This is supposed to be the best time to be hiking in Washington. It’s summertime. The bugs are gone. The flowers are at the height of their color (or just slightly past). It’s not raining. So why are my nads trying crawl up into my abdomen every night. What makes it even worse is that the cold kicks my kidneys into high filter mode, causing me to get up multiple times a night. Bunny tried to tell me how to pee and how often to pee. I’ve learned one very valuable lesson from this experience…take no advice on peeing from someone without a prostate.
There were large animal sounds just outside of the tent throughout the night. I had anticipated this possibility so I had taken the necessary precautions—I had stashed the food and garbage on Bunny’s side of the tent. The sound of steps was very unsettling. I shined my light outside several times trying to scare away whatever animal was out there. I only caught Charcoal B one time trying to pee on our tent. Apparently, I hadn’t been as stealthy as I thought when they had a Big Agnes tent. In the morning, we only found deer prints around the area.
I made it a point to be the first out of camp today. I was motivated. I was bloated. I was walking with clenched cheeks. I was in need of relief. There’s a pit latrine in just a couple of miles. My body has a “window of opportunity” to achieve equilibrium and comfort. I’m on a tight window and I want to make it before it closes. I could have dug a hole and gotten immediate relief, but I like a challenge. The challenge was getting Bunny to speed up.
Since it’s a weekend, there were lots of day hikers about. The first we ran into were Donna (aka Judge) and Mike (aka 70s Spirit) who told us about magic they had placed ahead…beer in a cooler at the road. They are section hiking the PCT sobo and are just about finished with WA. We also ran into several NFS rangers and volunteers that were doing a cleanup hike of camping areas down to Rainy Pass. We also talked to a couple from Spokane who began advocating for east WA as a place to settle when we get done hiking.
I normally enjoy talking to fellow hikers, but, I was on a mission. It’s 5.7 miles to a pit latrine, trash can, and picnic table from where we camped last night, and my window does not have a “lock” in the open position. In fact, the window track is slightly loose and I can feel it starting to slide down to the closed position. Trust me, today I am definitely dealing with a double hung window. In reality, I’m very happy the only thing I’m feeling is the window sliding closed and not something sliding down the back of my legs. We need to go. I couldn’t take the time to even look for the free beer. I can’t think of a better indicator of my urgency than that.
Mission accomplished at Hart’s Pass! While we were sitting down for lunch afterwards (hikers shouldn’t smoke, but this was a cigarette moment for me if ever there was one), CB and Struggles showed up. Not too far behind them was another hiker…Judy “Heart Fire.” Through the course of the conversation, we discovered that Judy is the founder/owner of Light Heart Equipment. Her tent is one of our three finalists for our next tent. We sat and talked Gear with her for a while.
It was a mini reunion at lunch. Travis and Sam showed up. They had gotten a hitch from Mazama and are going to finish tomorrow. Snow Dog and Strider strolled in. They plan on finishing Monday and have no plans, this year, to make up any of the sections they skipped. Judy is also planning on finishing up tomorrow. She has just done the WA section and that’s all she wants to hike of the PCT. The four of us are planning on making it to Manning Park on Tuesday so we can clean up and do laundry before Pete picks us up on Wednesday. If we’re going to be in a confined space with an non-thru hiker, we should at least go easy on his nose. Pete does hike, but he’s more of a comfort day hiker. He likes to de-funk at the end of every day and sleep in a bed. He’s becoming soft in his advanced years.
It continued to be cold without sun after lunch. We did get a short burst of sun, but, for the majority of the afternoon, we had to hike with our rain jackets, hats, and gloves. There was less 7 miles left after lunch, all of it dry. We were worried about water since we hadn’t run across any all day. When we did finally find some mud on the trail, we chose to hike down, off trail to find enough to filter. It was less than an half mile to camp (which might or might not have water). We chose to play it safe.
My whole morning revolves around a latrine run. Bunny was well aware of my plight (as was everyone we met along the way). We had shot out of camp with neither of us digging holes. We stopped for lunch where there was a nice, clean, peasant smelling privy. Once again, Bunny demurred. Two miles AFTER we left the latrine, Bunny got the urge. I honestly believe she has the heart (and bowels) of a mountain woman.
We arrived at 5:15, set up, and cooked. CB and Struggles showed up at 6. They provided a dinner show while we ate. Charcoal used to be a bartender and one of his regulars was a picky customer by the name of Loraine. With the on and off rain we have endured the last couple of days, we have been humming “I can’t stand the rain,” but now after hearing how Charcoal and his crew had sang the song, I can’t get the ear worm out of my head…🎶“I cant stand Loraine” 🎶
The temperature dropped fast tonight. We tried to stay up until CB and Struggles we’re ready for bed, but my hands never did recover from filtering the water. Washington is almost done. We just need two 12s to make it to the border leaving us an easy 8 on Tuesday. I suggested we try to push for 2 14s and leave a 4 got on Tuesday. The plan was actually voted down 4-0. Even though my hands are cold, it does seem a bit warmer tonight so far but we’re only at 6200’. I tried to fall asleep, but my mind was serenading me 🎶“I cant stand Loraine” 🎶. This must stop. Benadryl has become my “go to.”
EFG