Back to Reality…Nah…
The party was over; Krav and Littlefeet needed to be getting home. Krav had to be back at work, and Littlefeet needed to wrap his brain around life after the trail. Bearclaw and I still had a few days of vacation left and had decided we would head back to Rainy Pass...
Castle Pass to Manning Park, Canada
August 16, 2015 Day 16: Castle Pass to Manning Park, Canada Miles: 12.48 Total Miles: 2,660 Miles to Go: 0 We ate breakfast with Littlefeet, but it was hard to stay present. We were all too excited. Only four short miles stood between us and Canada. Big breath. It was...
Mile 2,625.28 to Castle Pass
Saturday, August 15, 2015 Day 15: Mile 2,625.28 to Castle Pass Miles: 21.14 Total Miles: 2,646.42 Miles to Go: 12.48 Washington, I decided, was the gorgeous drama queen of States. It was beautiful to look at, but it was a giant pain in the ass. We awoke to a dense,...
Glacier Pass to Mile 2,625.28
Friday, August 14, 2014 Day 15: Glacier Pass to Mile 2,625.28 Miles: 15.63 Total Miles: 2,625.28 Miles to Go: 33.62 Sometime after dark, I was awoken by the snapping of branches. The air was thick with smoke. For a brief moment, my half-asleep brain...
Rainey Pass to Glacier Pass
Thursday, August 13, 2015 Day 13: Rainey Pass to Glacier Pass Miles: 21.02 Total Miles: 2,609.65 Miles to Go: 49.25 After breakfast dad and Marianne drove us up to the trailhead at Rainy Pass so we could make our final push north. On the drive up, we could...
Winthrop & Twisp
Wednesday, August 12, 2015 Day 12: Winthrop & Twisp Miles: 0 Winthrop was easily one of the most charming towns in the Northwest. It wasn't incorporated until 1924, but you'd never know that by looking at it. Apparently, in the 1970s, when Highway 20...
North Cascades National Park
Tuesday, August 11, 2015 Day 11: Lone Fir CG Miles: 0 Needing to be out of our room by 11 a.m., we wandered across the street to drink coffee on the veranda of the little drive-through coffee shop across the way. We were there for less than an hour, when,...
Mile 2,526.27 to Sedro Woolley
Monday, August 10, 2015 Day 10: Mile 2,526.27 to Sedro Woolley Miles: 19.09 Total Miles: 2,538.35 Miles to Go: 120.55 We woke up at sunrise, only twelve miles from our detour off of the PCT. I had mixed feelings about this; I didn't want to detour from the...
Mile 2,508.1 to Mile 2,526.27
Sunday, August 9, 2015 Day 9: Mile 2,508.1 to Mile 2,526.27 Miles: 18.26 Total Miles: 2,526.27 Miles to Go: 132.64 This was, without a doubt, the most challenging day I had ever had on a trail. Our Krav alarm went off at the same time as usual only today it sang a...
Mile 2,489.4 to Mile 2,508.10
Saturday, August 8, 2015 Day 8: Mile 2,489.4 to Mile 2,508.10 Miles: 18.7 Total Miles: 2,508.10 Miles to Go: 150.81 We may have had a crappy night's sleep in our cramped, uneven tree hole, but we awoke in an exceedingly good mood considering. With only one tent to...
Janus Lake to Mile 2,498.4
Friday, August 7, 2015 Day 7: Janus Lake to Mile 2,498.4 Miles: 18 Total Miles: 2,498.4 Miles to Go: 168.81 Up early, I sat on the edge of a log and watched the mist roll off Janus Lake, as breakfast cooked. The fog slowly lifted to reveal a perfectly...
Dinsmore’s Hiker Haven to Janus Lake
Day 6: Dinsmore's Hiker Haven to Janus Lake Miles: 9.75 Total Miles: 2,471.37 Miles to Go: 187.54 It didn't rain overnight— it poured so hard that, even pitched under the enormous old-growth fir tree in the Dinsmore's backyard, the outside of the tent was drenched...
Mile 2,451.48 to Dinsmore’s Hiker Haven
Wednesday, August 5, 2015 Day 5: Mile 2,451.48 to Dinsmore's Hiker Haven Miles: 10.14 Total Miles: 2461.62 Miles to Go: 197.29 It was cold; not Washington snowstorm cold, but cold enough that when our Krav alarm went off, no one was motivated to peel themselves out of...
Deep Lake to Mile 2,451.48
Tuesday, August 4, 2015 Day 4: Deep Lake to Mile 2,451.48 Miles: 19.01 Total Miles: 2,451.48 Miles to Go: 207.43 Having gone to bed long before sunset, we were up at the ass-crack of dawn, ready to hike. Even with a leisurely morning breakfast, we were still the first...
