After having a nice breakfast with Kozen and some of his other guests I got a ride to the fire info HQ. I heard the good news that the trail was still open. While I was hitching across from the gas station the friendly owner came out and walked over to me. He said that he had just phoned up a town local and hiking enthusiast, called Ray, that would come pick me up. As I loaded my pack into Ray's truck Majellin the second also arrived and went up to the trail with us.
The smoke on the way up the trail wasn't too bad. I made good miles and camped by the raging Muddy Fork river. There were great views of Mt. Adams and some beautiful creeks and sections of wild flowers along the way.
On Sunday morning I got to drink some of the best spring water on the pct at lava springs. The water is filtered through a field of lava rocks and tasted great! That morning I ran into a young bow hunter with big smile on his face - he had just shot an elk cow. I caught up with Mouse and Jangles in the afternoon as we climbed higher up into the mountains of Goat Rocks wilderness. We ended camping together a few miles before Knifes Edge and had an amazing view of Mt. Adams to the south. I heard an owl several times that night - the first time I recall hearing one the whole trail.
On Monday we were spoilt with some amazing views of Mt. Rainier. There were pretty much spectacular views to all sides as we descended to and walked along Knifes Edge. There was some low lying smog from all the fires but that just added to the atmosphere.
I reached White Pass that afternoon and got a hitch into Packwood straight away as I reached the Kracker Barrel store.
I spent the next two nights at the Packwood hotel and took a zero on Tuesday to buy and post forward the supplies that will take me all the way to Canada. It was also my grandmother's 80th birthday and I got to talk to her for a while!
Saw my first elk as well, just roaming around the streets of Packwood...
Terug van ouma se verjaardag.
ReplyDeleteEverybody is sending their regards and that they have missed you at the party.