Category: 2019 Pacific Crest Trail

We were awoken by Marilyn trying to wake of Richie and Jackie in the Garden Suite. They left yesterday. She spent 15 minutes before giving up. It was past time for us to get up anyway. We wanted to eat breakfast at 8 when Cruisers opened up. We made it to the restaurant by 8:30. Marilyn is having her teeth pulled today (a belated birthday present—she turned 76 yesterday). She is only getting a pain pill and a nerve numbing pill because she has to drive herself home afterwards. We decided at breakfast to take another day off and drive her, but they had already left by the time we got back to the hotel.

I waited for Bunny to pack. Half my life is waiting for Bunny, but god help me if she ever has to wait 10s for me. I carried: my pack, the poles, the loaner clothes, her boots and socks, the garbage, the spoons we borrowed, and the key downstairs while I was waiting. When she finally got her pack downstairs, I asked for the phone to call my parents…heavy sigh and talking under breath “why did you wait until the last minute?” I didn’t answer with the truth—because you were on the phone posting to Instagram rather than packing. That’s something I put in the blog and wait a week before we argue about it. I’m learning to keep my mouth shut.

We walked down the highway and saw a trio of hikers trying to hitch. I asked how long they had been trying because we saw 3 girls get a ride in less than 5 minutes while we had been having breakfast. They said “too long.” I told them they should try switching up. There was an old guy with long gray hair and a ratty beard sticking his thumb out while they had a cute young girl with long brown hair sitting down by the packs. I know how to pimp women for rides. I always put Bunny up first. They ignored my suggestion.

We walked on down the road another tenth of a mile. I told Bunny to stay in front of me. Of course, she got ticked off that I attempted to tell her what to do. Another hiker came up and said he’d head on down a little further since we were here first. Within two minutes, we had a ride. The trio was still upstream with an old gray thumb out when we left. We got the other hiker a ride with us to get dropped off at a different location. We have no idea what happened to the other three hikers…they still hadn’t made it up to the pass by the time we hit the trail.

This morning at the hotel, we had our own bathroom. I asked Bunny if she had to go. She said no. We went to breakfast where they had a bathroom. I asked Bunny if she had to go. She said no. We went back to the hotel to pack where we had a choice of bathrooms. I asked Bunny if she had to go. She said no. We quickly caught a ride up to White Pass and stopped in at the lodge to return the clothes we had borrowed. They had bathrooms. I asked Bunny if she had to go. She said no. We walked to the Kracker Barrel to have a snack before hitting the road. They have bathrooms. I asked Bunny if she had to go. She said no. We walked a half mile to the trail and Bunny said she had to go. I’m convinced she’d rather dig a hole than use a toilet. I spotted some latrines ahead. I was expecting her to say she didn’t have to go, but she, finally, went.

There was a 1200’ climb out of the pass, but it was over nearly 6 miles which made it a pretty shallow climb. Nonetheless, it nearly killed both of us. We are carrying way more food than normal because it’s over 100 miles to the next resupply point. Bunny is carrying about 5 pounds more than she should and my pack weighs over 50#. I immediately felt the extra weight in my feet. Bunny’s calves tightened up like a steel drum. We took lots of quick breaks today, but only 1 water stop in the climb.

Several sobos passed us. I always ask if they are true sobos or flippers and if they have met Blues Clues. Today, I got 2 hits on people that had ran into BC. We expect to run into him in the next couple of days. We also heard from Wolf over the last few days and he’s nearing Cascade Locks. He just did back-to-back 25 mile days. We still haven’t done a 20 mile day yet.

Cresting the climb, we immediately dropped into a fairly flat ridge area filled with lots of ponds. This is why we had lots of short stops and no more water breaks. Mosquitoes breed in still water. We had been warned we’d have about a 30 mile stretch of bad mosquitoes coming out of White Pass. We tried slathering up with Jean Luc Picardin, but no bug repellent of any kind works on these little hounds from hell. It didn’t take me long to remember Digit Alice sent us new head nets in our resupply box. It kept them off our face and out of our ears which was a big plus. I still need to get a pair of earplugs because I can’t stand the high pitched whine of the mosquitoes (or my wife—once again, she ignored my advice to wear long sleeves and I paid the price) in my ears.

We (I) had wanted to push on a mile further than where we stopped tonight, but Bunny was in pain. I knew the pain was bad because she was quiet. When she’s in a little bit of pain (which is normal for her hips and calves) she complains quite a bit. As the pain progresses, she grows quiet. That’s when I know it’s bad. And, honestly, my right heel is feeling pretty bad. We worked out a plan to only do about 13 miles for the next 3 days so we can eat up some of the food we are carrying. We have 7-8 days worth of food which is too much for us to carry, but necessary for us to have to cover the distance to Snoqualmie Pass.

We’ve got our camp routine down pretty well by now. We set up the tent immediately when we arrive. Bunny changes out of her boots while I gather what I need to get and filter water. I toss Bunny, her pack, and my sleeping stuff into the tent. While she sets of the beds and gets the tent arranged inside, I make hot tea, filter water, and prepare supper. I then pass everything inside and we eat in our tent away from the mosquitoes. We have quit worrying about bears entirely. There are so many berries along the trail and in the woods that they don’t need to bother humans to get food. It helps that we don’t have a pick a nick basket with us.

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Our zeros keep piling up innocently enough. Bunny makes a big deal out of scratching my back. It’s gotten so bad, she asks “what’s in it for me.” Even though I haven’t asked for weeks, it still costs. What’s it cost me? In this case, zeros. I need to have Digit Alice send me back my back scratcher in the next shipment if we are going to have any hope of finishing.

The plan was simple: get up at 8, go to Kracker Barrel, do laundry, then hitch a ride down to Packwood where we’ll spend ONE night until the post office opens Monday morning. We’ll pick up our care package from Digit Alice, pack up, and leave. It was apparent from the start that this plan had gone to hell.

We got to Kracker Barrel at 8:10. There were already 5 people ahead of us in line for laundry. Forget about smelling like a town person any time soon. We had breakfast with Someday and Wea where they told us they were definitely getting off trail. Trying to make it to Snoqualmie in seven days was going to be too stressful, plus, they didn’t like being cold and wet. They were formulating a plan of what to do next. It looks like they are going to buy a vehicle and go flea marketing for the next week before returning to the SF Bay Area where they will sell everything for a profit. That’s a big difference between us and them—they go on vacation and make money. We work and lose money so we go on vacation.

We gave up on laundry and decided to hitch to town (20 miles). We weren’t having any luck so I went and made a sign. Right away we got a ride. It was from one of the trail maintenance crew we had met a couple days ago. It was Spook. He hiked the trail last year over 7 months. We’ve been out 5 so far and aren’t even half way. At our current rate, if we work really hard, we’ll finish the PCT in September…2029.

