Sept 10th
Anderson Lake(2326.8)-Camp Urich(2355.5)
Today’s Mileage: 28.7mi
Today was another rain free day in Washington. Not only was there no rain, but it was also really sunny! We can’t believe how fortunate we’ve been with the weather this late in the season. The bonus has been that we get to see all the views and scenery Washington has to offer. Today was filled with some great views and I loved it!
I’m slowly warming to Washington, but I’m still having a rough time with the ups and downs. I do a lot better when it’s cool and shaded, but today was almost completely exposed and unusually hot. I was pretty wiped out by the end of the day. We heard that tomorrow could be the hottest day of the year so far. Draining, but I’ll take that any day over rain. Plus, there’s no fog or clouds to block all of this!
The goal of the day was to make it to Urich cabin, which is a public cabin that is right on the trail. It is a special treat for us to not pitch tents or dig cat holes for a night.
It was also great to have a motivator because I managed to somehow drop my headphones on the trail again this morning and that was REALLY FRUSTRATING! That is the fourth set of headphones I’ve managed to lose on the trail. I’m so pissed about it and I can’t believe I did it again. I’ll be able to get another set in a couple days at our next town, but it’s going to make the next couple days drag even more than they have been. Urgh! I’m having a lot of discomfort while I hike the last two days. My back is sore and my pack is oddly digging into my shoulders and side. My feet are also screaming at me. I’m thinking I’m feeling this way because I’m so close to the end and I’m hoping it’s more mental than physical. We’re so close!
Speaking of the end, I talked with Balls and Liz today to see if they were getting any closer to catching up so we could possibly finish together. Unfortunately, Balls and Sunshine are just over a day behind, and Liz, Funyan, and Meow Meow are almost two days behind. They are not in a big hurry and have some planned rest days that may keep us apart. We are going to keep in touch as we get closer to finishing and if they get close enough, I might wait for them in the final trail town of Stehekin. I’m happy where I am now because few others are around, but I think it could be fun to be in a bigger group on the last leg. There is quite a herd a day or two behind us and Yankee has some friends back there too. I also like having some extra wiggle room incase the weather gets bad. We’ll see.
