August 23, 2016

South Fork Camp (mile 2581.3) to Methow River (mile 2604.1)

Miles: 22.4

Our total miles: 2197.8

Laurie woke up to Paul rustling 2 feet away. Once again she slept so soundly she didn’t hear her alarm. We were up and moving by 6:45am.

It was a cold morning. Our fingers ached as they gripped our trekking poles.

Within 30 minutes we caught up with Paul and the three of us continued up the gradual trail.

Branches and twigs snapped nearby, Laurie looked hopefully in the direction of the noise eagerly looking for a bear. But alas, usually they were just chipmunks.

Pine cones dropped from trees near us as well. We weren’t sure if they were falling on their own or if some critter was up in the tree. Either way it felt like someone (or something) was aiming at us.

We hiked the 6.5 miles to Rainy Pass through a dense forest. We crossed over beautiful clear creeks on logs and enjoyed conversations to help the miles fly by.

The trail opened up a few miles after Rainy Pass. We switchbacked up, periodically stopping to soak up the views to the south and west. Jagged peaks filled in the space between green carpeted mountains in the foreground. In the far distance were snow capped mountains. It was stunning.

We passed 2 women hiking with their dog and 2 goats and not even a mile later ran into 4 people and their 6 llamas. They were taking the llamas in to help pack out a trail crew.

We talked to the owner and crew as Laurie pet the llamas. They were all female lamas with names like Ruby and Sugar. 

Just like all the other llamas we have met on this trail, they each had a distinct personality which became evident in the 15 minutes we spent talking with the owner.

At Cutthroat Pass we took a lunch break. We shared a sticky bun from the Stehekin Bakery to celebrate our anniversary of meeting. Four years ago today we met on the top of Mt Whitney!

The views were expansive and the forests in the valleys were quite dense. We traversed through rocky trail and eventually dropped down to Granite Pass.

From here it was a little more down then steadily uphill to Methow Pass. We passed the trail crew at their camp and thanked them for all of their work. It looked like the trail had been washed away by rock or mudslides in some areas but thanks to all of their hard work it was now a wide and easy trail to follow.

We got to the top of Methow Pass at 3:30 and scoped out places to camp, but nothing looked good enough to warrant stopping that early. We love camping up high with views and although this was a pass, the views were mostly blocked by trees. 

So we continued on.

We dropped back down into the forest and eventually to the Methow River. We spoke with Paul about family and kids. Laurie asked Paul if he felt like he put his life on hold to have kids.

“Oh absolutely” said Paul.

Having children is something we have talked about a lot. Living in San Francisco we have friends that chose not to have children and their lives and travels appeal very much to us. 

We also have a lot of friends who have started families in the last few years and their lives are also amazing, but very different. 

Sure, being a parent may be the best adventure of a lifetime but at this exact moment neither of us are sure what we want. The question remains, will we ever know?

Paul joined us for a snack break before we set up camp and he continued on another 3+ miles. We shared cheese with Paul (for Laurie that is a gesture of true affection) and some fruit leather before hugging goodbye.

As Paul left Laurie again felt a sense of loss. Here we were, thru hikers stopping and camping before 6 o’clock in a not so scenic area with the hopes of catching up on our blog. 

We can afford to stop early, after all we did give ourselves 4.5 days to hike 90 miles. 

We could do it faster but don’t want to rush through beautiful sections; plus we need to pace ourselves since our hike isn’t over when we get to the monument. 

All that being said, Laurie gets competitive and doesn’t want to be left behind. If we had ended early at a beautiful spot, that would have been fine, but here, camped next to the Methow River, she felt lazy and foolish.

With some time, some tickeling and a bag of blue corn chips (thanks Tommy and Ali!!) the smile returned to Laurie’s face. 

We ate dinner, chatted with other hikers as they walked by our tent and caught up on blogging. We always have big agendas for these “early evenings” but somehow or another it is always 9 pm before we start writing.

Oh well, it’ll get done. 

Tonight we are grateful for no rain at Rainy Pass and feet that keep marching.

August 22, 2016

High Bridge Ranger Station (mile 2569.4) to South Fork Camp (mile 2581.3)

Miles: 11.9

Our total miles: 2175

We woke up naturally around 5:30am. It was still dark out so we lit the kerosene lamp (our cabin didn’t have electricity). We talked and snuggled – enjoying the opportunity to get out of bed leisurely.