Spook dropped us off right at our hotel. I had called last night and secured our room at the Hotel Packwood. As soon as we saw it, we fell in love. This is an old historic hotel where Teddy Roosevelt stayed when he visited Mt Rainier and camped with John Muir. There are only 9 rooms. The owner had told us that our room wouldn’t be ready until after 1 and we were here before noon. We just wanted to drop off our packs then look around town and eat. She wasn’t happy about us showing up early but quickly warmed up to us when I told her Tom Brokaw was with us. I may have forgotten to mention “not that Tom Brokaw” but we were in.

Dave got a hitch in right after we did. He said he saw Tom outside hitching and when he turned around, he was gone. We had no idea what happened to him. We were concerned, but hungry. Hunger won so we went in search of food. We found Tom at the coffee shop sitting with the people that had picked him up. He had offered to buy them breakfast, but the coffee shop had no food. We all headed down to Cliff Droppers for the best burgers in Packwood.

James, Damien, and Elisha are from around Spokane, WA. They were very friendly and informative about the area. We ate and talked for about an hour before they had to continue on. Damien and James were the only ones with the right to complain about illegal immigration at the table as they were both Native Americans. Damien was also an elder and religious leader of their Nation. When they were leaving, he sang a blessing in their native language to ensure our safety on the trail. It was very moving to me. I am aware that most Native Americans want to be regarded as modern men, but I have always been fascinated with tribal traditions. This stems from my Boy Scout days when I was in Order of the Arrow.

We all made our way back to the hotel. As we were sitting in the living room talking, another couple came in that recognized atom and Dave. Songbird and Five Star had met a couple years ago when they thru-hiked the PCT. He lives in Missoula and she lives outside of Seattle. They were hiking the WA section of the trail so Songbird could collect data for a book she is writing. Later, we all went out for pizza together. As Songbird was talking, we discovered she had already written 4 books on hiking. When Bunny and I said we had hiked the Wonderland Trail, Songbird said she had written a book about that trail. I asked her name and she replied “Tami Asars.”

A few years back when Bunny and I were talking about trails we wanted to hike, she had bought me two trail books for Christmas. One was on the Camino de Santiago and the other was on the Wonderland Trail. The latter was one of the best trail guides I have ever read. It described the trail in narrative detain, included history on the evolution of the trail, and described dozens of itineraries depending upon time allocated and desired direction of travel. I praised this book in our blog at the time. The book was written by Tami Asars, who we were having supper with. Tami gave us lots of great advice for the trail ahead.

The next morning, we just found we weren’t ready to leave town after we got our package from Digit Alice. Because we had been socializing so much the last couple of days, we hadn’t gotten any of the work done on our blog or vlog. Plus, Bunny was still complaining about being tired. I knew if we headed out, she’d probably end up getting sick if she wasn’t fully recovered. Marilyn had to take her husband, Dave, to see a doctor in Portland today, so she wasn’t planning on having any guests since they weren’t going to be around. She agreed to let us stay as long as we would use the back entrance to the hotel.

Marilyn and Dave have owned the hotel for 23 years. Dave “accidentally” bought the place when he had a real estate business in town. Four years ago, Dave was diagnosed with a rare cancer that ended up costing him his leg. Today was his annual follow up appointment. Marilyn and Dave are a charming couple who have deep faith in Jesus and deal with whatever is dealt to them with his help.

Another couple was added to the allowed list, and then a couple more. We ended up going out to supper with Richie and Jackie from Hawaii. They are a few years older than us. They just started hiking a few years ago when they went to Machu Picchu. Since then they’ve done the John Muir Trail, the Wonderland Trail, and Maroon Bells. This tear, they are section hiking Washington. We had plenty to talk about while we ate. Sitting in the restaurant, we watched a herd of Elk walk down the street and graze in the field across from us.

When I tried to get Bunny up this morning was the costly “back scratch exchange.” We hadn’t just had an actual day to lay around and do nothing until today. I agreed as long as she’d get up for breakfast so we could come back for a nap before lunch. After lunch, we ventured back to our room for another nap until I reprised the “half gallon challenge” for supper. I still got it!

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Welcome to the n3xt leg of Washington by Bunny Spielberg

We have done a great job on food quantities the last two resupplies. It can best be attributed to one simple reason—Bunny is usually pissed off at me when I want to go shopping, so I have to go by myself. The food rations have been perfectly apportioned. I may have cut things a little close this time, but we aren’t going to starve. This morning we had granola with hot water and coffee for breakfast. We have enough food left for a snack on the way to White Pass.

I heard the work crew wake up at 6. I noticed that they had their food in ursacks tied to trees. You’d think with all the saws, spades, and other tools they are carrying, they’d be brave enough to sleep with their food. I was just hoping they didn’t come up and check on how we are doing things. I’ve talked to many other PCT hikers, and I have only met one couple that hangs their food and doesn’t cook in their tent. It’s the Canadians, Dan and Fancy Pants that are putting the rest of us at risk. It’s an unwritten agreement among hikers to create so many targets for the bears that they become confused like a deer caught in headlights. By following safe practices, Dan and Fancy Pants are actually allowing any bear to see their tent and know there is no food there. He’ll develop a sense of smell from other tents with food, thus distinguishing between food rich tents and human only tents. They are putting the rest of us at risk by following safe practices. This must stop.

None of this matters because we have lost track of everyone we have been hiking with. The only people we know about where they are is Someday and Wea. Someday worried me coming down the knife’s edge because of his all out run, collapse, all out run, collapse approach to hiking. Several times we were able to look behind us and confirm he hadn’t fallen into the abyss on either side of him. Once they were below the loosest scree, I felt confident they would survive. We only knew they were behind us. We assumed everyone else made it close to the pass, or at least 2 miles past where we camped.

I wanted to get Bunny moving as early as was safe to disturb her sleep. I set the alarm for 6:30, but didn’t let it go off. It I pretend that it’s later than it really is, I can get her moving. But I also was aware of how close I had cut it on food this time. If Bunny wants a second snack and I don’t have it, I may not make it out alive. My best hope is to get us going early and fast. If I can get us into White Pass before she realizes she is hungry, I can pacify the beast with a slice of Pizza.

We caught up with the work crew after just a couple of miles. What surprised us most was that there were only 4 of them. From the amount of fresh work we have been seeing, we were assuming there was a much larger crew. They have covered many miles of trail. They stopped us as they were clearing a fallen tree off of the trail. They were from all over Oregon and Washington and all had hiked the trail. This is their way of paying back for all they have received during their hikes.

