1:30am. I awoke to the very unpleasant sound of gunfire. It was close by and I realized by the third shot that it was a handgun fired from a vehicle on the highway at highway signs. Very scary moments as I waited for a ricochet to hit me or Tabasco. After several shots the vehicle moved down the highway and I didn’t sleep well the rest of the night. This morning we got up and packed wet gear and began hiking around 8am.
The road walk took us to Carson, WA, and we stopped at a convenience store for a mid-morning snack and some Gatorade. From there we continued on a winding, curvy highway with lots of tight rails, that were in places pretty dangerous hiking. After several miles we arrived in Stevenson, WA, where we stopped at Joe’s El Rio Mexican restaurant for a large lunch and to escape yet another brief rain shower. From there we hiked across the Columbia River, after a few more miles leaving the great state of Washington behind, after over 500 miles on the trail.
We were excited to be done with Washington and we crossed the Columbia River on the Bridge of the Gods, a toll bridge for cars, free for us (though it was a two lane crossing with no pedestrian crossing). On the Oregon side of the gorge we took some photos, then sat outside a tourist trap restaurant/gift shop at the Cascade Locks, waiting for Debi to pick us up. She showed up around 4pm after leaving straight from work in Portland. She drove us to Hood River, then the back way up Hwy 35 to Government Camp on Mt. Hood. Her friend, Venessa, drove up from Portland to meet us at Eric and Ashley’s condo and we arrived at precisely the same time.
After Tabasco and I spent time in the condo laying out gear to dry and getting laundry going, the four of us went to the Mount Hood brewery/restaurant for dinner and drinks. We had a great time there, then stopped by the convenience store for some beer and returned to the condo. Venessa hung out with us until around 9pm before returning to Portland to get ready for her workday. Debi stayed overnight as she has the day off tomorrow and will be driving us up to Timberline Lodge tomorrow morning so we can hike north, back to Cascade Locks. We had an enjoyable evening and once again it was so nice to be showered, warm, dry, and to have our laundry clean and gear dry. Today’s weather: partly sunny, couple of brief showers. Low 44, high 60. Today’s miles: 33.5; cumulative: 1822.4.
