Last night’s somewhat exposed campsite was surprisingly warm. I woke up refreshed, and packed up my gear with fingers that were not numb.
Cow Patty stopped by while we were packing up. I learned that part of her secret to carrying a tiny pack was that the pockets of her jacket and her wool shawl were stuffed to capacity. And it was a big shawl. She bade farewell, and set off. We were not long after, but we had slept late, so we had a 9AM start.
Nevertheless, it was a slow day. Everything seemed like it would be a long walk away.
By noon, we’d only gone around 8 miles. Elizabeth looked up the weather forecast, and saw that it was supposed to start raining around 8 tonight. Her sciatica had been bad last night, too, so we decided to try to get into town tonight, and stay at the Snoqualmie Summit Inn — a dry room, and no hunching over in a tent sounded appealing.
The problem was, it was noon, and there were still 24 miles to go. So we decided to skip lunch, and got moving.
Skipping lunch was a questionable choice. It’s like burning your blanket to keep warm — you’re going to regret it later. So when we ran into a trail angel cooking lunches, we were easily convinced to stay and eat.
I’d been eating nothing but trail mix and energy bars since White Pass. I didn’t want to spend time cooking, and it seemed like a reasonably balanced non-cook diet. I’ve since decided that was a bad idea — there’s only so many peanuts and raisins one can stand in a short time.
So, when Theresa the Trail Angel made me taco soup, it nourished me far more than the calorie count suggested.
Then, it was time to hike again. I didn’t take many pictures, I’m afraid, since I knew it would get darker and darker the more time I dilly-dallied.
But after hours, I started to see signs of civilization.
For the last few miles, it was dark, muddy, and rocky. By flashlight, we picked our way down the rough trail towards town.
And soon enough, by about 9PM, we had a warm room, and pancakes.
268 miles left.