August 10, 2016

Urich Cabin (mile 2344.5) to bushcamp (2364.7)

Miles: 20.2

Our total miles: 1958.4

We woke up in a cloud yet again. The meadow near the hut was covered by low hanging fog. Everyone except the two ladies from France were gone by the time we packed up walked 100 feet to the cabin. 

We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and hot beverages while chatting with Diane and her friend.

We attempted to dry our tent and rain fly by hanging them inside but since there was no longer a fire, water just dripped onto the floor. 

We hiked out around 8:45, shortly after a hiker named Mudguts came, devoured a can of Busch’s baked beans and hiked on. Oh thru- hikers!

After eating Idahoans and Ramen for weeks on end, baked beans probably sound like prime rib! (We’re not making that up, he told us that’s what he eats.) 

We walked in a cloud for the first 5 miles. We admired slugs and colorful mushrooms along the trail but kept walking to stay warm.

It wasn’t raining but we experienced periods of active fogging. And our feet got soaked in the first hour from the wet brush alongside the trail.

We picked a few huckleberries and got to a spring at 10:15. 

4.7 miles in 1.5 hours – not too shabby!

It is nice to know we can go fast if we want. But we don’t want to. We want to savor this experience, despite the rain and the clouds and the cold. 

The sooner we get to the northern terminus the sooner this experience is over, and we don’t want Washington to end so quickly.

We chatted with a day hiker named Dwight as we left the spring. He lives in Tacoma and comes to this area once a year. He said he enjoys talking with thru hikers and offered us some grapes. Fruit? Yes please!

We hiked on a little bit more and came upon the largest and sweetest huckleberries we have encountered thus far. We dropped our packs and started to stuff our mouths. Oh they were so good! 

We picked the bushes clean and filled half of a Talenti before continuing on.

But we didn’t make it far. We saw more huckleberries and continued to pick until our lips and fingers were purple and our Talenti full. One Talenti full of grapes, one Talenti full of huckleberries – it was a purple fruit kind of day!

We walked down the trail, passing other full bushes. Laurie looked at them longingly. To her it was like a buffet where she feels she needs to eat herself sick to get her money’s worth. Out here she wants to eat as many berries as possible since we never know when we will stop seeing them.

Andy has a college friend who is hiking the PCT southbound. We figured that we would meet today and tried to coordinate a place so we can camp together. We had occasional service and checked in and altered plans as needed.

The trail was pretty flat for a few miles then dropped steeply down toward Tacoma Pass.

From here it was 3 miles to camp. We challenged ourselves to cover those 3 miles in 1 hour. It was uphill and we were panting and sweating. 

We checked our progress after 20 minutes- 1.1 miles down. 

After 40 minutes, 2.3 miles behind us. 

We pushed on until we ran into a southbounder named Slowbo. We like to chat with the SOBOs so we paused a few minutes to chat. 

Even with our stop we made it to camp at 6 pm with 10 seconds to spare.

We set up the tent and enjoyed snacks leaning up against our backpacks. While sitting, Andy noticed wild strawberries growing all around. What a luxury, picking wild fruit as we sat.

We ate dinner while waiting for Nikki to come. We saved dessert (huckleberries, strawberries and grapes) to share with her.

Around 7:45 Andy recognized a familiar hat. She had made it!

We were super stoked to share an evening with a good friend. We chatted while Andy helped Nikki set up her tent and then we all crawled into our palace of a tent to talk some more.

Around 10:30 we all fell asleep. Today was a pretty good day. 

Tonight we are grateful for wild delicious fruit and meeting friends along the PCT.

August 9, 2016

Dewey Lake (mile 2318.3) to Urich Cabin (mile 2344.5)

Miles: 26.2

Our total miles: 1938.2

We woke up to a gray sky. Luckily it was just foggy and not raining. 

We slept well with our new sleeping pads. In fact Andy woke up saying, “Laurie, I’ve found the one. I think I’m in love.” He was sold on the Thermarest NeoAir Xtherm.

We packed up a wet tent and headed uphill toward Chinook Pass. We watched steam rise off of Dewey Lake as we walked around it.

We passed more vibrant wildflowers and snow melt streams on our way to the pedestrian footbridge over the highway. 

And what a beautiful bridge it was! 

From here we climbed another 2.3 miles to Sheep Lake. The clouds lessened the dramatic views but occasionally we got glimpses of the beauty of the area.

From Sheep Lake it was up again to an unnamed pass. With the wet weather yesterday and this morning, the heels of Laurie’s shoes had shifted and were rubbing on her heels. All comfort was restored with a little shoe massage and leukotape.

We were rewarded with beautiful views from the top of the pass. Clouds rolled in and out partially obscuring then exposing jagged mountains and patches of snow. Once again we were amongst green mountains! We like green mountains. They remind Laurie of Colorado. 

The trail traversed the hillsides and we walked along and on top of ridges. Most of the time we were in the clouds and saw only whiteness but occasionally we caught a glimpse of our surroundings. There seemed to be more fog on the north side of the ridges. 

On one occasion as we were descending a southern face, Andy counted 46 mountain goats on the opposite ridge. 

We stopped and stared, watching them graze and confidently traverse the scree. We both wish we had the ability to walk on such rocks with that much ease and confidence.

The trail meandered through healthy looking evergreen forests. The valleys below were filled with what looked like big Christmas trees – the type you see in Union Square or Times Square – the perfect triangular cylinder ones.

