Day 153: Mile 2460.8 - 2465.2

Woke to the wind howling outside, a great big noise, something large and strong and violent going by, but in my tent only the flutter of the rain fly as it passed. That's the benefit of tenting among trees! Of course, the disadvantage is that big fat drops are continuously dropping on the tent, so the fly's going to be wet. And the ground sheet was already wet, so now the inner tent's going to be wet too as soon as I roll it up. So *all* of it's going to be wet.

Well, at least I'm going into town today!

And I did: just a short hike--a bit over 4 miles--to Stevens Pass. Half in the rain, half in the rain starting to clear but the fog and mist still persisting. Then to the Stevens Pass parking lot E, and I stood by the side of the highway with my thumb out for about 20 minutes. Finally, I saw another hiker get dropped off on the other side of the road--probably getting back on trail from Leavenworth--and as I turned back to say hi to him, I noticed that an SUV was backing up towards me. Evidently the driver had decided to pick me up after all! And I came to the window and there was a couple in there. Where you going? Leavenworth? Hmm, he said, we're not quite going there; we can drop you off at Wenatchee and then you can try to find a ride from there, although that's not much further down the road, maybe better to stay here and try for another ride. And I was about to thank him for the advice and go back out there when she motioned to the back of the car and said, get in. Really? Yeah, we can give you a ride to Leavenworth.

And so I got a ride!

The couple were Don (driving) and Chris (in the passenger seat), a couple who had actually lived in the Bay Area for a while, but moved back to Washington to be close to family. It was Don's birthday, and they were going on a golf excursion somewhere near Leavenworth. And Chris said that she was surprised--Don *never* picks up hitchhikers, and here he was pulling over and she thought, what was this? But then she was on board and figured, what the heck, try it once. And when I told them I was a PCT hiker, they were full of questions. All of which I endeavoured to answer to the best of my ability. Don had evidently thought to do the trail himself many years ago, although now maybe the best he could do would be to section hike it. (And I made the case that section hiking it was probably the better way to do it anyway.) But Chris especially, she had lots and lots of questions--the PCT was at best an abstract thing for her, and her questions slowly made it more concrete for her. There were a really nice couple, and I felt a bit bad dirtying up their nice (Porsche) SUV, but they drove me all the way to Leavenworth, and for that I'm grateful.

And even more than the ride, I'm grateful for what they mentioned regarding the local weather. And they mentioned that they thought that the snows wouldn't be for at least another two weeks: they'd be surprised if it came sooner. And they mentioned that tomorrow is supposed to be the last day of summer, and then it's a lot of fall weather, meaning rain. But the rain is less on the eastern side of the mountains compared to the west--the weather comes in from the coast and is often a bit spent by the time it reaches the east--so if the trail wanders east (and it does a bit), that gives some hope for the weather.

And this weather report--from Washington locals--this gave me hope. Back at Trout Lake, McQueen had argued that by now we could all handle the physical pain of hiking, rather the tricky bit from here on out is the mental part. And I thought the mental part was dealing wih the cold and wet when it happened--and it *is*, and I *will* be tested on that front in this next section. But it's also managing the fear. Because I have feared the cold and wet since the beginning of the hike, and I still do. So far the rain has either been just before going-into-town days, so I've been able to "escape", or it's been rain-then-clear, so I've been able to dry out the next day. But I've feared the continuous days of rain: rain after rain after rain, where nothing dries out. And it's not even the hiking part that I fear then--the hiking I can do--rather, it's the camping part that worries me. Setting up a wet tent and getting into it as the cold of the night settles in. Soaking wet, tearing down a wet tent in the cold of the morning. When I can't dry it, that's when I worry, and when I worry, I worry irrationally and it just becomes fear. So part of the mental side of the trail is figuring out how to deal with that fear.

Because the forecast for this next section is just a big storm. I came into Leavenworth today and thought I would take a zero, but have instead decided to head on out. Because tomorrow should be clear, but the day after that, the rain will start. And it'll be thunderstorms with 2 inches of rain a day for about three days in a row. So I'm about to be tested and my fears are about to become real.

So as I get ready to head out from Leavenworth, there's a lot of fear, but there's also nothing to do. Because I have to hike, so I'm going to head on out and cope as best I can. This upcoming section--from Stevens Pass to Stehekin--is supposed to be some of the toughest hiking of the trail, tougher than even the hardest sections of the Sierras. And it's also supposed to be some of the most beautiful, especially Glacier Peak. But for me, I think it's going to be facing my fear of the cold and wet, and I suspect I'm not going to see Glacier Peak, just mist and cloud and the trees and stones about 50 paces in each direction at most.

It's going to be a tough few days, but now that it's here and I can't avoid it, eh, what can you do but go, right?

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Some notes:

-- Lake Susan Jane > Ski Lifts > Stevens Pass > Leavenworth

-- Did the usual chores in Leavenworth. Did also some special chores: refreshed all my Ziplocs because this is the last Safeway of the trail, pulled some extra Ziplocs for my "sock waterproofing" solution (i.e., putting my socks on then wrapping plastic bags around my socks--the socks get damp but they don't get soaked), bought some thicker socks (my toes are having trouble getting warm in the morning), and bought some new wool gloves (my old ones were getting holes). Oh, and drying out everything from last night, especially the sleeping bag and the tent! But the rest was the usual: eat, pick up post, buy resupply, laundry, shower, charge. Most of those can go pretty quick except charging, which is always slow.

-- I got lunch at the Taco restaurant on the main drag, and evidently the cooks in the back asked the server, is that a hiker out there? Because he's ordering a lot! Well, he has a big pack next to his table so maybe, she said, I'll ask. And she did, and I confirmed. And then asked if I could have dessert!

-- In my hotel room, I also retaped my left hip. This hip had gotten an open sore on it from being rubbed by my backpack hip belt, and I had taped it a long time ago, but when I pulled the tape now--what must have been weeks later--the sore was still there. And still open. It hadn't really healed. And that's the thing about some of the physical ailments out here: because I'm stressing it over and over again every day, some things just don't heal.

-- During the hitch, Chris asked why I'm doing it and I gave the standard story of day-hiking, walking trails, having to turn around to go back to the car, and wondering, yeah, but what would happen if I *keep* *going*. And Don heard that and said, well, because it's *there*. And thinking about it, yes, my story is a long-winded way of saying, because it's there.