This morning Tabasco and I slept in. Really! We didn’t get up until 8:30 and finally hit the trail at 9:25, my latest start yet. And we joked that we both needed a zero mile day to recover from our zero mile day. Frankly, the trail today was the pits. It was the Section O of Washington, referring back to Section O in Northern California that all the thru-hikers hated. We seemed to drag all day, cussing and fighting steep climbs and descents not shown at all in the data book. I think three times this morning we climbed 500 feet above the highest point listed in the data book for that section and equally as many times we dropped lower than data points. Today was lots and lots of PUD’s, crossings of dozens of logging roads, in and out of numerous clear cuts, and poor views relative to spectacular trail north of Snoqualmie Pass all the way to Canada.
We did manage to celebrate Tabasco’s crossing of the 2000 mile mark with a nip of Scotch. Another highlight the last couple days has been low flying fighter jets on maneuvers through canyons, roaring just over us at high speed. Yet another highlight was a dead rabbit lying on the trail. We passed by the poor creature, then I suggested we back up and take a photo of him, along with a dead bottle of Tabasco. Great pic, and it should definitely appear on the website as a symbol of today’s ridiculous hike.
We did get some trail magic in the form of a water cache left by fellow thru-hiker, Cookie Monster, in the 14 mile waterless stretch we dealt with today. Heavy packs, tired hikers, PUD’s, steep trail, and clear cut…great trail today! NOT!!! O.K., we got great views briefly today of Mt. Rainier, which is now very close. We saw no humans at all today.
This evening we rolled into camp again by night hiking until 7:30pm, second night in a row. We weren’t even sure about the data book’s reference point until I faintly heard the trickle of the nearby spring. Though not referenced in the guidebook, thankfully we found a piece of flat ground, sometimes hard to come by, to set up tents. Not as cold tonight. We ate sitting on a log and had a small amount of single malt before heading to our tents. Miraculously I have written four day’s journal entries and can now go to sleep knowing I’m caught up on that never ending task of capturing the day’s events and adventures on paper.
It’s now 10:30pm, way past hiker midnight, and I really don’t want to get up to answer nature’s call. Rain or snow is finally on the way, but still tomorrow may be a better hiking day. 300 miles of Washington is done, thank goodness. O.K. today’s weather: sunny early, cloudy late. Today’s miles: 23.0; cumulative 1617.8.
