Day 108, Friday, July 19. TM 2283.8, Tieton Pass Tentsite—(14.6 miles)

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