August 12, 2016

Mirror Lake Junction (2382.1) to Snowqualmie Pass (2390.3)

Miles: 8.2

Our total miles: 1984

We were up and moving by 6:30. We were meeting Laurie’s friend Audrey and spending the night with her Aunt and Uncle in Auburn, Washington. Thoughts of a shower motivated us to get an early start.

Laurie woke up with restless legs. Lately our bodies feel best when they are moving. We wake up with sore feet but after a quarter mile they feel fresh and ready for the day.

Laurie was excited to see her friend and took off down the trail. Lately she has been hiking faster than Andy and today was no exception. We hiked up and then down the rocky and slippery trail. Our pants were soaked by the wet brush, but that didn’t slow Laurie at all. 

Since Laurie is ahead of Andy most of the time she created a game. She can stop and pick huckleberries until he catches up. But she must start moving again when he gets near so as not to slow his stride. Of course all of this goes out the window when the berries are delicious and we both want to pick and enjoy them.

We found Audrey near the top of the ski slope around 10:30. It was already hot. We stopped in the shade to hug, say hello and discuss plans for the day.

We walked back to the car together, chatting about life on the trail, life in San Francisco and her recent trip to Japan. 

It is so wonderful to see friends during this adventure. These past 4.5 months on the trail have been enriching and we have truly enjoyed spending extended amounts of time together, but we miss our friends and community. The world feels complete again when friends become part of our trail experience.

As we got to the trailhead parking lot a guy jumped out of his truck and offered us bagels, fruit and drinks. He had hiked the PCT last year and was a friend of Speed’s, out to surprise him with trail magic. We swapped stories and enjoyed some fruit and M&Ms (Laurie) and a bagel (Andy) before heading to Snowqualmie Pass for an early lunch.

Word of good food travels fast along the trail and people had recommended the Aardvark many times. It was a permanent food truck at the Chevron Station that is owned by a hiker and caters to hiker palates and appetites. 

Audrey, who is 6 months pregnant, fit right in with us hikers as she ordered the Avalanche pancake – bacon inside a pancake with ice cream on top. 

We shared a beebop, a slightly altered bibimbop, and a burger. Andy helped polish off all three dishes.

Nemo joined us to chat more while we ate. We spoke about the push and pull of towns. When on trail we think about town days and what we’ll eat, but once in town we all crave the quiet simplicity of the trail. 

After raiding the hiker box for more banana chips, we hugged Nemo, said goodbye to him again and headed down to yet another REI. 

All of our gear was functional but Laurie’s new pad was a tad short. Her feet hung off and got cold at night. It was tolerable but since REI wasn’t much out of the way we decided to go and maximize her sleeping comfort.

And really, we had been to 8 other REIs during this trip so why not try to hit them all?!

We exchanged the pads, got some fabric repair tape for Andy’s rain pants and a pair of socks. It was our quickest REI trip thus far.

We went next door to Safeway to buy new Talenti ice cream containers (Laurie left one at White Pass) and really we just wanted an excuse to eat more ice cream.

We finally got to the Burns’ house around 2:30pm, where we met Mollie, Eileen (Audrey’s cousin), and her two children Eleanor and Ronan. 

We are so grateful for the Burns welcoming us into their home. Again, the warmth and generosity of strangers deeply warms our hearts.

We showered, did laundry and played with the kids most of the afternoon.

We gave the huckleberries we had picked and carried for 20 trail miles to Mollie, who insisted on baking a pie.

Tim and Ben came came home from work and we shared an amazing dinner with pie and ice cream for dessert. As the evening air cooled we sat outside sharing stories of backpacking and hiking in Washington. 

We have become intrigued by the mountains and wilderness areas in this state. We would love to come back and climb Mt Adams and hike the Wonderland trail around Mt Rainier. If only we could find a way to make a living by hiking!

We all started to fade around 9 pm. We happily crawled into cotton sheets and continued to attend to items on our to do list.

“No matter what we’re doing and what else there is to do, we’re gonna go to bed at 10pm.” This is the commitment we made to each other this morning. 

