White Pass to Snoqualamie Pass... Trail Magic!!

So this week I had all 5 days but I could only get 98 miles in because the next easy pickup was another 75 miles, which I did not feel like I could do.  Again, my mom, along with her friend Charlotte drove me up after my class last Tuesday, got me to the trailhead about 9 am on Wednesday.  The first day was a rough one, I was really tired, but I got through it and managed to get 23 miles in.  I ended up sleeping for a full 12 hours that first night, but once I was up and going I didn't stop for about 4 hours.  Late in the afternoon I ran into Bloodbank and Jubel and later discovered that they were heading to the Ulrich cabin that night, so I decided to go for it too.  It was a good 30 mile day, although a little smoky.  The night was great though, when I arrived at the cabin, Robert, a guy from Leavenworth was out for the night on his dirtbike and he had some extra food for hikers.  Robert made eggs with pepperjack cheese for the 4 of us there, it was me, the 2 I had run into earlier and another thru-hiker named Scooter, then later on he had a little peanut butter snickers bar for each of us as well, it was quite the treat!!  The 4 of us slept in the cabin and were woken  up intermittently in the night by the mice running around, but other then that it was a nice indoor sleep.  The next morning, I was up and out of there a little before the others, who were hanging around while Robert made them coffee, which I decided I didn't need, opting for my caffeinated crystal light instead.  Around 11 Jubel cruised past me, then a little while later, Scooter stopped and had a little snack with me and we chatted a little bit about how he hadn't gotten water at the last source and we still had about 10 miles to the next.  I had a little to spare and offered it to him but he wouldn't take it.  A couple minutes later we came upon a road, and while looking at the view a little jeep came cruising up and Scooter decided to ask them if they had water... It turned out the 2 guys were awesome, they gave us each a sandwich and a beer, along with plenty of water to get us the next 10 miles comfortably.  This day was not the greatest hiking, it was through the 'clear-cuts' which just aren't very pretty, and it was a little smoky, and it actually started to rain on me for the first time near the end of the day.  It was a very light drizzle though, and I managed to get my tent up and dinner cooked without getting to wet, and the tent kept me nice and dry throughout the night.  The next day (Saturday) I had 20 miles to go to get to Snoqualamie Pass, so I waited awhile in my tent, hoping the rain would let up a little.  I got going around 8:30, hiked for maybe 2 miles in a light rain before coming to more trail magic at Stampede Pass!!  I was treated to a seat under a tarp for an hour, not to mention a breakfast burrito, a brownie, and a cookie by the Stumbling Norweigian and Honeybee, it was amazing and I probably would have stuck around longer if I didn't have a friend meeting me at Snoqualamie pass.  The rest of this day proved to be a pretty nice hike, even though it was a little rainy and cold.  About halfway in I ran into Jangles, who I hadn't seen since early on in the hike in the desert, and I met her husband Mouse.  I hiked with them for a couple of hours and it really made the time fly by, it was so good to reconnect with Jangles and hear about their hike and to meet Mouse whom I had heard so much about while I was hiking with Jangles earlier.  Around 5:00 I got to the Pass and right as I walk up to figure out where to sit, my friend Christa shows up an hour early!!  Apparently my mom had tipped her off that I usually give myself plenty of time to get to the rendezvous... That night Christa and her husband Kyle put me up and treated me to a great dinner of shredded beef taco's with amazing homemade guacamole, along with their amazing company and I got to meet some of their friends, it was a really fun night... Even if I lost the game that we played:)  The next morning, my mom and Charlotte came and picked me up and we headed home, splitting the 10 hour drive up by stopping for a buffet, where I definitely got my money's worth!!  Sometimes I just can't get over how lucky I am with the trail angels and wonderful friends and family that are willing to help with this hike and feed me!!  Headed back out for the final 260 miles tomorrow, very excited.

Szydlo Road to White Pass... And the best mom award goes to...

