Sept 8th
Near Snowgrass Tr Junction(2282.7)-White Pass(2302.7)
Today’s Mileage: 20mi(plus .7mi road walk)=20.7mi

It is now 10pm after a full day, so I’m going to try to do this day justice without typing for too long…
Yankee and I got going at 5:45am and Cherry Picker decided to sleep in. We were excited to be in the AMAZING Goat Rocks. That is the word everyone uses to describe Goat Rocks. I thought it was just me, but when I got to The White Pass register, most of the hikers had used the word, amazing, to describe their Goat Rocks experience. We started hiking in the dark and we passed the trail junction where I first met the PCT two years ago. That was a special moment for me, but it was sadly too dark to get a picture. Goat Rocks was my first backpacking trip in the NW, and I wondered if the second time would be as great…even greater! Goat Rocks really is my favorite place to backpack. The trail ran near the top of Old Snowy and we had some great views as the sun came up.

 When we got to the top, I was loving it! I was even able to Skype my sister from the top so she could see it and I could see Lil’ Lucas:) Then we had a great hike down.

Later, after more annoying forested uphill, we had a nice downhill into White Pass. We were in town by 3:30pm and decided this tiring leg warranted a night in a hotel with showers and laundry. I got my resupply and my last new pair of shoes. My current ones made it 880mi. Whoa! I was also very happy to get a care package from my friend Paula, which included some Chips Ahoys! Thanks Paula, you rock!

Cherry Picker came into town and is going into Seattle tomorrow, so he split the hotel room with us. Listening to these two guys talk all night is entertaining. My fav quote so far is from Yankee saying, “Yeah, my taxidermist, who does my deer heads…” I got to talk to Cherry Picker’s mom and promised her a picture of her son, so here ya go. He refused to give me a normal face!

I spent hours catching up on emails and phone calls. I got to talk to Top Shelf’s step grandma and she is going to let us stay at her condo in four days at Snoqulamie Pass. Top Shelf is three days ahead of me and I’ll miss the trail magic his family is hosting. The condo stay is some great motivation for this leg! Can’t wait! Also, I got to talk to Blister who MADE IT TO CANADA YESTERDAY!!! He took off after I last saw him at Tuolumne Meadows and became a hiking machine. He is the 10th true thru to make it this year. Way to go Blister!!! It was so great to talk to him and I even got him to send me a finishing photo. I hope to finish in the sun like him!

If it looks familiar, Blister is showing his sense of humor in mock imitation of a photo of a hiker on the official PCT poster. When asked I we all are mandated to do this, Blister replied, “Hahaha. Off camera the Canadian Border Patrol is pointing a gun at me…hold up the bag with your two fingers…Ayyyyy” Ah Blister, my hero!