And at promptly 11:05pm, we turned off the lights 🙂

Tonight we are grateful for the generosity of friends and their families and for delicious huckleberries.

August 11, 2016

Bushcamp (mile 2364.7) to Mirror Lake Junction (mile 2382.1)

Miles: 17.4

Our total miles: 1975.8

We slept well in our cozy tent. When Andy poked his head out in the morning he smiled. Mt Rainier shone brightly in the morning light. 

We had walked around it the last few days but because of the clouds we didn’t even know it was there!

Nikki is going stoveless so Andy boiled some water to make hot chocolate for her as a treat. She enjoyed it while still in her tent and we shared a cup of hot water and berries.

We took off the rain fly to let it dry and enjoyed the views from the comforts of our tent and sleeping bags.

We really took our time this morning – letting the sun kiss us, catching up on blogging and sorting through pictures until it got too hot. 

We started walking at 9:55am! This may be the latest start we have had thus far. 

We hiked up and down small slopes past huckleberry bushes teeming with large, dark and juicy berries. Around the next bend we met a family out picking. Their buckets were hanging around their necks, full of delicious berries.

We climbed and descended all day. There were rarely moments of flat walking. At times the trail was steep, so much in fact we joked that the Washington trail crews don’t know what a switchback is. 

Of course they do, and occasionally one was thrown in the mix.

We stopped at one particularly sunny and huckleberry laden spot. The berries were too sweet to pass up!

We dropped our packs and picked with a purpose. Our hands, lips and tongues were purple after 30 minutes and we had filled a Gatorade bottle, a Talenti and our bellies.

Hopefully we can make another pie tomorrow!

We got water from a spring a tenth of a mile later and hiked on. It was hot in the sun; we cherished the moments of walking amongst the trees.

“How do people walk by these bushes?” Asked Laurie as she stopped for the umpteenth time to pick and eat more huckleberries.

“Some people live off of miles, others live off of berries.” Replied Andy. We do the latter.

Around 1:30 we dropped down to a forest service road and saw Loopy sitting in a camp chair. 

Trail magic!

Walking Home had started his hike on April 14 and made it all the way to Carson Pass before getting off trail due to plantar fasciitis. He lives near Seattle and was out to spread the thru hiking love.

We sat in lawn chairs and devoured apples, melon, pastries, soda (Laurie) and beer (Andy). It was hot sitting in the sun but suprises like these make our day.

After an hour we dragged ourselves out of the lawn chairs and up the hill, Andy carrying an apple and an orange for later. We both felt sluggish and bloated. Laurie from the gluten rich scones and a sugary soda and Andy from the mixture of beer, fruit and pastries – lots and lots of pastries. 

We put one foot in front of the other and although we weren’t moving fast, we were still moving.

D, a Swiss hiker caught up to us 30 minutes later as we were about to hike again after a bathroom break. 

“Did you get something cold to drink before the climb?” Andy asked. 

“No, there was no one there.”

Andy looked over at Laurie, no words needing to be spoken. 

Laurie handed the apple to D.

“Now that’s real trail magic. Hikers giving fruit to another hiker! Thanks guys!”

We were happy to share. 

Laurie kept up with D for a mile or so asking him who he knew and has hiked with. She stopped when she got to a stream and D continued on. 

We hiked up and then down the remaining 9 miles to Mirror Lake. Laurie noted the silence of the forest. It was beautiful. 

Aside from her breathing, sound of each trekking pole stabbing the ground and occasional loud step – it was quiet.

Walking this many hours day after day feels very meditative. We have moments when our minds are blank and our legs move themselves effortlessly. 

We got to Mirror Lake at 7:15 and looked for a spot to camp. There were already at least 3 groups settled in the obvious sites. We inspected some potential tentsites near the lake but they were all very slanted. We continued up the trail and found a flat spot near the junction.

We ate dinner and talked to some people who had come up from Seattle to watch the Perseids Meteor Shower. 

It would be nice to see the meteors but we are too tired to stay awake until midnight. 

Tonight we are grateful for dry trail and trail magic.

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.