#ThrowbackThursday
This is part of a series of journal entries I have made while section hiking the Pacific Crest Trail since 2013 over on Trailjournals.com. I am moving them here to Must Hike Must Eat and updating them with photos (and maybe fixing typos). Look for them on Thursdays or you can head over to Trailjournals.com and read as many as you would like!
http://www.trailjournals.com/journal/entry/430642
Trip Miles: 404.83
I was up and on the trail by 5:30am today. I had 20 miles to do and the last 3 days had been so rough, not getting into camp until 7:30pm or later, I didn’t want to miss the friends I was seeing today.
I spent the morning dodging streams but I don’t know why I bothered. The rain the night before had made everything wet and despite wearing a rain skirt, my lower half was shortly drenched.
I must admit today was also wet for another reason. Every time I thought about meeting up with my friends, I would start to tear up. It has been an exhausting section! I was so excited to know they would be waiting for me at the end of the day. The thought of seeing family and friends will bring you to tears.
I listened to music most of today, it helped with the miles, especially on the climbs. I’m working on some lyrics modification, an old Thoroughgood song. “I hike alone, yeah with nobody else. Every morning just before breakfast, I don’t want no coffee or tea, just my good buddy Lara bar, that’s all I ever need.” Needs some work, I know.
It was also a beautiful bug free day, which means I was able to eat in peace when I stopped. Why you ask? It was a wet, rainy day. I did thank God for it, however, it meant a cooler hike up the 3500 ft to Suiattle Pass.
As I rounded the last corner to where I was to meet my friends, it was a beautiful sight to see them coming up the side trail at the exact same time. I hollered down, and of course started to cry. I was so overwhelmed with happiness. I was exhausted. Laura and her husband, Ken, and my friend Anne from church had hiked in 2 days up Spider Meadows to bring me some resupplies and for Anne to hike into Stehekin with me.
Turns out they were just as tired, having come over Cloudy Pass and a glacier. The rain stopped long enough for us to make camp and get dinner started, then we crawled into our tents for the night. They also shared that their hike had started with an adventure. The bridge to the trailhead to get here was about to be torn down, a flagger had been set up to keep cars from coming in. They had gotten out and begged the construction worker to let them through so they could meet up with me!
Trip Miles: 424.83
We slept in a little today and had breakfast with Laura and Kenny before leaving camp at 8am. There are 20 miles to High Bridge and Anne thinks she can do 15. That will put us into Stehekin Saturday around noon.
The sun was out, so we stopped around 9:30am to dry out the tent and eat some more breakfast. We were passed by several sets of Boy Scouts doing loop overnights.
This section into Stehekin is relatively all downhill, so lovely, but so overgrown in parts. We talked about plans for how to spend our time in Stehekin and things going on at home. How to take the things we learn on the trail back to our “other” lives.
It becomes more and more evident how few women I see hiking with girls compared to men hiking with boys. I have seen a few dads and moms with girls but always parents together. Moms?!? Why are you not taking your girls into the woods??? Not one Girl Scout group the whole trip?
We stopped at Cedar Camp for lunch and the made our 15 miles by 5pm. With the promise of a outhouse with TP and a bear box, Anne decided she was willing to go the extra 5 into High bridge, even after being stung by a resident yellow jacket while we were sitting there. We made it there by 7:30pm! I was so proud of her.
High Bridge is a campground just off the PCT that sits 13 miles above the town of Stehekin. Having camped there on our previous trip down from Rainy Pass, we knew we could get up in the morning and catch the 9am bus into town.*
First post: Snuffy’s 2013 Pacific Crest Trail Journal July 20 &21, previous post: Snuffy’s 2013 Pacific Crest Trail Journal August 14. Look to next Thursday for more of my journey on the Pacific Crest Trail!
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