Our tent was in a little depression last night. It wasn’t because we folded it up wet and put it away like that, although we did. The depression wasn’t a mental state of the tent, it was a concave indentation in the ground. It turned out to be quite comfy except for when Bunny tried to hog my sleeping pad.
The alarm went off at 6:30, so I got out of the tent to do a fire check before starting breakfast. A proper fire check involves wetting down all the area around the tent before lighting the stove. When hiking the AT last year (you know the rules), Bear and Sassy had a Big Agnes tent. I took it upon myself to properly prepare their tent and cooking area for them to cook. (I have issues with Big Agnes.) Charcoal B and Struggles also have a Big Agnes tent. It was my intention to properly soak their tent, except they already had it folded up and packed away. I hosed down the area across the trail from our tent. I don’t feel a need to hose down our own tent in the mornings since I thoroughly saturate the area around it throughout the night.
I got back in the tent and woke Bunny up. I was concerned that Charcoal B and Struggles are starting to act more like thru-hikers than we are. At 6:30, they’re nearly ready to leave. Bunny shared this concern by saying “wake me up when the coffee and food are ready and not a moment before. Don’t make me mad. You know what happens to you when I get mad.” I do know and it’s not pleasant. Let’s just say my lack of hair is not all due to natural acts.
When everything was ready, I woke Bunny up according to protocol…”Your Grace, thy food is ready and your humble servant is standing by to make sure your day begins perfectly.” She still bitch slapped me out of pure malice. I looked out the tent before I started to cry. I don’t like to have people that don’t like me see me cry. It emboldens Bunny. It appeared Charcoal B and Struggles were gone. I got out of the tent to cry because Bunny doesn’t want any whimpering while she eats. CB and Struggles were still there.
They pretended not to hear what had transpired between Bunny and I. In fact, they took steps to complete the final step in tramily formation. They told me where they pooped and told me to avoid the areas with “X’s” on the ground. I proceeded to the graveyard to see so many X’s that I climbed on up the hill so I wouldn’t run the chance of digging up someone else’s pile. By the time I returned, Bunny was out of the tent and happy. CB told us that their tent had broken on him when he got up to pee around dark (more tramily bonding). He had tried to sleep, but was so worried that he made Struggles start getting ready at 4 so they would have time to try to work on a repair for the tent.
After all the X’s had been added to the yard, we were ready to leave. The day started out in the manner that benefits sore feet…we forded the creek beside our camp in our camp shoes. It was so cold that it woke us up completely but chilled our feet so we were chill. Nobody fell even though I had my camera at the ready. On the other side of the creek, we received news of I’m With Him and Bingo Bongo. Bingo had been sighted up the trail by some sobos yesterday, so they got reunited and all was well.
Bunny is not a detail person. Sometimes, I can use this to my advantage. I told her that if she’ll agree to go 16 miles, she’ll only have to do one climb. She agreed without looking. I was true to my word. Today was just a 3000’ climb up over 7 miles followed by a 9 mile easy downhill of the same amount. The four of us walked together for the first 4 miles, but we decided to push on when they stopped for a break. We still had 12+ miles to go, and they were planning on stopping around 10.5 miles for the day. We said our goodbyes assuring each other that we would meet again.
Bunny flew up the next mile and I just drafted off of her air wake. It wasn’t quite enough air that we missed out on a new hell that Washington has decided to throw our way…flies. Like all flies, they get a big thrill out of buzzing around your ears. The best part about them is not that they bite, but that they are incredibly slow. It’s not at all uncommon to kill more than a dozen when you take a break. In fact, it’s very satisfying to send them on to their next lives. I truly wonder if the Dali Llama could refrain from killing these little life rejects.
At a nice overlook back at where we had been, we met a young couple that had just gotten married a couple months ago but were getting ready to tie the not again. Like a shower on a hot day, the first one just didn’t take. They got married at the beginning of summer in Switzerland so his family could attend and they’re getting married here in about a month so her family can attend. I really wished I had a pack of doublemint gum I could have given them. While talking with this couple, up walked Charcoal B and Struggles. Our separation had failed.
