July 27th, 2020
Mile 249.8 to Mile 259.2
I slept in a little later than I hoped but still had a good amount of time to meet my mom at noon. I had a little bit of a climb and had some gorgeous views of the mountains and Mt Rainier. I made my way past a lake where I got a little off course and had to do some wandering around to find the trail again.
The highlight was coming in along Kendall Katwalk. It was a high ridgeline with some views of the mountains on one side and the ski resort and highway on the other.
A trail runner passed me as I was coming down from the Katwalk. I had about 2000 ft of descent in front of me so I just kept trekking along. Eventually the runner passed me again going down as we were on a very steep and rocky ridge. I watched him run ahead and jump off a tree root. He didnt get good footing though and toppled over the edge of the trail. I froze and thought for sure he was going all the way down. I heard him tumble once and then silence. I scurried over and saw him hanging onto the lone tree in the area that he had miraculously grabbed. He pulled himself back on the trail and we inspected him for injury. No scratches or major issues! He landed on his shoulder a bit funny though. He was a bit freaked out after that so we walked together a bit while his heartrate settled. Turns out he’s a very fast marathon runner. Like qualified for the Olympic Trials and runs a 2:18. Apparently he didnt do well at the Trials and was burnt out after. Trail running is how he’s started to appreciate running again. After a mile or so he was off running again.
I passed a ton of day hikers on their way up. Some asked if I was thruhiking. A surprising amount of locals know about the PCT.
I made it to the bottom right on time at noon. I greeted my mom and hopped in the car to go home. She brought me a summer roll and lemonade to snack on. I told her I was craving bubble tea and hoped Matt would take me later. Snoqualmie is super close to Seattle so I was home and in the shower in no time. I ate a bunch of food and organized my next resupply.
Matt switched to an earlier shift so he was able to come pick me up around 3pm. And he brought bubble tea!!!! It was amazing. We dropped by Emma’s house to pass off some food and supplies. Then we went to Matt’s where I did laundry and got more food organized.
Matt cooked me Japanese curry for dinner which is one of my favorite dishes. We watched Queer Eye and later sat out on the porch to catch some of a breeze. It was a lowkey evening but it felt so good to be in a bed again.
