PCT mm 2390.6 – Snoqualmie pass

A quick day today into Snoqualmie pass for a half day off doing chores and recharging the batteries… Literally.  Tiny place, but they have what I need – a warm dry bed, good food, a post office, and a brewery.

Just as I was going to bed last night, the wind picked up coming straight off the lake and it got quite cold.  The wind was so strong, I could hear it blowing underneath the hammock, and I was wearing earplugs.  My face was cold, but my body stayed warm.  Sometime around midnight, the wind went away, and it warmed up considerably.  I slept well all night long.

Since I had a short 9 miles to do for the day, I slept in a little and listened to a little more music.  Since it was not terribly cold, I skipped the clothing preheat and got ready and on the trail by 7 am.  The trail circled the far side of the lake and then began to climb.

The trail had some overgrown sections, and sometimes the brush was covered in dew, and sometimes it was covered in frost.  I got a little wet, but nothing terrible.  There were many small ponds and boggy sections of trail.  I managed to drag my foot through the water on one stream crossing, so I had one nearly dry foot and one soggy one.  Both would be dry by the time I got to town.

I saw a few day hikers coming up the trail as I descended into town, but no northbounders.  It seemed to take forever to get to town, even though I arrived almost exactly when I thought I would.  Anticipation, I guess.

About a mile from town, the trail pops out onto a ski slope and you can see the whole town at once.  It’s a one horse town with one hotel, two restaurants, one gas station, and a brewery.  Yes, they have a brewery.  It was a nice walk into town.

I went straight to the Chevron (with a post office inside of it) to get my resupply packages.  They store them in an old walk in cooler, and you have to find your own packages.  Karen writes my name on all four sides, so the main one was easy.  The smaller package took a bit longer.  I had a few last minute equipment changes that she needed to mail separately from the main resupply package.

Next up was food.  There is a food truck in the parking lot, so I hit them up for some chicken tacos.  They were delish.  They also had donuts and mandarin oranges in their hiker box.  Third stop, a room at the hotel.  I reserved one, but it would not be ready for an hour, so I checked out the grocery store.  It was pretty pathetic for a store with the word grocery in it.  The Chevron was far better.

I went back to the hotel to check in, then showered and started laundry before the mass of hikers started theirs.  The clothes weren’t completely dry, so I set them out on the bed to finish drying.  Next up, the brewery.

The brewery was called Dru Bru, and they had been mashing all day.  When I walked in, I was rewarded with a fantastic mash and hop smell and they had just gotten a shipment of fresh wet hops just that morning.  The funny thing is that they did not really smell like hops.  I guess they need to dry to get the smell I am used to.

I ordered a flight as I usually do at a brewery, and they were all outstanding.  Their session IPA was their best brew.  It was probably my favorite brewery of the entire trip.  I’d like to go back again some day.

Next up, back to the food truck for dinner.  I got a teriaki bowl and it was as good as the tacos.  Rice, chicken, cabbage, green apples, and cilantro on top with a pineapple muffin.  Sounds weird, but it was great.

Back to the room to finish chores.  First up, booking a flight home.  I’m half way through Washington now, and feel confident enough that I can keep up 25 miles a day, even if I need to hike into the darkness.  A quick email to Ken to update him on dates, and I can go to sleep (after finishing blogging, of course).  Did I mention I have a nice soft dry bed?