Bunny was moving quite slowly today. Yesterday was very strenuous, almost 7000’ of elevation gain/loss and today was still almost 4000’. The old gal is feeling the strain and combined with poor trail sleep, which is the norm for us, she’s near breaking down. After a day or two of rest, she’ll be back to her old self—cranky and fast. Her pace today gave me a rare luxury, time to talk to people I meet coming our way. I usually am very introverted and I try to push my limits when given the chance. I was talking to a sobo day hiker who had taken a year off when he and his wife got married. They spent 6 months traveling in the USA and 6 months in Asia. They had done the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal like I had done just before Bunny and I met. We got lost in conversation and only moved on when the trail maintenance crew caught up with us.

The trail crew told us we were about to enter a fire zone from last year which was going to slow their progress quite a bit. We had heard that Dixie and her mom are out here now trying to make up the fire closure sections she had skipped when she thru-hiked in 2017. It’s sad to walk through these burned sections. The trees are mostly dead waiting to fall, but may take 20 years to do so. These become dangerous places on windy days or for camping in general. We sped on through trying to get our climb done for the day.

We had been promised a great view of Mt Rainier from the top, and it was delivered. We planned to stop and have our snack and watch Rainier, but before we could drop our packs, we were swarmed by the little she-devils. We tried moving up the trail to a rock slide area thinking they might not be as bad with a total lack of vegetation to hide in. We stopped here to eat. We were wrong on our assumption. We wanted to take our time eating and watch the second tallest mountain in the lower 48 (less than 40’ difference between Whitney and Rainier—another pearl of knowledge the old guys missed out on yesterday). Instead, we gulped down our food and kept going.

Once we crossed the saddle at 6500’, Bunny was convinced there should be goats here, but we couldn’t see any. We were less than 6 miles from pizza and I didn’t want to make any unnecessary stops before PiH (Pizza in Hand). We kept going for another couple miles until we found a nice breezy spot in the shade with a nice view. My worst fears came true when we sat down. Bunny said she was hungry. All I had were a few gu’s. I had to sell the idea that we needed to eat light so we could maintain speed or I was going to die. I read of the list of flavors I had and was saved by chocolate peanut butter. As we were getting ready to go, Horchata caught up to us. We were already expecting he and Dave to be at the pass. They had actually stopped at the pond a mile before where we stopped. We had passed them as they lay sleeping.

Once again, we tried walking with Tom Brokaw. He was on a mission today, and meandering wasn’t part of the mission. He wanted a birthday beer. We did stay with him for 3 of the final 4 miles, but when we got close to the pass, he began the Shawn Perks beer dance. Once Perks felt imminent beer on the Camino, there was no keeping up with him. He beat us to town every night on the Camino as Mr Brokaw did just now.

While we were trying to recover from the beer dance, a newly married couple passed us by. This was Cheeks and Bungee nearing the end of their honeymoon. We talked with them a bit and offered the option that they don’t actually have to go back to work. They could just make a life of hiking like Bunny and I have been trying to do. But the child force was strong with this pair. I felt grandparents-in-waiting just off trail waiting for them to return.

When we caught up with Horchata, he told us all the lodging was full in town because of races this weekend. There was lodging at the pass in the form of vacation rental condos. Bunny and I went up and checked out the options while he waited for Dave. We decided to get a big enough unit that we could accommodate Someday and Wea if they showed up. They did show up, but Wea looked frazzled and close to tears. They just wanted their own space to spread out and crash. We invited them to join us for a hitch into town to celebrate Horchata’s 70th Birthday, but they declined.

It was past 7 by the time we started trying to hitch. mountain passes kind of dry  up of cars after 5ish. I went back and tried to sweet talk the receptionist at the condos to drive us into town when she got off at 8. Everyone was glad we had a ride, but concerned about getting back so late. I had a plan for that as well…let Bunny beg when we were driving down and put Horchata in the front seat to sweet talk her. We offered to buy Grace supper and fill her gas if she’d drive us back up. It worked like a charm. Dave even got hit on by the town drunk/slut. It was a good night for old men.

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Today was payback day. We froze last night because we camped up on an exposed ridge so we’d have enough space for Someday and Wea if/when they showed up. We’ve been battling rain, mosquitoes, flies, cold, aching hips, plantar fasciitis, and loose stools (actually, the last one isn’t a battle since it just slides out effortlessly—better to say streaked underwear…I’m only referring to Bunny here). But today we reaped the reward for all those battles (even with dirty underwear). Today, Washington paid off her debt and even put some cash in the bank.

Bunny and I continued our bad habit of cooking in the tent which will one day ensure that we see a bear. We have quit eating Bear Naked Granola just to be safe. Dan and Fancy Pants took off while we were packing up, but we did beat Dave and Horchata out of camp. It’s nice having older people around that are slow in the mornings. We were hiking before 8. Immediately, the wildflowers began with greater variety and color than we have seen so far. The height of color here seems to be at the same time it is in Crested Butte, CO—right now. It was a little down payment on Washington’s debt to us. Not having mosquitoes was a nice kicker.

It was brisk walking since it still wasn’t even 40. It wasn’t too long before we started running into obvious non-thru hikers. They give themselves away with their fresh smell and fancy clean clothes. When you approach a thru hiker, you can tell from their smell that they are thru hikers (you being the clean, civilized smelling you). When a thru hiker approaches another thru hiker, neither one smells anything since they both have a gamey, uriney, stale poop smell about them that cancels out. But when a thru hiker approaches a day hiker or a weekender, we smell…Axe cologne, talcum powder, tide pods, all with a noticeably missing bodily waste odor. It’s really quite sickening to us. It makes me realize why dogs lick their own butts and sniff each other’s—to cover up the Axe cologne. What is it with twenty year old males? Lay off that crap. I don’t want to have to start sniffing Bunny’s butt (although that will definitely cover up all those town smells, and skunk encounters, for that matter). If you want to make thru hikers happy to meet you, do what Jack Nicholson did in “As Good as it Gets”—carry a little bag of bacon in your pocket.

Horchata caught up with us as we were beginning the first climb of the day. We broke through treeline on Native American lands. Immediately, the views were incredible. This was nothing compared with what was to come, but we did start cancelling some of Washington’s debt.

We were moving slow and soaking in the views. We kept looking back at Mt Adams which kept growing more impressive the higher we went. We crossed a saddle, Cispus Pass, into the next valley for even more amazing sights. The valley was filled with waterfalls on all sides draining down from snow packs above. Until now, we had encountered a few weekender, local, nice smelling types, but here we ran into our kind. There were lots of sobos stretched out along the rim of the valley. We could see for at least a mile ahead with hikers strung out along the way. Some were camping in clumps of trees. Others were sitting below falls eating snacks. I saw one guy get up to filter some water and his pack started rolling down the hill towards the water. He caught it before two things could happen: 1) the pack got wet, and 2) I could get out my camera and film it. The hiker looked remarkably like Blues Clues from a distance. I was thinking of him because we had passed a sobo earlier in the morning that knew him but said he was a week behind.

