Day: September 16, 2016

Perfect weather again today with a brisk morning and afternoon sun warming things up then cooling off again before dark.  The terrain was a mix of up and down, but nothing big and nothing steep.  I should now be within easy striking distance of my next resupply.

I woke up just after 5 am this morning and was about to start up my music when a headlight started shining in on me from the trail.  I’m not sure if it was a hiker or a hunter, but they were obviously intrigued by my hammock because they kept shining on me the whole time.  If it was a hiker, they were southbound and an eager beaver.  I applaud their initiative to get in the miles early.

I listened to music until nearly 6 am and was able to get packed up and out at 6:30.  I drank a little of my coffee and ate a poptart to start the morning.  It was cold enough to need my warm hat but I didn’t need the warm gloves or a jacket.  The first five miles were in thick woods blanketed in huckleberry bushes.

Late in the morning, more meadows and lakes started appearing.  The trail most of the day was on the side slopes and was only level in the meadow and lake areas before it would turn to side slopes again.  Where I stopped for lunch was a campsite where most of the ground was pretty sloped.  I had a good log to sit on and level ground to cook, so that’s all that mattered.

Early in the afternoon I entered the Goat Rocks Wilderness whete you can supposedly see mountain goats most of the time.  I did not see any, and I was keeping an eye out for them.  As the trail exited the wilderness it entered the Yakima reservation and immediately turned to big sky trail again.  It thought I was back in Sonora pass.  It was beautiful, but had me nervous because it was all above treeline and it was getting late enough that I needed to find a campsite, but a hammock above treeline can be problematic.  I had also run out of water and needed at least a liter just to camp.

I got lucky, because after the pass that exited the reservation was still above treeline, but had several snowmelt streams and the guide said two campsites were near by.  All of the streams I passed had no trees so I kept going to the next one hoping it would have at least one tree I could hang the water bag to let the gravity filter do its work without me having to hold it up for fifteen minutes.  The last stream before the campsites had a good sized waterfall and a perfect tree, so I loaded up two liters for camp.

The campsite was less than a quarter mile after the waterfall and I was able to find two perfect trees for the hammock.  There were some weekend hikers already set up there so we chatted a bit.  I set up quickly, ate a good dinner, and bedded down for the night.  

Just in case you were wondering, Starkist light tuna in sunflower oil is the best.  I could eat another one right now.  I never would have imagined I would still be this in love with tuna packets, but I am.  And also, ghee in mashed potatoes rocks the cookpot pretty hard.  I might have to listen to AC/DC tonight.  That’s how hard the ghee rocks.

Leaving town is always rough, especially when there’s a seven mile long climb waiting for you.  In fact, it seemed like all day long was climbing and very little descending.  I had a hard time keeping my energy.up, but I had fun stopping alot and checking out My Adams, which we circled all day long.  And now Mt Rainier is coming into view.

I had breakfast with the local gentlemen’s gossip club and had a good time.  I learned all about huckleberries and elk and discovered that the one that bugled at me yesterday was definitely a bull elk.  They asked alot of questions about the trail and equipment and we of course had to talk quite a bit about the weather.  They said it was a tad cold for this time of year and the farmers almanac had predicted an early winter this year.  Great, now I really want to make tracks to finish before October.

Eddy showed up right at 7:30 like he said he would to have a hot chocolate.  I had two eggs, hash browns, bacon, the toast, corned beef hash, and coffee.  I was hungry.  I ran to the store to grab my pack and let the store owner know I was out.  The guy I shared a room with was looking for a ride so I asked Eddy if he had room for another and he did, so the three of us headed up the mountain.

We got to the trailhead just before nine and immediately the trail started a gentle climb.  I had not bothered to look at the trail ahead, by I stopped after about an hour and saw that it was seven miles of incline.  I had forgotten to fill my water bottles, but it was cool out so I didn’t need much anyway.  I had about a half of a liter.

The trail started out in tall pines, then gave way to huckleberries.  I was still full, but of course I had to stop and pick some.  They really do look like dark blueberries.  The trail then turned to a burn area and stayed that way for about ten miles.  The only plus was that it was easier to see Mt Adams, which we were climbing up the southwest side and would circle the beast before leaving it’s Northwest side.

I stopped for lunch after 1 PM at an overlook in a burn area where I could see Adams, Rainier, and St Helens all at the same time.  I sat and faced Rainier while I cooked and ate.

After lunch, the trail started to descend some, but I still could not get moving.  I must not have gotten enough sleep last night, because I had plenty of food.  Perhaps tomorrow will be better.

I passed a few hikers and hunters throughout the day.  Everyone was nice and I stopped to talk to all of them.  A couple late in the day took my picture in front of Mt Adams.  They make three day trips where they hike in day one, day hike the second day, then hike out on the third.  You could tell they love this area.

I hiked until 7:15 so I could descend and get as low as possible and be near water.  Where I camped there were alot of blueberry bushes, but no blueberries.  I ended up cooking dinner in the dark, then headed straight to bed.  I need some Z’s tonight.  I’m 46 miles from my next stop and want to be sure I get there while it’s still daylight.  That should be easily doable.