We each ate our weight at breakfast. We enjoyed fresh blackberries with yogurt and granola, an omelette each, hash browns, sausage and of course bread with butter and jam for Andy. 

We ate and ate until our stomachs, hearts and spirits were full. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to our town fund, you helped make this stay possible.

We then packed our bags discussing what we wanted to send home to lighten our load. 

Around 9:45 we boarded the white Stehekin Valley Ranch school bus and headed down to “town.” But first we stopped at Rainbow Falls, the old shool house, an organic garden and of course the bakery. 

We bought 2 day-old pastries and were talked into buying another freshly made pastry. Really it didn’t take much to convince either of us. Laurie has a gluten intolerance but decided to take another gluten holiday. 

She wants to believe that the ingredients are fresh enough to overcome any potential stomach irritation. It may be the power of the mind but so far so good.

The organic farm was amazing too. Karl, the barefoot farmer, is 70 years old. We wandered past tall rows of kale and swiss chard. Both of our mouths watered looking at the fresh veggies. Despite all the temptation we only bought a pear and peach to enjoy with lunch.

We got dropped off at the post office, where we joined the hiker commotion. We were not expecting a line but spent at least 30 minutes waiting to retrieve our boxes. 

We had 5 boxes in all – 2 resupply boxes, our umbrellas and 2 surprise care packages. Thank you Amber, Tommy and Ali for all of the goodies! And thank you Mollie for forwarding our umbrellas.

Given the weather report and recent trends we did not accept our umbrellas and had them shipped back home. We also packed our rain pants, pocket knifes and other extra foods into a flat rate box to mail home. 

We are hoping to carry on our backpacks and wouldn’t be able to do so with knifes. We hope trekking poles, stakes and tent poles will be okay.

It took us at least an hour to sort through our boxes, transfer items from vacuum sealed bags into ziplock bags (since we would no longer have a knife to use to open them) and divy up the bars.

With all the waiting and sorting we missed the 11:30 bus. 

With our later departure we knew it would be harder to make it 15 miles to Fireweed campground, so Laurie walked to the Ranger Station to switch our permit while Andy disassembled the boxes.  

While in line at the Post Office we ran into Paul. We had met him the night we camped at the lake waiting for the boat ferry to VVR. He had promised to hike with us to Mammoth to help us with the river crossings. 

And here we were together in Stehekin at the same time, although he has walked 406.3 miles more than us. 

We chatted, were reassured that we had made the right decision to jump ahead in the Sierras, and rode out together on the 2 pm bus.

We hiked up past Coon Lake and along Bridge Creek. We walked through Bridge Creek Camp and veered off to the right. We hiked through the afternoon, listening to Paul tell stories of his adventure since we last saw one another. 

Around 7:30 we dropped down to South Fork camp. The spur trail wound around eventually bringing us close to Rainbow River. We found a flat spot large enough for 2 tents and settled in.

Laurie gave Paul Swedish Fish and he later gave us a rasberry strudel. Thanks Paul! We talked through our tents and all fell asleep around 9 pm.

Tonight we are grateful for care packages from our friends & blog followers and gentle inclines.

August 21, 2016

Five Mile Camp (mile 2564.3) to High Bridge (mile 2569.4)

Miles: 5.1

Our total miles:2163.1

We both slept hard and well. There is no longer a concern about not sleeping well while backpacking. The trick is to walk so far that when you allow yourself to get horizonal, you fall asleep. 

And our new pads are glorious. They keep us so warm that even Andy, who sleeps much cooler than Laurie, has slept in quilt mode for much of the last week.

We wanted to catch the 9:15 shuttle from High Bridge so, although we both felt like we could have slept forever, we started to move.

We were walking by 6:30. It was mostly downhill to the ranger station and bridge. The sky looked clear and we couldn’t smell any smoke. We were not sure if the fire was put out, the wind had shifted or if we were now far enough north. Whatever the reason it felt good to be breathing fresh air again.

We hiked down through the forest, past small creeks and alongside the roaring South Fork of the Agnes Creek.

The creek formed a large gorge through which it traveled and we walked above. The steep cliffs were a new sight for our eyes, now accustomed to only green foliage and brown dirt.