My mom!!  After my class on Tuesday night from 6 to 9 pm, she picked me up and drove me straight up to where she had picked me up 8 days previous.  This was an 8 hour drive and she stopped a total of 3 times, letting me get as much sleep as I could, yeah, she is a champ!!  So after an all night drive, I was dropped off at the trail at 5:45 am while she went to drop my car off at the other end, where she was picked up by our good friend Ben and driven back to Portland so that she could catch a train home.  So I got an early start Wednesday morning and managed to put in a good day, made it 28 miles to Junction Lake.  It was a very windy, frustrating day and I was so exhausted that I ended up taking little naps every time that I would stop for a break.  Hiking tired has to be hilarious to watch though... I could feel myself swerving on the trail at times and my legs got all Jello-y.  So the first day out was pretty rough but I still managed to make a day of it, got myself in bed around 6:30 and fell asleep shortly after that, then slept straight until about 8 the next morning!  The next 4 days were much better, I was energized and very happy to be back out on the trail after being gone for so long.  For the first few days I did not see a single through hiker, then around 2 on Friday I ran into 4!  I walked up on Michigan Wolverine, Freestyle, Turtle, and Willlily having lunch.  I hiked back and forth with these 4 for the next couple of days and really enjoyed meeting some new people since I was completely behind everyone that I had gotten to know.  On Saturday the trail went by the Goat Rocks, which was absolutely amazing!!  We were hiking with views of Mt. Adams, Mt. Rainier, and Mt. St. Helens, and these strange rock formations (the goat rocks) close up.  After you come down off of the rocky ledge you are treated with a great alpine-like meadow.  It was definitely the highlight of Washington for me so far.  So by Saturday night I had myself perched 2 miles from the trailhead where my car was parked.  On Sunday morning around 8:30 I get there, and there is trail magic, and they call me by name.  Lost and Found had been out there posted up for about a week and had talked to mom when she had dropped my car off.  They were just about to pack up camp, but she made me a cup of coffee and I sat there and talked with her and Mother Goose for a little bit, then she boxed me up a care package for my drive, complete with a poppyseed muffin for breakfast!  I didn't even have to tell her that I had eaten every last morsel of food in my pack the night before so I had gone without that morning, I felt like a very lucky girl!  Anyways, after hanging around for a little bit, I got in my car and drove back down to Etna, where I will be for the next 2 days for my classes, then go up and do the same thing again. 

By the numbers:  I passed by the 5/6 mark on day 2 of this journey, and the 6/7 on day 4, I have 360 miles left to get to Canada, and have gone 2303!!

Santiam Pass to Szydlo Road

This last week was a good one!!  Started off with my amazing mother driving back to the trail at Santiam Pass at 7:30 on Tuesday.  I managed to avoid a fire detour by taking the weekend off which was great.  The rest of Oregon I was blessed with views of the sisters to the south, and Jefferson and Hood as I headed north.  The second day I swung into Olallie Lake resort and ran into Oregon and Camshaft who had both been sidetracked with week long bouts of giardia.  At Olallie Lake I spent 1.50 on 2 otter pops... never thought I would see the day.  On day 3 of this stretch I did my first 40 mile day!!  It placed me about 4 miles from Timberline Lodge at the base of Mt. Hood.  There is a great breakfast buffet at the Lodge but I decided to let myself sleep as long as I wanted due to the fact that I had done a 40 which resulted in me not hitting the trail until 8:30.  When I finally strolled into Timberline at around 10 o'clock,  I was told that a hiker I hadn't met named Noodles had bought all of the hikers breakfast!  I was just a couple hours shy but I did manage to get a burger and fries and 5 candy bars from the ski lodge:)  For the rest of that day the views of Mt. Hood were absolutely amazing whenever the canopy opened up, and I managed to get myself 31 miles from Cascade Locks, the town right on the Oregon side of the Columbia river.  That night I camped with a couple of people I just met, Action and Minor, from San Diego.  They were an entertaining duo for sure, and they convinced me to go all the way to Cascade Locks the next day.  I ran into them in the early afternoon and they told me they were taking an alternate route by Tunnel Falls, which is a very popular alternate.  I, however, decided to stick to the PCT but told them as we parted ways that I would race them to town.  Their route was a bit shorter, but I went real fast for me and was very disappointed to see them sitting at a table with their drinks already served when I got to town.  However, I did make it in time to get dinner at the Pacific Crest Pub.  I had a pulled pork sandwich and enjoyed the company of my 2 new friends, who told me there was a trail angel, Shrek, in town.  After dinner, we went and got ice cream then headed up to Shrek's swamp.  There were probably 15 hikers staying there, most planning to hang out through labor day weekend.  I stayed up for awhile and hung out but hiker midnight hit and the party inevitably died down and we all went to sleep out on Shreks lawn.  The next morning I went out to breakfast with Action, Minor, Quest, and Rapunzel.  After buying a half pound of fudge for the trail I headed back to Shrek's, packed my stuff up, said my goodbyes and hit the trail.  Crossing the 'bridge of gods' into Washington was definitely a highlight!!  It is pretty exciting to be in the 3rd and final state!  The next 2 days went smoothly, I managed to get 32 miles into Washington, to mile 2187 before being picked up yesterday by my mom, who had driven up to Portland and stayed with friends the day before.  I am now off for 8 days in order to start school and head to southern California for a couples shower for my sister and her fiancee.  I will be hitting the trail again on September 12th.