Up and out at a little after 6. Bye bye Blue. I did my usual pre-breakfast morning hike. Fortunately, I crossed a large area of the forest which was burned which gave me an hour of bug-free bliss. Surprising how little of Washington is burned compared to Oregon. There seems to be a lot more moisture up here.

Then the burned area turned back into old-growth forest. Then I get some of these

Then a few snow blobs

Then my insect friends show up for their morning feast. They stay with me most of the day. The only spot I find that is relatively bug free is a well traveled dirt road. I setup there to cook some breakfast when Papa and John show up followed by Patches.

Patches is anxious to get to the highway into Trout Lake at 2229. Apparently he went swimming with his mobile phone a couple days ago with the expected result. Honestly, I’d get lost all the time without my smartphone maps, so I get his anxiety. He splits shortly after while Papa and John take a break with me.

While I’m hanging out, a car pulls up and out jumps an older couple looking for huckleberries. They plan to hike in a few days and want to time their start with the huckleberry season at this altitude. Spent some time chatting with them about the various berries. They show me various types of blueberries and others whose names I forgot. The guy hiked most of the California PCT back in the 90’s. He said his pack weighed around 50 to 60 pounds and didn’t meet another thru-hiker until around the 400 mile mark. Amazing how times have changed. If I had to lug a pack that big, I would have quit after the first 100 miles.

So that gal starts rumaging through her trunk offering me this and that. Unfortunately, nothing sounds that good, so I pack up and bid them goodbye.

Back on the trail, I’m running into a virtual tidal wave of SOBO’s. I counted 24 of them in groups of twos and threes. With these SOBO’s comes rumors of trail magic a few miles up. Apparently Mama Rose has setup shop and is making burritos. Well I want one! I step up my pace and hit the spot at 2222 only to find….well nothing. Mama has left me burrito-less. Really striking out on the trail magic these days.

By now it is 1:30 or so and hot. I’m at the nadir of this bug filled stretch and got another 1.5k climb coming up. So after crossing this bridge I take stock.

I’ve covered almost 20 miles at this point due to a combination of an early start and the broken promises of trail magic, so I throw my tent up next to the river and take a nap. Papa and John come by for a chat before heading up the hill.

I sleep through the afternoon heat, wash my socks and feet, then pack up for an afternoon climb.

It was a good call. I ran into Papa and John again later in the day and they approved of my timing. The climb was relatively cool and bug free. I setup my tent next to a creek, made some delicious spaghetti and crashed. Did a 25 miler today.