Day 160: Mile 2572.9 - 2592.5

And just like that, back on the trail. I didn't get much sleep last night--town's just like that--but I was up by 6:30am, had everything broken down and packed by 7:30am, and was on the Red Bus at 8:00am to head back to the trailhead. Of course, the Red Bus did make a stop at the Bakery, so got a savory croissant and a raspberry twist there.

But just like that, back on the trail.

And the trail today was tough, at least for me. Over 19 miles today, on a steady uphill incline. And granted the incline is about half the grade of what we were doing in the last section--300 ft/mile as opposed to 700 ft/mile--but maybe it was the heavy bag (6 full days of food!), maybe it was leaving town (I'm always slow the day out of town, it seems), maybe it was the lack of sleep, but I felt lethargic all day. And my left ankle was complaining all day too, and now with new tendons--the ones on the outside and around the back--doing most of the shouting. So it was a long day. And while I may have started out maybe 3rd amongst the people on the bus in the morning, I definitely arrived at the campground--the Rainy Pass trailhead--last out of everyone.

The climb continues tomorrow, by the way, for another 5 miles, to Cutthroat Pass.

But today we basically passed through North Cascades National Park, on a course following first the gorge of the Stehekin River, then the gorge of Bridge Creek. And the gorges, when I could see them through the trees, were impressive: the rocks like Chinese paintings, the tops rounded and smooth, then the sides stark and steep and dropping down down down to the rivers below. It was admittedly rare to see them, but when I did, I would stop and stare for a moment. They did say something, those gorge cliffs--not as strong as Selden, but there was something there. And had I the time--

But I gotta keep moving!

The day started off sunny enough, and on the shuttle and at the trailhead the locals mentioned how nice the weather was forecast to be. And passing through the first few miles, up through Bridge Creek Campground (which is a very nice campground--huge, wide, spread, with multiple toilets!) that held up. After that, the trail turned east down the Bridge Creek Gorge, and there the clouds started to come in and even, for a few minutes here and there, little drops of precipitation. But every time I'd look up, there'd be patches of brilliant blue up there too--in southern California that means it's *not* going to *start* raining, but I don't know about the North Cascades! Today, though, it held up, and though I was pushing it towards the end--rain is always more likely as it cools to evening--and although it got pretty overcast as I got to camp, it never rained on me.

That's one day without rain, marked and down!

There were other hikers on the trail today. There were Dirty Jobs and Paparazzi, who I caught up with throughout the day, usually when they were finishing a break and I was just coming up. There were Marina and Seth and Matt and Rally, who I bumped into early in the day, but then took off: they had camped near the trailhead, then done this crazy idea of Seth's where he'd seen a section of non-PCT trail marked "impassable" and said, wait, what does that mean, and then they'd gone through it to prove it was *not* impassable. Anyway, they were going to get to Rainy Pass and then get a ride out to Winthrop, stay in a bed for a night (since there were no beds available in Stehekin). And there were Suave and V-Dubs and Mash and Strike Zone and Crypto and Jinx, that whole gaggle, who started out after me, but passed me throughout the day. They're fast too--everyone out here is fast now, except plodding me it seems.

And we all ended up camped at the Rainy Pass trailhead, which is just a dirt parking strip terminated by a privy. The gaggle camped up topside, on the side of the road, whereas I joined Dirty Jobs and Paparazzi in the woods behind and below the privy. Here they met up with their crew, Pothole and 9-Liter and Pacman and--ack one other name I can't remember--and they were so happy. Rejoining with old friends--the rest of the crew had stayed in Leavenworth to wait out the storm it seems--is always a joy, but doing so here, at the end, this close to the border, makes it really special. And I joined them for dinner, made my usual ramen even though there was some trail magic on the road (I wanted to eat away some of this weight!) and camped with them.

