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.

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!