The three of us stopped by a waterfall to get some fresh water, have an  snack, and wait for Dave to catch up. We thought we could see him entering the valley behind us. Our plan was to wait until he nearly caught up and then take off again just as he thought he was finally up to us. It’s a game stronger hikers do to make weaker hikers feel like crap. Let the weaker ones know their place in the packing order. At least I hope it’s a game and not just everyone trying to ditch me. It happens to me quite a lot. I was very happy for the older guys we have finally found so I don’t have to be the weak link any longer. Dave caught up and we took off. A perfect execution.

We rounded a bend in the trail and started climbing a bit. We had dropped almost 500’ from Cispus Pass and we knew we had another 1500’ climb ahead of us to get to Goat Rocks. It was past noon and our breakfast was wearing off. We decided to climb a few hundred feet up to the next campsite and take a long lunch so we’d be ready to tackle the last big climb. This would give Dave a chance to catch up with us and even take a break before we set out. Horchata (whose real name, by the way, is Tom Brokaw) told us it was his birthday tomorrow. He invited us out to a birthday dinner tomorrow night in Packwood. He really is part of the greatest generation.

We took a nice long break in a shady campsite. We saw Dave walk by and we called out to him. He hesitated and then just walked on. We figured he wanted to get a lead on us. A few minutes later he walked into camp. Someone else was wearing a similar cap and decided they needed to move along faster to get away from the people screaming at him. Once we finished our lunch, Someday and Wea caught up with us. They had camped less than a half mile behind us last night. We were now a group of six heading to Goat Rocks. Someday led the way as he usually does when we set out.

Someday doesn’t walk up a hill. He runs. But he doesn’t run long before he stops to catch his breath. He has a bit of a self regulation problem. Run, stop. Run, stop. In the meantime, the steady walkers pass him up and he falls behind. As I passed him, I asked him if he used to play football. He did. He hikes like he’s playing in a game. Short burst of energy and then rest. No wonder the baseball players always beat the football players on ABC sports team challenges. It wasn’t long before Someday and Wea had fallen behind, but someone forgot to tell the old guys they were old and injured. Bunny and I tried to catch up to them but couldn’t. It’s fortunate for us that Tom Brokaw is a talker. Several people were coming towards us and they had to be interviewed.

Injured Dave, who I am convinced is faking it, took off with Tom and left us in their dust, except it wasn’t dust as we had a few snow fields to cross. There were established foot steps in the snow packs so it wasn’t difficult crossing. It was kind of a refreshing change of pace. You’d expect old guys to be cautious over snow (I know I am and I’m an old guy). These two guys just flew up the hill and didn’t want to hear all my facts about Mt Rainier which had appeared in our view. Pearls like; this is the most dangerous volcano in the lower 48; Mt Rainier is the most glaciated mountain in the lower 48; the most recorded snow in one winter was recorded on Rainier at over 117’; we hiked the Wonderland Trail in 2016; and many more fun facts. In fact, we didn’t see them again after that. I don’t understand their disappearance when I had so many more gems to hear. If I ever see them again, I’ve got some more to share.

Bunny and I made it to the junction of the PCT and the alternate high route. I took one look at the trail and said “hell no.” We had heard the high route was clear of snow while the regular trail was “sketchy.” This was a bit of an understatement. We took the high route and didn’t look back (except to try to see Someday and Wea, look at Mt Adams, and Mt St Helen, and the snow fields—we were looking back so much we damn near walked off a cliff).

On a clear day at 7500’ (where we were) you can see 4 volcanoes: Rainier, Adams, St Helen, and Hood. We had just a little bit of haze and couldn’t see Mt Hood, but it was still amazing. We could see a heard of mountain goats in the valley below us but when we looked forward at the trail, I felt a distinct twisting of my bowels. We had been hearing the term “knifes edge” quite a bit. It was very accurate sounding.

We spent the next couple of hours walking down loose scree, shale, etc on a ridge less than 2’ wide in spaces. We covered 4 miles of serpentining trail where a slip to the left meant certain death, while a trip to the right meant certain death. I am scared to death of heights. I had such an adrenaline rush and great time oscillating on top of the ridge, but I was glad to get down off of it. My legs were shaking from the constant exertion.

We had lost sight of the “old guys” in front of us by the time we got to the end of the knifes edge. The last time we saw them, they were a good mile ahead of us. Injured? My ass! We had a few lower snow packs to cross and saw tents popping up around us, but we had set a goal of 3.5 miles further on, so we kept pushing on. We were both running on empty and autopilot. I finally said “I need a break” and Bunny agreed. We were sitting in a shady spot and Bunny needed a “pee spotter” to go relieve herself. I was too tired to turn my head. In my defense, no one was in my field of view. Bunny came back and admonished me for not doing the job I was supposed to do (I was unwillingly volunteered!). I heard a voice say “Honestly, I didn’t see a thing.”

A young woman came around the curve, saw us, and got excited. She ran to Bunny and gave her a hug. She said “You’re Bunny Tracks and Easily Forgotten. I can’t believe I’m meeting you.” She hugged Bunny. She was really excited to see us. This was Vanessa, aka Wonder Woman. She has been hiking sobo since June 26 and has only taken 1 day off so far. Before she started hiking, she and her husband watched Bunny’s vlog. We have met our first fan on the trail. When she explained all of this to us, it got us excited to know that someone was watching and actually liked our videos.

We said goodbye to Vanessa as she set up her tent. We now had the energy surge we needed to hike the final 3 miles to camp. We came across a pond in 2 miles and I tried to get Bunny to stop. There were a large number of tents already there and a large, loud group. It is the weekend. Bunny got out her whip and started snapping it at the back of my head. She indicated that if I even leaned like I was getting off trail, I would feel much greater pain than if I were to just keep walking (which I did…I’m a scared little man).

It was only another mile. I can always walk just one more mile. As we neared our goal, we saw a man standing on the trail. He indicated a side trail that led to another camp as the spot we were aiming for was filled by a trail maintenance crew. We had seen evidence of fresh maintenance for miles and assumed there must be dozens of people out working. He told me where to find water (another 1/4 mile past camp). Bunny said I could drop my pack before I started the half mile journey to get water. I thought she was concerned about my strength. No, she wanted the tent.

By the time I got back, she had her pad blown up and was relaxing. My pack was a good 50’ from the tent, undisturbed, right where I left it. She told me to hurry up and cook her supper, it’s getting late. She took a nap while I organized the food, made hot tea, cooked supper, and took off my boots. I went to put my boots in the back vestibule of the tent and she screamed at me. “Where in the hell is my supper? Don’t make me get out my whip again!” I cried silent tears while I blew on her food and hot tea to cool it down to the temperature she likes. I learned a long time to keep silent when Bunny is hungry. She has huge nasty teeth. She’s a killer bunny, and I have no holy hand grenade.

