Well, it’s actually Wednesday the 28th, and I’m four days behind on journaling, so I’ll try to recap instead of writing all the details, so I can get caught up and back in the present! Sunday morning we were on the trail by 7:30 am. It was surprisingly warm where we slept next to the trail on a saddle, next to the ridge. As soon as we began climbing out of the saddle the trail, still in the shade on the eastern facing ridge, was covered with heavy frost and hoar frost.
We made a couple ascents on exposed ridge with great views of Red Peak and Snoqualmie Peak. Seven miles from I-90 we could see the busy interstate far below and could hear the sound of the big rigs using their Jake brakes as they wound down from the pass. On the gentle five to seven mile descent we encountered day hikers coming up for a Sunday hike. We started counting and projecting, at first, that we would see twenty hikers. Those number forecasts kept having to be revised as we passed by more and more day hikers. By the time we reached the Snoqualmie Pass parking lot at the trailhead, we had encountered 96 day hikers, 8 dogs and 4 babies. What stark contrast to the last 260 miles with only long distance PCT hikers and a few section hikers!
We got to the Summit Lodge parking lot just as Tabasco’s friends, Carrie and Tim, pulled in from Seattle, only an hour’s drive to our west. At the same time, four of our fellow long distance PCT hikers, who had gotten off trail and didn’t finish their thru-hikes, surrounded us. Andy and Cheley (High Volume and Fuu), who I had met at the Saufleys, and Garbage Man and Undertoe, who I hadn’t met, but knew of, had lots and lots of food for us, while Tabasco’s friends had brought us beer. We sat on the warm, sunny pavement in the middle of the motel parking lot and ate and drank for two hours.
Then I secured a room and Tabasco and I both took showers, while his friend Allison visited with us from Seattle. Late afternoon Tabasco left for Seattle, while I worked on gear and resupply items. Todd (Lost), who I met back at Tuolomne Meadows, came by the room and visited for awhile and brought me extra food. Debi arrived just after 7pm. We ate dinner downstairs at the lodge’s restaurant, then returned to the room for the balance of the evening. Today’s weather: sunny, low 32; high 65. Today’s mileage: 9.2. Cumulative mileage: 1576.2.
Also, we met two other NOBO’s today at the lodge: Dat and Bob-O.