We ran into Medicine Man, a southbound hiker, who said he had met some NOBOs, including Nemo who wasn’t feeling well. 

This provided extra motivation for us to get to the cabin to see him and make sure he was okay. We have a more extensive first aide kit than others and wanted to help if we could.

He hiked through the wet forest and got to the Urich cabin at 7 pm. Eight people were already there, including Nemo.

We sat on the porch and cooked dinner while chatting with Nemo and others. With all the distractions Andy’s knee got too close to the stove and he melted is new rain pants. 

Man! 

We patched the hole with duct tape and now they have character. Hopefully they still work!

We figured we would sleep better in our quiet tent than inside the hut with 8 potentially snoring people. We had planned on walking another mile to get away from the smell of the two outhouses, but we were tired, and there was hardly a smell. We set up the tent under the nearby trees. 

We fell asleep quickly to the sound of water dripping off the trees onto our tent.

Today was our second marathon in a row. We are amazed and impressed that our bodies feel great. After 1900 miles we can do anything!

Tonight we are grateful for our health and bodies that get stronger by the day!

August 8, 2016

Kracker Barrel Store (mile 2292.4) to Dewey Lake (mile 2318.3)

Miles: 26.5 (25.9 PCT miles + .6 along Hwy 12 to trailhead) 

Our total miles: 1912

We had planned on leaving at 7 am but then Laurie found the Olympics on TV and we stayed up until midnight last night. 

We were enamored by the swimming and gymnastics and couldn’t bring ourselves to go to bed.

The 6 hours of sleep that we did get was heavenly. The bed was super comfy and we could hear the rain outside. Neither of us could open our eyes when the alarm went off. So we decided to leave at 8, and then 9.

Our only hurry was to catch Nemo who had left the night before. But we both know he is a faster hiker than us so unless he slows down or takes an on trail zero we may not see him again. 

It was raining on and off and a low layer of fog covered the tops of the trees. This kind of weather does not encourage hiking. We would have preferred to stay cozy in bed with hot tea but we had already postponed our departure one day and had miles to cover and mountains to see.

We went to say goodbye to a Toaster and Smudge before walking to the Kracker Barrel store for toothpaste.

Once in the store we fell into the vortex. We exchanged stories from the Knife’s Edge and caught up with So Far and So Good, a couple we last saw in Northern California. Before we knew it it was 8:45. We really had to get going.  

But then Laurie discovered granola and banana chips in the hiker box while Andy took some olive oil from another hiker. 

There was decent looking food in the hiker box; at some point we will remember to look there first before buying food for dinner. (There was toothpaste in there too.)

At 9 we forced ourselves to leave the warmth of the store. We walked down the highway wearing our raincoats and pack covers, Andy quickly devouring two thirds of a bag of granola.

The trail was a wet and sandy mess. Plus this seems to be a very popular horse trail because there was horse poop everywhere!

We hiked through the dripping, foggy forest, carefully placing our feet to not slip. It was quiet and super peaceful. For the first 2 hours we saw no one. 

After a hour of mist it started to rain. We put on our rainpants and placed latex gloves on top of our glove liners to make them water proof.

We walked through a green and foggy enchanted forest. Periodically sunlight would illuminate lichen hanging off the trees and it glowed bright green. We listened to birds chirping and other than wet and soggy feet we were dry and comfortable. Our bodies felt great.

We met about 5 SOBOs today. We chatted with each group before continuing on. Because of the rain and surrounding sogginess we never took an actual break. We ate lunch on the move and stopped to put on and take off layers and go to the bathroom, but we never sat down. 

The trail was pretty mellow most of the day. Initially we climbed and then the trail flattened as we cruised past many lakes. Unfortunately we only caught glimpses of them through the fog.

We walked past green and yellow meadows with meandering streams, then descended to Bumping River which had no bridge.

We crossed on slippery moss coated rocks. Andy slipped causing him to step into the water. Since his right foot was now soaked, he just walked through the rest of the creek. Laurie, who learned from Andy’s mistake, choose a different path and managed to keep her feet dry.

Well, dry may not be the right word. Our feet were already soaked from the rain and wet bushes so she essentially avoided getting her pants wet.

From here we climbed up to the boundary of Mt Rainier National Park. It was a 6 mile climb and we gained 2200 feet. We were mostly in the trees which was nice since it poured. We waited out the heavy rain under the protection of one of the many evergreens.

Towards the top of the climb the trail emerged out of the forest. We traversed along the base of rocky cliffs and walked through wet meadows. 

The flowers looked particularly vibrant. Reds, yellows, purples and whites all mixed together amongst a sea of green and gray.

We stopped periodically to watch the fog roll in and out of the green mountains. We joked that the beauty was being obstructed by the beast (fog). But really, it was all beautiful – fog included.

As evening approached there was some clearing of the clouds and even a few patches of blue sky.

We got to Dewey Lake around 8 pm and started to look for campsites in the trees for protection from the rain and potential thunder and lightening.

The first one was taken, second one not big enough and by the third it had started to drizzle. We finally decided on a spot around 8:30pm and set up home. 

Laurie dug a moat around the tent to prevent the swimming pool effect we experienced in Oregon.

By time time we got to camp we had been on our feet for 11.5 hours. Surprisingly though, nothing hurt. We suppose the two 16 mile days followed by a very short nero were restful.

We ate dinner and quickly fell asleep. Tonight is our first night on new sleeping pads and we hope they are comfy! 

Tonight we are grateful for minimal rain when setting up our tent and dry sleeping bags.