Even with the late night and being locked in a tent with a killer bunny, Washington has repaid all of her mosquito and rain debt. She even has a surplus in the bank. We have been in many amazing areas in our travels (Maroon Bells, the Wonderland Trail, and the GR10) which have given us amazing vistas and excitement. Goat Rocks gave us an entire day of excitement. This is an extraordinary place. Without a doubt, the singular most exciting day we have experienced on a long distance trail. I truly believe this area should be a National Park for its amazing beauty. I ground up a few Benadryl in Bunny’s food so I could count on a peaceful night’s sleep. All is well in Washington tonight. The Bunny sleeps tonight.

EFG

It rained all night long without letting up. I finally couldn’t wait any longer and got up to pee 5. It would seem that, although trees provide protection from heavy rains, they continue to drip for hours afterwards. It wasn’t clear and glorious, but it wasn’t raining. I actually have no idea when the rain stopped. I do know exactly when the sobos woke up because they didn’t even try to remain quiet. They were all gone by 6.

Our alarm went off at 6:30 so I just went ahead with my breakfast preparations. I asked Bunny where her wet soak container was so we could have hot granola. She said bottom of her pack, so she had to settle for fresh pastries and coffee (pop tarts and instant coffee, but boiling water made with love). I heard snoring on two sides as I was making breakfast. Bunny to my right and Someday across the camp. Since it had rained most of the night and they don’t have an abundance of rain gear, we decided to just chill and play skip-bo until they woke up.

Around 8 they started stirring about. We kind of figured they’d want to go for shorter miles today in order to have time to dry things out. Someday was all for putting in 15 miles. He said he was cold and wet and preferred to push on to generate heat. We had a shorter option to put as at the base of Goat Rocks tomorrow so we could begin the ascent first thing in the morning. Instead, we will go over Goat Rocks tomorrow afternoon and get into White Pass on Saturday afternoon. The longer day today is the better option for a couple of reasons: the mornings tend to be cloudy so we wouldn’t have any views from Goat Rocks, and Someday and Wea need to make it to Snoqualmie Pass by next weekend. They can’t waste an extra day now.

We took off around 9:15 and said we’d see them down the trail. They still have shy bowels around relative strangers so we let them have some quiet time. We stopped at a meadow by a pond 2 miles down the trail. The sun had finally broken through after two days, so we tried spreading our wet gear out to dry. A nobo, White Rabbit, passed us and said the weather is supposed to be great for the next couple of days. After about 20 minutes, we just couldn’t take the mosquitoes and decided to pack up and go before Someday and Wea caught up.

Even though it wasn’t even 40 when we woke up and it still hadn’t even warmed up to 50 by the time we took our first break, there were still several fool hardy mosquitoes about. We heard some staggering statistics about the number of mosquitoes per hectare and the fact that there just isn’t enough mammalian life to support that number. The little f@$&ers are fighting for their lives. I don’t feel sorry at all that the majority of them will die before they ever get their first taste of blood. When you can’t even pee without getting bitten, no sympathy here.

We took another break in about 2.5 miles. Bunny was insatiably hungry today, so we ate our lunch and next snack at this break. As we were finishing up, Someday and Wea caught up. We had originally chosen the spot because it was in the sun, but the clouds blocked it out again. We walked together for a few minutes until we found another sunny spot. Someday immediately dropped his pack and laid down in the sun. We never saw them again.

We kept going and caught up with White Rabbit again. He was drying all his gear in a sunny spot. We considered joining him except he was wearing a headnet and said the mosquitoes were terrible. We turned to go when Bunny got a ROPA. For those not familiar with the term (since I made it up today), ROPA stands for Random Old Person Ache. This is usually a pain that comes from nowhere, is damn near debilitating, and then goes away almost as fast as it came—all without explanation. I’m sure is probably some internal organ switching over to a backup system. Eventually there are no more backups and then you die. Bunny just took a step closer to death.

In a boat (were spending a lot of time with Canadians these days) another half a mile, we found a wide open rock patch in the full sun without mosquitoes. We decided to dry out all our stuff and wait for Someday and Wea. This became a happening spot. We stayed here for almost an hour drying our gear. White Rabbit caught up and chatted for a bit and then 3 more sobos joined us to dry out their gear. We waited as long as we could, but we’re old and slow and need all the time we can use. They are faster than us and will catch up. We figured they had dried all their gear and were just 10 minutes behind us.

The next 8 miles were easy. Bunny had recovered from her ROPA which had manifested itself in her right Achilles’ tendon. We were making good time for us (2.5 mph—cruisin!). We took a few short breaks but they never caught up. The spot we had agreed upon was just 4 miles away. We figured, they’re young; they’re grown up; they’ve done this before; they’ll catch up. We made our final push which included a 1000’ climb.

We caught up with Dan and Fancy Pants. They had actually stayed behind us last night. We had thought they had passed us once we turned off the trail. I stopped to get a liter of water and when I started going again, I was inflicted with a ROPA. It was the exact same one Bunny had had, except it was in my left heel. I hobbled the final mile to camp trying not to limp (Marcia doesn’t like it when I limp and makes me stop).

Dan and Fancy Pants set up in the spot next to us. We are on a windy ridge above a nice creek. We were a bit worried about Someday and Wea but didn’t know what to do. We set up camp and ate (actually cooking outside of our tent since there weren’t any bugs a boat). Horchata walked into camp asking for a Rabbit Tracks. It was close enough that we assumed he meant Bunny. She was only slightly irritated because bunnies are cuter than rabbits in her world. In my world, they are the same thing. At any rate, he told us that Someday and Wea were about 4 miles behind eating supper when he last saw them. They were trying to get motivated to climb that hill, but he thought they weren’t finding the motivation they needed.

We were relieved to have word that they were ok. Unfortunately, when they decided to go the extra miles today, that kicked in the Bunny appetite and we are now committed to making it to White Pass by Saturday. Bunny has already forced us to eat our reserves and we still have two days to go. As she was munching down a Snickers this afternoon, she tried to tell me I didn’t have to eat mine if I wasn’t hungry. I know the law of the trail. Any passed up food becomes communal food. If I don’t eat my Snickers then, I’ll only get 1/2 Snickers later. Maybe if she hadn’t made me fish those 3 M&Ms out of the pond in France rather than give me one of hers, I might have skipped the Snickers today. Paybacks are hell, even if they take 2 years.

EFG

Weather reports mean absolutely nothing when you’re in the mountains. We checked the forecast before leaving town yesterday which said chance of rain approaching 0 by early afternoon with sunny and clear the next ten days. Today would have been one of those 10 days and not only did we not see any sun, but it drizzled most of the day.

