July 24th, 2020
Mile 188.7 to Mile 206.1
I woke up around 6am today and got ready to head out. Putting on my hiking clothes felt like putting on a work uniform. I got some leftover banana bread and a final la croix and we hit the road.
It was sad to say goodbye to Matt again, but not nearly as bad as the first time. I had been worried that if I went home I wouldn’t want to go back to the trail. But that was not the case. I missed it almost instantly. I was ready to be back, even in the rain.
Starting to walk felt incredibly right. It was cool to see Steven’s Pass (my local ski hill) in the summer. I got to walk under a bunch of chairlifts and see all the naked slopes.
Around 8 miles in I saw a thruhiker at a tent site who called out and asked if I was Katie. I said yes but was confused because I didn’t recognize the person. He said he was Peter and I panicked trying to think of when I met a Peter. He mentioned Leavenworth and I realized he had met the other Katie. I walked up to introduce myself and see what he was up to. He had lost a buddy and was waiting for some of the others to come through. I said I hadn’t seen anyone all morning so we set off together.
We had lunch at Glacier Lake which was super nice. I had two wraps and ate my whole avocado. We’re already passing so many lakes! I just need a warm day and I’ll for sure hop in one.
I planned on doing 20 today, but around 18 there was a lake and Peter was going to try to catch a trout. I couldn’t say no to watching that so we set up camp and I watched Peter fish for a little while. We were a little late so sadly no luck.
Peter made a fire which was super nice. He also shared his fancy German cheese and whiskey with me. It’s so nice to camp with people. He’s hoping to find his friend tomorrow so he’s gonna hang back in the morning but hopefully they’ll both catch up to me later in the day.
For now I’m gonna sleep to the sound of the gurgling stream nearby which is soo soothing.