy can hike.
I get into town at about 3:30 and look around. The restaurant is closed, the brewery is not serving food, so I go to this hokey grocery story-pizza-random cooked sandwich place. Stormy says the pizza’s suck, so I snage some old fried chicken sandwich sitting in the heated display case. The old gal (probably the owner) watches me pour mayo, mustard, relish all over it. I eat that, a large bag of chips, two passes at 32 ounce fountain drink, and finish off with a hostess cherry turnover.
Stormtrooper drops by and we are chatting about the getting ice cream. He refuses. He says there is not enough value in the little quart servings. He typically buys a half-gallon tub and downs it in one sitting. That’s hiker hunger for you.
We decide to bunk up at the Washington Alpine Club hostel. That one turns out to be a great decision. The place has 70 beds and there are only the two of us + another hiker and the volunteer host who makes us a huge spaghetti dinner. The place costs $30 a night for PCT’ers. The bunks are comfy. Outstanding place to bed down.
I pay for two nights and tell Stormy that I need an extra day off my feet. He is a little bummed. He has been turning over whether to hike with me for a while or take off and try to finish in 100 days. I already know what the final decision will be, but he is still working through that 🙂
20 miles, sore feet, and a full stomach today. 2 out of 3 ain’t bad.