Bunny and I didn’t set an alarm thinking we would hear Someday and Wea moving around which would wake us up. Since it had rained most of the night, I was sleeping pretty solid. I did hear Someday banging pots just like my grandfather used to do when we were down at the cabin. He’d wake up at 5 and want breakfast but didn’t want to “wake” us up. Instead, he’d inevitably knock a stack of pots and pans off the counter. Everyone knew his tricks and would lie still pretending to still be asleep. We always wondered what would be next.

I did hear the pot jingling so I rolled over and started the coffee for my bride. I decided to make a special treat this morning: cafe mocha and fresh pastries from scratch…trail style. That translates to hot chocolate with instant coffee and a new package of strawberry pop tarts. It’s still breakfast in bed made with love. When I looked out the tent to see what Someday and Wea were up to, they were almost completely packed up. It was already past 8!

We hurried up and got going in record time for us. They hit the trail at 8:30 and I was ready (that includes folding up the tent and packing it away) but Bunny still had business to attend to. Unless her hair gets 100 strokes before she puts on her buff, she feels unclean. Even with Bunny’s delay tactics, we were only 15 minutes later leaving.

They were waiting not too far down the trail for us to catch up. Part of the reason they got out before us is that they didn’t eat or dig holes. I guess they don’t feel comfortable enough to evacuate bowels around strangers. On the AT last year, we were aware of everyone’s morning routines including “double barrel Sassy.” It was usually after she emptied the first round that we started getting up. We had a great group routine.

The four of us walked together for a while until Bunny and I fell behind because we were taking so many pictures. Someday drew a message in the trail for us with an arrow…pica. Bunny has been complaining about the lack of wildlife along the trail, so we were happy to even have rodent sightings. Today, we not only bagged a pica, but a chipmunk, and a marmot as well. We’re still hoping for some larger mammals like elk or bear, but we’ll take what we get.

As we rounded a bend and came upon a rocky stream crossing, we saw a familiar looking person sitting uphill eating. I saw he was wearing an AT hat so I thought I’d go talk to him. What happened can be filed under “it’s a small world, but I wouldn’t want to paint it.” I asked when he hiked the AT. He said last year. Then we both said “what’s your trail name? You look familiar.” As soon as he said his name, I remembered meeting him, but couldn’t remember where. He figured that out first. It was Bear Magnet whom we had met at Whitehouse Landing and then again in Millinocket after we summitted Katahdin. He is thru-hiking the PCT as a sobo having just started on June 20. His chances of finishing are much better than ours.

We did eventually catch up with Dan and Fancy Pants at Lava Rock Spring. They had only gone a little over a mile past where we camped last night before they stopped. They said they were dragging today because they hadn’t slept well last night. They just didn’t realize how cold it could get at 6000’ in July and tossed and turned until they put on more clothes. We discussed our plans about where we were going to camp in another 4 miles. They thought they would probably push on past us again.

Someday and Wea decided to take off their boots and soak their feet downstream from the spring. The spring is actually a lava tube channeling snow melt from above us on Mt Adams. They did get in the water, Someday even knelt in it to gets his some cold therapy. I got us some drinking water and know the temperature wasn’t much above freezing.

We all agreed where we were going to camp and pushed on. We were just a little ahead. The rain was on again/off again the rest of the way. Just before we got to our camping spot, we ran into the Canucks (Dan and Fancy Pants) eating supper under a dry tree. They are very disciplined about their bear practices so they don’t eat in their camp and hang bear bags every night. We cook in our tent and sleep with our food by our heads.

We got great spots in the trees just as the rain picked up from a drizzle to actual rain. Bunny and I set up ASAP and then I headed for water. It looked like another night of cooking and eating in the tent. As I was heading for water, a sobo came in looking for tent space. She said there were 3 others coming. There was enough room for all of us under the trees. I got the water and jumped in the tent where I hope to stay until the rain stops. We’re trying to eat non-bear-friendly foods.

EFG

We all decided to maximize our town dollars and signed up for the noon shuttle. Bunny tried to sleep in, but I was wide awake by 7:15. I tried to get her to get up and have breakfast, but I received death threats when I leaned over to her. I know how Bear felt every morning when he had the task of waking Sassy up. What we poor men-folk have to suffer for the privilege of catering to our wives’ every need. Are we appreciated? Do we get acknowledgement? Or is it that we choose to suffer in silence for the benefit of our marriages. Let’s all hear it for Bear and Easy. Can I get an “Amen”?

After being banished to the bathroom for a while (it’s okay, we had porcelain. I didn’t have to dig a hole and lean against a tree while I played Candy Crush), I ventured back in and made another attempt to gently awaken my bride. I got yelled at because she was in the middle of a dream. She needs to wire up an astral projector to her brain so I am able to watch her dreams so that I know when it’s safe to interrupt. She cattily allowed me to buy her breakfast at the cafe down the street. It wasn’t the breakfast in bed she has come to expect, nay, demand, but it will have to do. I even gave her my over easy chicken abortions to try to cheer her up. It helped a little.

After breakfast, we went back to our room, packed up, and did last minute updates to blogs and vlogs until our checkout time arrived. I alternated between popping back down to the cafe to catch up with Someday, Wea, Fancy Pants, and Dan and tending to my wife’s every need while she grew used to the idea that we were going to have to hike again. The month of bussing and hotel living we did on the Oregon Coast has set us back in the expectations column.

There was a full load of 8 in the shuttle heading back to the trailhead. The other two riders were a Swiss couple over here for 6 months to hike the PCT and do some sightseeing if time permits. We talked about Switzerland a bit with them. They seemed like a very nice couple. They had planned on switching jobs, so they quit the ones they had and accepted new positions with delayed start dates so they could hike the PCT. They started hiking from Canada less than a month ago. Since they are sobo, it’s unlikely we’ll run into them again. We got a group picture before we headed in different directions.

Because of our late start, we thought we’d do a smaller mileage day. We had looked at campsites with water in the 10-11 mile range. We were planning on going a bit further than we ended up, but there’s a good reason for that. The weather forecast called for sunshine for the next 10 days with only a 10% chance of rain today. The forecasts are set up a bit different in Washington. We’ve discovered that the percentage given is not the chance of rain, but the amount of the day it is going to rain. When the 10% kicked in on us at 5:30, we just picked the closest site to camp.

The day had started out perfectly for hiking. There was partial cloud cover and cool temps. We had a 2300’ gradual climb from the drop off point. The 6 of us started out hiking together, but we quickly separated into couple according to age. Dan and Fancy Pants are the oldest around 60ish. They are also ultra-lighters, so they outpaced the rest of us pretty early on. Bunny and I are in our mid 50s and have got well over a thousand miles of hiking in, so we were the next group. Someday and Wea are hiking the PCT the most difficult way of all of us. They are doing 3 week section hikes which means their bodies have to readjust to hiking each time they go out. They just started last week, so they were a bit slower to start today.