Small Tarn to Deep Lake
Monday, August 3, 2015 Day 3: Small Tarn to Deep Lake Miles: 14.76 Total Miles: 2,432.32 Miles to Go: 233.94 This morning was one of those mornings where I woke up and started by wiggling my toes, just to make sure my legs still worked. Upon discovering they did, I...
Ridge Lake to Small Tarn Mile 2,417.56
Sunday, August 2, 2015 Day 2: Ridge Lake to Small Tarn Mile 2,417.56 Miles: 19.58 Total Mile: 2417.56 Miles to Go: 248.67 “TIME TO GET UP!” Krav yelled from his tent. It was 6:00 a.m. I’d totally forgotten about the Krav alarm! I rolled over and popped out of the...
Snoqualmie Pass to Ridge Lake
Saturday, August 1, 2015 Day 1: Snoqualmie Pass to Ridge Lake Miles: 7.48 Total Miles: 2,397.98 Miles to Go: 268.25 "Are you guys excited?" My friend Tree asked as she drove us up to Snoqualmie Pass from her parent’s house in Ellensburg. Truthfully, I was exhausted...
Mirror Lake to Snoqualmie Pass
Saturday, August 23, 2014 Day 9: Mirror Lake to Snoqualmie Pass Miles: 9.1 Miles to Go: 0 It was hard to be motivated to get out of bed knowing we were only nine miles from the end of the trail. I wanted to return to reality now, about as little as I had...
Mile 2,380.6 to Mirror Lake
Friday, August 22, 2014 Day 8: Mile 2,380.6 to Mirror Lake (2392.9) Miles: 12.3 Miles to Go: 9.1 “Oh fuck! Babe, wake up!” Bearclaw yelled. Barely awake I rolled over and open my eyes just in time to see a horizontal flash of lightning streak overhead....
Mile 2,365.2 to Mile 2,380.6
Thursday, August 21, 2014 Day 7: Mile 2,365.2 to Mile 2,380.6 Miles: 15.4 Miles to Go: 21.4 The weather was perfect for hiking. There was barely a cloud in the sky as we packed up and left our campsite in the huckleberry patch and by the time we were...
Mile 2,350.1 to Mile 2,365.2
Wednesday, August 20, 2014 Day 6: Mile 2350.1 to Mile 2365.2 Miles: 15.1 Miles to Go: 36.8 I poked my head out of the tent, fully expecting to see a damp, muddy forest, but save for the few sprinkles we’d gotten last night, the ground was dry. A low...
Sheep Lake to Mile 2,350.1
Tuesday, August 19, 2014 Day 5: Sheep Lake to Mile 2350.1 Miles: 16 Miles to Go: 51.9 We were up at literally the crack of dawn, watching the alpenglow sneak down the talus slopes of the mountains behind Sheep Lake. I guess that’s what happens when you...
Two Lakes to Sheep Lake
Monday, August 18, 2014 Day 4: Two Lakes to Sheep Lake (2334.1) Miles: 11.3 Miles to Go: 67.9 When we’re hiking, Bearclaw and I like to discuss our ideal bear sighting. We have this bucket list thing about wanting to spend a good fifteen minutes watching a...
Buesch Lake to Two Lakes
Sunday, August 17, 2014 Day 3: Buesch Lake to Two Lakes (2322.8) Miles: 13.8 Miles to Go: 79.2 Oh, trail sleep! How I had missed trail sleep: no trains, no sirens, no cars, no heater kicking on, no cat purring, no streetlight shining in my window, no...
Hidden Spring Jct to Buesch Lake
Saturday, August 16, 2014 Day 2: Hidden Spring Trail Junction to Buesch Lake (2309.0) Miles: 24.8 Miles to Go: 93 Dusty, Trenchstar and Bearclaw were all relieved I didn’t wake them up at the ass-crack of dawn so we could “be on the trail early.” When my...
Snowgrass to Hidden Springs Jct.
Friday, August 15, 2014 Day 1: Snowgrass Trailhead to Hidden Spring Trail Junction (2284.2) Miles: 17 Miles to Go: 117.8 “Woah… How did you escape the sixties intact?” We were raiding the grocery store for a quick and easy breakfast we could eat on our way...
Back In Packwood!
There is nothing worse than sitting at a desk just watching the digital numbers in the right-hand corner of the computer screen ever so slowly creep towards quitting time. Wednesday was pure torture. In fact, I’m almost positive the earth decided to rotate a fraction...