Last night was cold. I woke up a few times shivering. Condensation had formed on my quilt, making its down less effective. Why can’t every tentsite be heated like White Pass?
At least it wasn’t raining. Much. We set out in a light mist.
Though it wasn’t raining, it was very cold, so I wore both my pairs of gloves most of the day. This kept me from taking many pictures again — sorry.
The trail took us by the Dewey Lakes, which were a popular hike for locals. This being Labor Day weekend, it was busy. I asked a middle-aged couple if they’d seen the weather forecast, and they had good news: No more than 20% chance of rain for the weekend, and it was common for the area to have a couple days of rain before going back to sunshine this time of year.
So, there was hope that the rest of the hike wouldn’t be miserable.
As if on cue, the sky started to show blue patches. As we approached the Chinook Pass trailhead the sky was looking downright nice.
Just beyond the pass, scenery began to show itself.
We even got some direct sunlight, and dared to spread out our wet gear to dry
In about 20 minutes it was drizzling again, but at least my quilt had mostly dried.
We passed a woman in her 50s sleeping by the side of the trail, drying her gear. At first glance, she looked homeless, but closer inspection showed that her gear was carefully chosen, some quite expensive, and stored in a remarkably small backpack. She wasn’t homeless, just an expert at lightweight backpacking.
The rest of the day was mostly made up of easy, though cold, hikes along the hillside. We reached a suitable tentsite at the end of the day, and pitched our tents and went to sleep.
324 miles left.