July 20th, 2020
Mile 138.1 to Mile 158
I slept in an extra half hour this morning but got moving by 7:30. I didn’t poop all day yesterday but went today before leaving camp and felt GREAT after. I was going pretty fast in the morning and snacking periodically. I only had a little bit of snow to cross and then it was sweet sweet dry trail. I had gone around 4 miles when I ran into a group of five thru hikers.
I had heard about a group of five that left Stehekin the day before me so it was funny to come across them on trail. They were taking a break after a stream crossing so we just made quick introductions and I carried on saying I would see them later. I met Katie, Bradley, Craig, Heather, and Sherp.
Katie caught up to me a little later and we leapfrogged a bit before just hiking together. We got along really well and it was nice to have someone to navigate the snow with (we had one more snowy pass to do).
We reached a beautiful viewpoint and she took a break to wait for her group and I filtered some water. I decided it’d be good to do the snowy pass with other people and I was enjoying Katie’s company so I hung around, ate some oatmeal, and drank some coffee while I waited with Katie.
The group eventually caught up and we began to hike up towards the pass. It was fairly snowy but not as steep as yesterday. There were no dangerous cliffs, just a snowy slide down. We made some switchbacks by kick stepping into the snow and eventually followed a good pair of footprints over the top. The view was amazing from that pass (I think it’s called Red Pass? Its mile 148ish sobo), one of the best views yet. I could see all of the Cascades, got my first glimpse of Mt Rainier, could see Glacier Peak, and was looking out over the snowy mountains we had just come through. It was a highlight for sure.
I got to chat with the rest of the group during the day and really enjoyed spending time with them all. They were doing ~15 miles a day and I’ve learned that I’m quite unwilling to wait for people (lol I am not patient, I just want to move) so I said goodbye and parted ways when they stopped to camp for the night. I hope to meet up with Katie at Steven’s or Snoqualmie so we can do some sections together later.
Sherp, an 18 year old from Wisconsin, ended up joining me so she could get into Steven’s Pass a day earlier. She’s running low on food and is anxious to get to Leavenworth to spend time with her boyfriend who is visiting. I was a little wary at first because she’s so new to backpacking and seemed to rely on her group a lot. But we did 4 miles together today and it’s been smooth sailing. I gave her some of my extra food so we should be set for the next 1.5 days. And having the company is honestly pretty nice.
The plan is 20 miles tomorrow and then 10 miles Wednesday morning into Steven’s. I texted my dad on my GPS to try and coordinate but he IGNORED ME. Slash probably went to bed already. So will have to work out logistics tomorrow. I can’t decide if I want to take a zero day at home or not… a shower and some familiarity sounds so good but I also want to stick to schedule so some of my resupply dates line up with weekends. Also if I take a zero I can celebrate my mom’s birthday with her and meet up with Katie for the next section. Decisions, decisions.