It rained a bit during the night and the wind really picked up around 4 am, but I had pitched my tent perfectly for that and our site was pretty sheltered from the wind. We got up and saw where we had camped: a site with a view of mountains and glaciers.
We hadn't seen this last night as we got in to camp when it was dark, but we could enjoy it now or at least until we packed up. We left camp and after a mile, stopped for water at a stream with a snow bridge.
We then started a long downhill stretch, pretty much equal to the uphill from last night. We took our time and admired the views of Bears Breast Mountain and a lake with an amazing reflection of the sky.
At the bottom, we ran into Tigger, who we hadn't seen in ages. He had flipped up and was hiking down to finish the trail at Snoqualmie Pass so that his kids could see him finish. He's also finishing with two of his old friends. It was good to see him again and after several minutes of talking, we all hiked on.
Frank and I got water at a river and then continued onwards. Just past the river, we saw a black bear (the first one that's actually been black). It ran off and looked at us for a bit before eating some berries and then running farther off. We got to a campsite a few miles later and ate lunch. I tried to sleep briefly as I've been exhausted all day.
After lunch and my failed nap, we began yet another massive climb. Here, we had a bunch of trees to go over and it slowed us down even more. We got to the outlet for deep lake and got water. Frank remarked how we were behind schedule and from here, she picked up the pace, rolling up the rest of the climb, over a pass, and down the other side even with slightly rocky terrain. We went through an avelanche area and then got to cascading creek and crossed on a log before a series of gentle uphills.
Once again we hiked into the night, crossing streams and downed logs before finally arriving at camp about 8:50.
Luckily there was a spot available and we set up, ate, and went to bed, exhausted.
I didn’t know Washington had glaciers! So cool you saw the bear eating berries! Not too much longer and you can rest. You all have been putting in some big miles!
ReplyDeleteCaught up with your adventures! Are you and Frank excited that the end is nigh— just about 200 miles to go, a drop in the bucket!
ReplyDeleteWe're excited and ready to get back to normal - whatever that is now, but we'll definitely miss the trail.
DeleteDo you know if a storm pass through recently that downed the trees? Or had they been down for awhile? Love that you got to see an actual black bear now!
ReplyDeleteI think it was just lack of maintenance in the area - trees fall over all the time and need to be cleared.
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