We got to the Ranger Station and bus stop around 8:30. We recognized Sam but there were at least 10 other unfamiliar faces milling around.

“Where did all of these people come from?” we asked one another.

During the day we see nobody. Lately, it is when we get to camp that we see others, mostly section hikers since some thru hikers camp later than us.

Today, people just kept coming. Many had hiked to Stehekin from Cascade Pass or other starting points to the north. Eventually there were over 30 hikers waiting for the shuttle. Some in their early teens and others in their 60s. 

As the bus pulled up familiar faces departed – all smiling – including Lux, Nemo, and Rob and Christa! We were so bummed we never got to hike with Rob and Christa. It was nice to finally meet them in person but we were both overwhelmed and distracted that we didn’t know what to say. 

We and 30 others piled into the bus and headed down the bumpy dirt road to the bakery.  

We got a salad, sticky bun, cinnamon roll and muffin. We demolished the last three within 30 minutes. Laurie decided to make today a gluten holiday – there was just too much sugary goodness to pass up. But the salad was a huge dissappintment. It was small and very expensive ($10 for a large that wasn’t very big).

Stehekin is a small tourist town. It is accessible only by plane, boat or foot. It is quaint, beautiful and would have been a wonderful place to take a zero but we were on a time line.

We wandered around the boat dock, got a permit to camp within North Cascade National Park and explored the hiker box while waiting for the Stehekin Valley Ranch white school bus to make its way to the boat dock.

Laurie had stayed at the ranch with her mom in the past and we hoped they would have availability. They offer fancy and rustic cabins and 3 meals/day.

We were in luck and got a cute rustic cabin for the night!

The Stehekin Valley Ranch is nestled up the valley away from the activity of the lodge and boat dock. We ate meals staring out at sunflowers and open fields. 

We arrived just in time for lunch. “Showers and laundry can wait. Let’s eat!”

Andy had a cheeseburger, a grilled cheese sandwich, meat and veggie soup and two chocolate chip cookies while Laurie ate two cheeseburgers, two bags of chips and an apple.

The burgers were delicious! 

Satiated, we happily left the dining hall to grab our dirty clothes for laundry. 

“I’ve never been this filthy walking into town.” remarked Andy when looking at his clothes. And since we had been sweating profusely everyday since Snoqualmie Pass his clothes were stiff from all the salt deposits. 

Once clean, we went back to the room where Laurie enjoyed an epic nap.

An hour after lunch we were hungry again but dinner wasn’t until 5:30, so we distracted ourselves with our to do lists. We edited blog posts, walked around and tried to get online. 

The Internet was very slow so we gave up on trying to do anything more than reach out to family and let them know we were ok. 

At 6 o’clock the dinner bell rang. We made our way back to the dining hall for an all you can eat roast chicken dinner. 

We inhaled mashed potatoes, salad, chicken, carrots and swiss chard, and garlic bread.

One plate was enough for both of us to be content. “I haven’t had swiss chard in 4 months” Laurie said excitedly as she savored the green leaves. 

Overall the food was ok, but most disappointing was dessert. Laurie’s been looking forward to pie for days. And when she was here a few years ago she remembers having all you can eat dessert. Now, we were only allowed one piece of either cake or pie. 

When Laurie went up for a second piece of pie and was rejected, she felt disappointed and ashamed. We had chosen to not buy pie from the bakery anticipating we’d get pie for dessert and unfortunately Laurie was let down. 

We sat in the dining hall, savoring what was left of Andy’s slice of blueberry pie. The ladies next to us started chattin with Laurie, asking if she was hiking the PCT.

We chatted for about 20 minutes and eventually the conversion turned to food. Laurie stated her disappointment with just one piece of pie, and Polly, who had passed on dessert said, “what would you like? I haven’t had a slice yet.”

With glee, Laurie took Polly up on her offer. She was once again happy and excited. After enjoying a piece of sour cream pear pie we left the dining hall, retrieved our charging phones from the men’s showers and went to bed. 

It was 8:45pm and Laurie was starting to write. Andy encouraged her to put her phone down and go to bed early. At 9:15 Andy blew out the kerosene lantern and we went to bed. 

Tonight we are grateful for available cabins and kind, giving strangers.