We enjoyed a relaxing day at Snoqualmie Pass. Shadow was able to satisfy his deep hunger. For the longest time he never complained about being hungry. Now he is making up for it. His mission all day was to eat.
We are also both nursing small injuries. Shadow has possible tendinitis in his ankle or shin splints. I have the same problem in my foot. We iced and elevated it between gorging ourselves. In 70 miles we have to make a decision about the fires and plan to take at least 2 days off. Maybe more depending on our injuries.
The wildfire news is not good. One is no longer a threat and the trail has been reopened. The other one is growing.
10 hikers joined us for dinner. We had a great time over a few beers.
After breakfast with Blue Sky, Wormwood, Little Brown, and Samson we were headed for the rugged Northern Cascades. A 2,500 vertical foot climb out took us above tree line with great views of the jagged peaks.
Since the trail sidled rocky cliffs and bowls, we were back in Pikas country (mouse like animals). As we walked passed them you would hear the sound of squeaky toys. They sound so cute even though they are trying to be scary.
All day our views continue to get better. Player caught up to us and decided to camp near a waterfall with us. We also hiked with Samson today and the four of us had dinner on a rock cropping watching the Sun set behind the mountains.
This morning Shadow and Samson had a surprise. Shadow was missing a sock he had left in the vestibule (porch of our tent) and Samson had a hole in his food bag. We looked for Shadow's sock, but no luck. There is going to be one Pika this Winter that will stay warm in a wool sock.
Our hike today was tough with a couple big climbs. The bigger the climbs, the better the views. Player is a faster hiker and went on, while the 3 of us stopped at Deep Lake for the night. A beautiful meadow at the base of Cathedral Rock was a perfect spot. The plan was to fish and enjoy the lake, but we were too tried. A warm dinner and laying horizontal as quick as possible sounded better after today's 23 miles.
As much as everyone says that they are not worrying about the upcoming detour due to the fire, there's a lot of talking going on. Shadow and I want to maintain the integrity of our hike. The two options we have for the detour are given to us by the Forest Service. Of course anything can change when it comes to a wildfire.
The Cascades continue to get better the farther North we go. Today was cold and windy. Low clouds covered the jagged peaks. Our hike was a roller coaster of climbs to a beautiful ridges then descents through boulder fields with Marmots to Caribbean blue lakes.
The four of meet up this evening for dinner.
8 miles from Stevens Pass. A hilly trail into town for a much needed day off or two.
No comments:
Post a Comment