Sept 9th
White Pass(2302.7)-Anderson Lake(2326.8)
Today’s Mileage: 24.1mi(plus .7mi road walk)=24.8mi
Last night, we ended up going to bed after midnight, so I knew an early start probably wasn’t going to happen. Part of my being named Wired comes from the fact that I don’t need much sleep. I was a little anxious to get on the trail, but I knew Yankee would need the sleep and I’m want to enjoy Washington. I don’t want to make it seem like a chore and there really was no reason to set an alarm and get out too early. We got up leisurely and Yankee and I made breakfast for the three o us(including Cherry Picker). It was nice because our room had a mini kitchen in it. The pancakes, eggs, and bacon were a great way to start the day.
I was okay that Yankee and I left White Pass just after 10am. A little late, but I got to watch some of the Friday Night Lights finale while Yankee got some things done. As we were leaving, I was struggling to stay positive about the trail ahead. I was not a fan of most of the last leg. When I talked with Blister yesterday, he let me know it’s pretty much deep, forested, ups and downs the rest of the way. Whoop-de-doo! I gave myself a mental pep talk that at least the weather is great and that I should just stop complaining. It really is a miracle that it is an Indian summer so far. I forgot to mention that while we were descending out of Goat Rocks yesterday, it rained and the wind blew like a hurricane for less than 5min. It was just a friendly reminder of what Washington is capable of and that we are extremely fortunate to be in great weather.
Considering that we started 4hrs later than we usually do, we were very happy with our mileage today. Shockingly, much of the trail was downhill or level today, so that helped a ton. We had two stream crossings that reminded me how thankful I am to be out of the stream crossing section in the Sierra. I was bummed that I was too distracted to get pictures, but I did get pictures of the great views we had today. We actually got to hike along a ridge and see views and I really liked today’s hike!
I’m happy to have had a positive and enjoyable day of hiking in Washington. It gave me some renewed hope because I really want to end by enjoying the hike. It’s been difficult because Canada has taken over my mind and then the day feels like an eternity. We are down to about thirteen hiking days left and that’s really exciting! I also liked today because we are on a much shorter leg of just three nights, so I can listen to my MP3 player more without worrying about conserving the battery. It really got me pumped today and I loved the hike as we went up on ridges like this.
It was especially great when I came around the corner to see Mt Rainier close and right in front of me. I wasn’t expecting that and seeing it as the sun went down was great.
We made it to camp just as it was getting dark after 7:30pm. There was a couple camped there who turned out to be the neighbors of another thru hiker I know. Such a small world. They also let us know the strange sounds we’d been hearing as night came were Elk bugling (like a bugle). That’s a first for me! As I lay here, I feel much more positive about the rest of this leg and I feel like I’m back where I want to be. Yay!
