Last NP which should be about all of tomorrow
9-9
Stehekin WA
I had about 3 or so miles of downhill to the bus stop that takes me into Stehekin which went by in a flash. I didn't notice the old growth cedars, I think, that seemed to be just larger than normal trees in the area. First thing was first though, and I hit up the bakery that had some amazing stuff. When I got into town I decided might as well go back to the bakery for lunch since it was so good. It seems like all the hikers were in town waiting for the post office to open to get their packages. Then it was just me, Back Up, and another guy who was section hiking after all 20 or so of the other hikers left to get back on trail. What a great spot, too. It turned out to be a very clear and relaxing day sitting on the porch drinking beers and BS'ing. Next thing I knew there was an amazing sunset over the lake. Last town stop! I'm going to be getting to the border monument and instead of going 10 miles past into Canada, I'll turn around and go back to Harts Pass since word on the street is that there is trail magic going on there all of September, so I should be able to get a ride to the coast where I can get on the bus from there. All in all, it sounds like it'll be a hundred dollars of so cheaper to do that, so I'll take it. It adds on a day but I scrounged enough food to make it happen. Great last town stop!!!
9-8
100 miles to Canada!
No rain last night and no rain today! Awesome. I got up on the later side again and got going up the hill with a full stomach. That made the 3000 foot climb over 9 miles seem not so bad. I got to the top and dried out my stuff. Another day of mushrooms all over the place. I found out one of them is one that is in Alice and Wonderland. It's the red one with white dots on it. It's a crazy beautiful mushroom that just looks mystical. It turns out that it is a mystical mushroom and is in all sorts of legends since it ranges all over the northern part of the world. Flyagarics, or something like that. It's a psychedelic but certain individual ones have more poison in them than others so they are still dangerous to eat! Not that I'd eat any of these mushrooms out here anyways. There's way too many to take chances eating any of them even though some look delicious. I think the magical red one is in one of my pictures from aboot a week earlier. Less than 100 miles to Canada!!!
Trail landslide. There was an orange rope so I Indiana Jonesed it across. No giant boulders chased me though.
9-7
It rained pretty much all night until about 10am when I finally got out of the tent. I woke up and rolled over a few times and just kept sleeping. I'm not gonna get out and going when it's raining, haha. It rained pretty much all day. There wasn't an opening to dry my stuff out so I just kept walking... Slowly. It's very slippery going downhill and the uphill is steep, so I just took my sweet time. Everything is an hour when it rains like this so I can't remember the timeframe of the day. One significant event that happened was when a squirrel threw two pine cones from one of the big trees and one landed about a foot in front of my head and the other a bit behind me. That could have been a KO. I was a little shocked by that, thinking, man... That could have been bad, and about a minute later, wham!!! There was a tree sticking out on the trail. I had my poncho on so I couldn't see it. Good thing I have a hard dome. Set up on the earlier side again while it wasn't raining. Hopefully this weather clears up a bit.
The funkiest of the day's mushrooms. This is a melted pancake mushroom. It looks like the blob.
9-6
Last night it absolutely poured and thundered and lightninged all over the place. I thought I had a good spot but a creek flowed below me and made a puddle at my feet, so I had to sleep in the fetal position. I still slept great because of the thunder, and I was dry, but it rained so hard. The morning was still rainy and I made it a bit before it started to hail going over the first pass of the day. Dropping down into the valley I wondered: If it doesn't clear up, I might have a rough night. A little sunshine poked through so I sprawled out to get dry, and it got even sunnier. After that it turned out to be a great day, one of the best. The mushrooms at the bottom of the valley were out of Alice and Wonderland. I was in mushroom overload. Every half a second there was another funky looking mushroom. I got over the second pass with Profit and decided to stop early. I got set up and started to gather kindling to get a fire going and the rain came, so I just hopped in my dry tent and called it early. Fine by me. Right when I crawled in it began to rain a little harder. Great day, and time to feast in the tent.
There are some crazy mushrooms out here.
9-5
Mile 2500
There was a good thunder and lightning show last night. I stayed nice and dry in my tent and enjoyed it. Apparently I ate all my doughnuts in the middle of the night too, I don't remember doing it but I woke up and they were gone. I was lookin forward to that breakfast too, haha. On the trail, the blueberries were all over the place, and they were big and juicy. It takes a few seconds to get a solid handful. The miles took forever today. It seemed like I was going nowhere fast. At the end of the day though some fog rolled in and I had a chance to book it and make up time. I got in about 25 miles today so the next three days I have to average 20. So, I'll have a good sleep in tomorrow and some easy and relaxing days. Unless it pours, then I just walk till it stops.
My favorite pic. Steamy morning in WA.
9-4
Mile 2480
It was a normal town morning, breakfast burrito with a side of gravy and a few cups of coffee followed by about 5 hours of lounging around and doing pretty much nothing. I got dropped off at the town to get some food and a sammich, then got a hitch back to the trail. It took a bit to find the trail but when we did it was smooth sailing. 10 miles in there was a lake so I parked it there with 2 New Englanders, Profit and Green Leaf. And I've got plenty of food for this section so I won't have to be doing any pushing, just sleeping in and going slow. Slow and steady wins the race, or finishes the trail at least. 180 miles left to go.
9-3
Stevens Pass, WA
I got up early knowing I was going to be in town later today. The miles flew by as I drained my battery listening to my talk show and music. All the people doing local loops or weekend hikes are so nice up here. It's very easy to get lost in a conversation for a while with people in passing. That's the way to get all the good info for the upcoming trail conditions. I got to the pass and it took about an hour to get a hitch to the Dinsmores Hiker Haven. I had a great burger and Cornish gamecock hen soup!!! Very good. The Dinsmores are trail angels in a town called Baring. It was a good time with lots of hikers. And I got to see Spitfire, which was a great surprise. He is going for the record for most zero days. Haha. What a funny guy. Good times at the hiker haven.
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