It didn’t take long for them to get warmed up and pass Bunny and me. We stopped to get some water about 3.5 miles in. I actually had a good scare getting the water. I dropped my pack on the trail and I got turned around trying to get back on trail. I ended up walking about 1/4 mile in the wrong direction. We were in a section of forest that had burned a couple of years ago and there weren’t identifiable trees for me to make note of. I tried calling out to Bunny for help but got no response. I felt a panic swelling up in me like Inchworm must have felt when she got off trail to go to the bathroom. It took 3 years to find her body.

We crossed paths with several sobos and people just out for short trips. All the sobos we met today were flippers from a Kennedy Meadows. We stopped and talked to several. One, Sigh, was originally from Chicago but now living in Denver. Like us, he loved Colorado the first time he visited it as a kid. When he got the chance, he moved there.

As the afternoon wore on, the cloud ceiling dropped and the clouds got darker gray. We had been walking on the shoulder of Mt Adams, but the clouds blocked it from our sight. We had caught glimpses of Mt St Helen to our left and Mt Hood behind us. We even caught a glimpse of Mt Rainier ahead of us. We caught back up with Dan and Fancy Pants sitting on an overlook having their supper. While we were talking to them, it started to sprinkle. It was just a little over a mile to the next campsite, so we hustled on down the trail.

The first spot we found was next to a small pond. There were already a couple of tents set up there. Someday asked if they were in their tents because of the rain or the mosquitoes. They said mosquitoes. We moved on. Homey don’t play that no more.

We found a large campsite by Riley Creek just a couple tenths further. We quickly set up our tents. Bunny did the homemaking while I went to get water. Because of the drizzle, the mosquitoes hadn’t been around. While I was getting the water, it stopped raining and they came back with a vengeance. They hadn’t really been too bad today until then. Wea and I were cooking outside and we all decided it was going to be an in tent dinner night. Dan and Fancy Pants came by while Someday and I were getting water. They decided they wanted to hike another hour and pushed on.

We’ve got another couple to hike with for a few days, but I’m guessing that we are going to lose them this weekend. We have a package from our angel Digit Alice coming in Packwood. We forgot to check on PO hours before we had it sent there. There are no weekend hours and we’ll be arriving Saturday. It looks like we’ll get another zero. Bunny will be so disappointed to not get her breakfast in bed again this Sunday.

EFG

We made the right choice by staying an extra night in town. I almost danced with joy when I got up to pee at 5:30. Not because I got to head to a porcelain toilet, but because it was raining. Nothing is sweeter to a thru-hiker than torrential rains on a night they are staying in a hotel or hostel (on second thought, free food tops the list, but rainy nights when you’re inside is just a tad lower). It wasn’t torrential, but rain is still good. Come to think of it, I do remember a torrential rain when we were in Massachusetts last year on the AT and Bear and Sassy were still out a day behind us. We slept like babies. Very sweet.

As is the intention with a zero day, we had a full day of leisure. We had already showered and done laundry yesterday so I did a little shopping between meals while Bunny worked on videos. The blog just writes itself so I had nothing but free time. I sat by the picnic table outside 5he Trout Lake General Store and talked to a few hikers to pass the time. I met a very interesting sobo by the name of Monomyth.

Seven weeks ago, Monomyth had a successful gym in Milwaukee but his rent for the space had just been raised, he had declining enrollment, 30 contract employees, a condo, high blood pressure, and stressed out. He decided he needed a change. The PCT wasn’t even on his radar. He was very up front with everyone what he was going to do. In a three week period he closed his business, sold his condo, and even dehydrated all the food he would need to do a thru-hike of the PCT.  We met him and his brother who had been hiking with him last night at supper. In just 4 weeks on the trail, Monomyth is feeling great. No stress. No bills. No employees. Loving life again.

We joined Someday, Wea, Fancy Pants, and Dan for super at Trout Lake Inn for taco night. It was a very enjoyable evening with like-minded people that are able to see the absurdities around them. Dan and Fancy Pants are from Canada and told us the truth about their healthcare system. Their monthly contribution has been gradually shrinking and is now down to $37.50/month and is about to be phased totally out. Someday lives in San Francisco and they have a city wide healthcare system where all residents are guaranteed coverage. Only Bunny and I were without. We pay more per capita for healthcare than any other nation on earth and get lessor results. The Republicans want to turn back ACA (which was modeled on a Republican plan) and don’t offer any alternatives. It’s ridiculous that 20% of money we spend on healthcare doesn’t even go to healthcare. Big relief to all my Republican friends, we’re starting to take a closer look at Canada and adding it to our list of possible places to settle. I make no bones about it, I am an ABT this cycle.

There’s lots of things that bewilder me. First and foremost is how two people can witness the same event and see two totally different things. Over my life, I have been a Republican then switched to being a Democrat and am now a GDI. The two party system is a failure. Our government no longer works for our people but only works for the interests of the super-rich. Both political parties are corrupt and only work for their own re-election so they can continue to suck the tits of the billionaire class. The so called “death tax” was instituted to prevent an hereditary royal class. Since Eisenhower, the goal of the rich has been to take away those protections and they have nearly completely succeeded.

This is a danger with me having too much free time in a town…I start looking at the news again and get thinking about all this crap that is out of my control. I get depressed and can’t wait to get unplugged and back on the trail. I can hardly wait until the shuttle picks us up. I’ve only got one vote (since I moved out of Chicago) and the Supreme Court has made it abundantly clear that my vote doesn’t count. I have never been as disappointed or embarrassed for my country than I have been the last 3 years. God help me…I miss W.

EFG

Enjoy Episode #14 from Bunny

Are we becoming morning people? Or maybe we just can’t stand the smell of ourselves so much that we both woke up 5 minutes before we thought our alarm was going off. I say “thought” because someone set the alarm for the wrong time. It was Bunny’s iPad we were using, so, for simplicity sake, we’ll just blame her. All this after we both got up in the middle of the night to perform a camp perimeter check. I marked right while Bunny marked left. The relief we felt was so intense when we found out it was only 12:30 and we had 6 more hours of sleep ahead of us. We’d only been in bed for 4 hours. We were both concerned with our shortened night of sleep.

We have already perfected our complete, in the tent, breakfast/pack-up routine. We were all ready to go by 7:40—a record early start for us on the PCT. A big contributor to our progress comes from the fact that we are heading into town so we have porcelain in the near future and don’t have to endure the whole digging of hole/thousand bites on the ass routine. Sadly, not both of us have the bowel control I developed while attending Boy Scout camp. It was not uncommon for me to hold it for an entire week until I could return to my “home field advantage.”

