Last night was a rough night. Some rodent-type critter, bigger than a guinea pig, kept coming under my tarp, trying to get into my stuff. I kept waking, scaring him off, only to have him return as I was falling asleep once more. So at 3am I took all my gear out of the fly set up, took it down, erected the tent, put the fly back on, put all my gear, except hiking poles inside, and crawled back in. Sure enough, 10 minutes later he was back, and I heard him moving my poles around, so I brought them inside, too! He circled the tent and I guess finally gave up and I got some good sleep. Tabasco woke me at 6:15, and I didn’t want to get up. I did anyway, and noticed, while packing, that the little sucker chewed on the grips of my poles, apparently to eat the salt covered rubber.
My right heel was so painful hiking out of camp that I limped the first mile, falling farther and farther behind Tabasco. Finally it numbed a little and Tabasco stopped and waited for me to catch up, suggesting I put something else on my foot. So I added a second piece of duct tape, the only thing that will stick to my sweaty feet for a full day, and sucked it up and kept hiking. We hiked at a moderate pace on the general downsloping trail, stopping to talk to a guy finishing last year’s thru-hike, cut short due to a stress fracture in his foot (sound familiar?).
We pushed on a few miles, then met my friend Chubbs, her boyfriend, John, and another thru-hiker I hadn’t met, named Tyson. It was great to catch up with Chubbs, the last of the Potluck Posse I’ll see (already saw Panda and Gloves. Jackhammer left the trail early with shin splints and a deadline to return to school). At 10:45 we reached the Stehekin Road crossing, a gravel road which for two miles towards town was washed out in the October 2003 flood and is still closed. Tabasco and I road walked the two miles plus another half mile to the Stehekin Ranch, where we stopped to wait for the 12:15 shuttle bus to town. While there we sat in the large, rustic sawdust-floored dining area with common seating (long tables and benches) and visited with the day hiking vacationers that come out every fall to do hikes in the Cascades.
At 12:15 we got on the school bus, paid our $5 fare for the 10 mile ride down the solitary gravel road which eventually became one-lane pavement, and were dropped off at the end point where the Stehekin Lodge, restaurant, store and cabins are located next to the boat landing of Lake Chelin. Oh, gosh, I almost forgot. On the way down to the lodge (which IS town), we stopped at the Stehekin Bakery for fabulous baked goods, a five minute stop along the route. I bought, from the “day old” rack, a cherry pie and chocolate muffin as well as a slice of fantastic pizza. I ate the pizza on the bus.
When we got to the lodge we went straight to the restaurant where I ate a large burger and fabulous clam chowder. Topped it off with chocolate milk from the store next door. After lunch we walked to the tiny visitor center building (8x8?) and made dinner reservations for the Ranch back up the road. From there we visited the post office where I collected my resupply box, a letter from Portland (Yea!) and forwarded the bounce box. I spent another hour or more there going through the resupply box and getting mail ready to go back out. Time was slipping away and we had to be at the landing area to catch the 5:30 bus. Tabasco and I stopped briefly at the store, then went to the public shower (only one) for the whole community. Stehekin is so remote we had to wait for the lone shower and the lone public phone, a satellite phone. I was able to call Ashley and Debi, but it was difficult to hear with poor reception and was frustrating to use….at least there was no additional charge beyond the calling card charge. The free hot shower was refreshing and I washed clothes as well as me.
We quickly returned to the store for a six pack of New Belgium Fat Tine Amber Ale to split with dinner and got the bus to the Ranch. Dinner was great and we were able to get seconds and thirds and entertained folks with trail stories and gear recommendations as we ate. Some kind folks next to us shared their son’s birthday cake with us to complement the meal. Rather than pay $75 each for a wall tent with no electricity or heat (lodge was even more money), we hiked off the ranch property, crossed the gravel road, and are camping tonight right next to the large river in a large flat wooded campsite with a 30 foot long picnic table, the largest I’ve ever seen. No other thru-hikers are in town tonight. Free camping is good, and tomorrow we’re 3 minutes from breakfast at the ranch. It was a good day despite painful hiking, no internet available, and poor phone reception. There is NO cell phone reception so far anywhere in Washington. Today’s weather: cloudy, low 43, high 68. Today’s miles: 9.7; cumulative 1403.9.