We told them where we were eating lunch and hoped to see them there. We took off as they were sitting down for another break. They try to break every mile throughout the day. There were so many switchbacks today that the map looks like the results of a Donald Trump lie detector test—the trail is swinging back and forth as it climbs.
A few switchbacks up, we passed a sobo. Just as we made it past, he turned and said “I know you guys, you’re from Cape Girardeau and hiked the AT last year.” This hiker is a fellow Missourian (Moron for short for those who still live there). We met Jordon, aka Ghost on the AT, at Rock-n-Soul hostel in PA. This makes the fifth person we’ve met this year. We also got a little more insight as to why people seem to be a little on edge today. Ghost told us there is another female hiker, Toasty Hands who is from the Poplar Bluff area in SE Missouri. Ghost is from Farmington. That makes 4 people from SE Missouri with a 4 mile stretch of trail on the PCT. People are getting upset having to defend and prove everything they say with 4 from the “Show Me” state so close together.
Bunny and I finished up our climb and went to where we had told Charcoal B and Struggles we were going to eat lunch…an alpine lake at the top of the climb. They didn’t show up before we were done eating. We were half way now and had to keep pushing to make up for our slow start this morning. We met 4 sobos in quick succession, the third being Toasty Hands. We freaked her out a bit. When we saw her coming, we said “you look like you’re from around Poplar Bluff, MO.” (In this case, I really did say this to all the girls). After chatting a bit, we all moved on.
From Ghost, we knew she was hiking with a Scotsman. A couple minutes later, we ran into a guy. As soon as he said hello, I said “I know that accent. What part of Scotland are you from?” When he said an island off the northwest coast called Isle of Skye. This gave us plenty to talk about since we have been there when we completed the West Highland Way and met two of our best friends, Peter and Marcia from Maine. We told him we thought the best Indian restaurant we’ve ever eaten at was in Portree. It turns out, they sponsor a sports team he is on so his picture is on the wall. I didn’t remember seeing it because everywhere we looked some hotshot William’s picture kept appearing.
Even though the last 9 miles were an easy downhill, old Bunny was feeling every step and begging to stop. I was ready to stop, too, but I know if I’m in pain, Bunny is in more pain. If she wants to stop, I can acquiesce and get some brownie points. That’s the theory but it never works out that way. We took a couple of water breaks and shortened our goal for the day by a mile. Unfortunately, there weren’t any campsites around, so we ended up going the same distance we had planned.
The last couple miles went slow, not because we were dragging, but because we hit a huge stretch of ripe huckleberries. If we walked slow enough (this is easy for us), we could pick berries as we walked. I could feel the energy building back up in me and felt like I could go a couple more miles until we got to the campsite we had been aiming for. There were already two tents set up and they told us the next site was a couple of miles. The huckleberry energy evaporated just when I needed it most. I sent Bunny down to plead our case and beg a spot for us.
We set up in the entrance to the site so no one can get out without tripping over our tent. I prepared supper outside while Bunny took care of the beds and arranging the tent (as she always does). We had already gotten water and filtered it about a mile before in the hopes of taking the next available spot. I sat outside and cooked until she was ready for me inside. I passed in everything, and, once again, we ate in our tent. We’re just never going to see another bear.
EFG
My wife and I met Toasty Hands at church this Sunday, August 25th.
We spent the afternoon with her, got her fed, took her shopping and back on the trail at Timberline Lodge. She was heading South, through the section my wife and I did back in 2006, Timberline to Crater Lake.
You are now, officially, trail angels. I know Toasty Hands was appreciative of the time you spent with her. We will soon be in that area as well. We have made it to Canada and are spending time visiting friends until we flip back south from Cascade Locks.