Chandler was a bit slower than us breaking camp. She caught up to us as I was pacing back and forth on the trail waiting for Bunny. I stopped dead when I saw her and asked “did you hear that?” She stopped and tried to listen. “I’m sorry. It must have stopped. I don’t hear anything.” “It was just nature calling Bunny.”

We made it to the pickup point with 15 minutes to spare. Another couple from Sweden arrived a few minutes behind us. They are averaging 25 miles per day and are planning on heading back out today. As I thought might happen, Patrick “First One” was returning to the trail. He saw us and gave us a thumbs up. Amazon had still sent him a charger and he had put our name on it. Our battery woes were over. Seven people got out of the truck and five got back in and we picked up another two just a mile down the road.

Doug, our trail angel driver, dropped us off right at the general store. We went right in and were able to get one of the hiker rooms upstairs for two nights to allow Bunny’s hips some recovery time. We have a room with a shared bathroom for only $30/night. Misha, who we met yesterday ended up with the other room. Misha is from Seattle and is hiking all of Washington in 30 days. It was only 9:15 and we were done hiking and knew where we were going to spend the night, so on to food.

Trout Lake is limited on eating establishments. In fact there’s kind of a monopoly in town with the Gas station/espresso bar/cafe so it didn’t take us long to decide. We chose to try out the huckleberry pancake breakfast since we’ve been hearing so much about huckleberries. They taste like blueberries but look like elderberries. After a leisurely breakfast, we headed back to our room to do laundry and shower.

It was a leisurely day where we just hung out and waited for other hikers to come and go. It was very reminiscent of Werner Springs earlier this year. Until we got there and started meeting other hikers, we had felt pretty much alone on the trail. We met probably a dozen other hikers but the majority are heading south. Hero showed up around noon and told us Wea and Someday should be in soon. We ended up meeting them for supper at the cafe.

EFG

Dehydration is one way to keep me from getting up through the night. Swarming mosquitoes appears to be another. I found a simple solution…just tell Bunny I spilled the nalgene water bottle and not to worry about the tent floor. In my mind, I helped to sterilize the tent floor. Bunny is always worried about how dirty the tent is. I’m just doing my part.

We were warned about bugs in Washington, but this is beyond ridiculous. At any given time, there was more than a hundred mosquitoes hanging out on each of the screen doors. Not to mention the thousands flying around in case backup was needed. The constant humming of the mosquitoes was an additional mind-fuck I wasn’t prepared for. It is so bad when we’re hiking that mouth breathing guarantees bugs in mouth. I suppose I should look on the positive side and say the trail is providing a free source of protein, but you do have to wonder who/what’s blood you are ingesting.

Stopping? Fagedaboudit. If you’re moving about 2mph, that’s generally fast enough that the mosquitoes will leave you alone, but then there’s the crane fly swarms. I’d be the first to say this isn’t enjoyable, but Bunny beat me to it with her backup chorus of “I want a house and my own bed…” A few other sobos have told us they have been setting up their tents when they want to take a break. That’s what we did today and it did work out. We were able to take off our boots, have a snack, and even get in a short nap. We’ve got our routine down to where we just have a few minutes of hell while we’re packing up the tent.

There are birds walking the trail with us. They appear to be some sort of flycatchers that eat mosquitoes. They are eating so much that they can’t even lift off the ground anymore. I heard one say “I wish I wore pants so I could loosen my belt.” Does this sound like fun to anyone? It snot. The last day and a half is the closest I’ve come to quitting since we started hiking. While we were relaxing in the tent at lunch, I imagined going back to work. In other words, I had a waking nightmare. In that scenario, I quit exercising and continued like I currently am on the trail so I could die from diabetes complications before I put in too many years. I did imagine one scenario where we moved to Portland, ME. Bunny dumbed down her career to a nurse and I went to work for LL Bean. It was/is plausible.

In the most ironic twist of the day, we stopped at Mosquito Creek to fill up with water. It was the first relief we had had from the little bitches (remember, only the female bites you, I am pronoun correct if nothing else) up until then. I was talking to another hiker lamenting about the mosquitoes and the general trail conditions that have put us here in Washington. This is not the way I wanted to hike the PCT. She said no one is hiking the trail they wanted to this year, but we are adapting the best we can. She also told me she moved out here from Ohio a few years ago, and, yes, this is how it will be all summer long in the mountains…if you camp near lakes. The trick is to not select campsites near water.

This realization that not just our hike is screwed up, almost everyone’s is. Of course, there will be a few diehards that battle straight through. A few of their bodies have been pulled out of the Sierra and some more have been rescued, but some are making it. The vast majority of us are changing/adapting. Misery loves company and we do have plenty of company, or are at least starting to run into other hikers to make us see it. At long as other people are miserable and having a lousy time, I’m okay with it.

We did meet another hiker, Chandler, who offered to share a ride with us into town in the morning. We’ve had phone battery issues and our phone is just about dead. We do have a battery pack, but it has failed. If we hike an extra couple of miles tonight, we’ll have a guaranteed ride into town and will no longer have to worry about the phone dying. Just a couple of small things and I’m feeling more optimistic already.

From that point on, we got away from standing lakes and the hiking was much better. Sure, mosquitoes and flies still found us when we stopped moving, but only in the tens not the tens of thousands that darken the skies around the mountain lakes. We filled up on water at Trout Creek and walked an additional 3 miles that we hadn’t planned on walking today. That means we hiked over 50 miles in 3 days. This is the pace we need to hike for the rest of the year. The pace Bunny has been pushing for us to hike. The pace we need to hike if we’re going to make Trail Days. The pace we clearly are capable of hiking. The pace that Bunny no longer wishes to hike.

One of the things we talked about at lunch, when we were lying in our tent, was that we are giving up on the idea of finishing our thru-hike of the PCT. We’re not quitting, just accepting the fact that at the end of the year, we will not be “thru-hikers”, but will be low-like section hikers—failed thru-hikers—that only hiked about 1800 miles. Not a bad amount, but still a fail for the goal we set out to do.

In the end, we camped in another mosquito meadow having passed up a mosquito-free zone by Trout Creek. The big difference is, we got our act together this time. We set up the tent and jumped in in less than 3 minutes. Only two mosquitoes made it in with us and they quickly became our favorite kind of mosquito…dead. We’ve decided we’d rather cook and eat in our tent to avoid the sure thing of being eaten by mosquitoes rather than dealing with the remote possibility of being eaten by a bear. I am a gallant husband. I sleep with the food on my side of the tent, but I Place Bunny’s dirty socks on the food bags. Anything willing to go through those smelly things for the food must be desperate enough to really need it.

EFG