And that was the hike! There wasn't much to see on this section: the gorges, mostly, a couple of places where there were bridges across the rivers (there was one that was a suspension thing where I should have looked at views, but it reminded me that, yes, you're afraid of heights, so ended up spending most of my focus managing that instead) and you could look out, a few views of the mountain tops around the gorge (although those would become cloud-topped and occluded). Mostly I just remember the hiking--up and up and up--and my pack--so heavy laden with extra clothing and gear, plus the 6 days of food!

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Some notes:

-- Stehekin > High Bridge Historical Cabin > Howard Lake > Buzzard Creek > Bridge Creek Campground > North Fork Campground > Maple Creek > Six Mile Campsite > Hideaway Camp > Bridge Creek > Rainy Lake Outlet > Rainy Pass (Highway 20) > Rainy Pass Trailhead

-- On the ride out, the shuttle stopped at the Bakery (which Double Snacks had pointed out--all the shuttles stop at the Bakery!) and we all got out and picked up some baked goods. And I got to talking a bit with Dirty Jobs and Paparazzi while I munched on a savory croissant and a raspberry twist. Dirty Jobs is an industrial engineer, now retired, now taking consulting jobs here and there. So I asked him a question I have about consulting: when you do a job, do you still feel a sense of ownership over your work? Because I worry about that in consulting, where you're just coming in, doing a specific thing, then leaving. And he said, yes, so long as you take pride in your work, you will fill ownership. Paparazzi is a physician's assistant who was in New York City at the front lines of COVID. (There are a lot of nurses on the trail--I don't know if it's more than usual, but it feels like a lot--and there's an argument that at least some of them are burned out from COVID and looking to take a break.) But she loves the job and is planning to go back once she finishes the trail.

-- Coming out of Stehekin, I bumped into Boston and Larissa, two girls section hiking from Harts Pass down to Snoqualamie. And they asked how the trail was up ahead, and noted that they were doing just 10-13 a day and already pretty tired and wondering whether they'd make it. And I said, in my usual optimism of what other people are capable of, that, yeah, they could make it. And that there were some tough sections ahead, some passes which are 16 miles between low points, but they could do it. And they asked my name, and I said charlie, and Larissa said, aww, that's my dog's name, and I miss him already. Then: oh, do you get that a lot? And I chuckled and said, well, nobody misses me. (Because, I don't know, is charlie a popular name for dogs?) And they say, aww, we're going to miss you in about 5 minutes! Anyway, it was nice talking to them and, while their bags were huge (as they pointed out) and they were going slow (as they also pointed out), I also genuinely believed that they could make it. Because people are capable of incredible things, often things greater than they themselves may think. And the only way to learn that is to try and see just how far you can go.

-- In some parts, the trail has clearly been brushed, usually of small leafy green plants that rapidly become overgrowth. Thing is, the brush back is a *lot*: more than a yard on either side. And to me, this says that either those plants grow back ridiculously quickly or (more likely) trail maintenance crews don't get out here that often. When I volunteered with the Laguna Canyon Foundation, we'd brush back the trails enough for a year--basically one wet season--since we'd revisit this section about a year from now. But if you're brushing back *this* much, I'm guessing you're not planning on coming back out here for a few years! (Or maybe Washington is just so rainy that the "wet season" is a year long?)

-- When it started threatening to rain, Dirty Jobs and Paparazzi put on their pack covers. And as Mash passed them he warned, can't do that, self-fulfilling prophecy. And I turned to Dirty Jobs--who's a retired industrial engineer--and said, wait, isn't that the opposite of how it works? Doesn't putting on your pack cover mean it's *not* going to rain? And he agreed. Later in the day, as Paparazzi was passing me again (they had taken a break), the sun was shining a bit and I said, that pack cover idea seems to be working. Yeah I know, right?, she said, I'm keeping it on, for sure! Ah: same action, different narratives. (I think putting on the pack covers forestalled rather than encouraged the rains, but really the person to ask is the cloud cover!)

-- More rain humor (can you tell what we think about all day?): at one of their breaks, I asked Dirty Jobs and Paparazzi if they thought Rainy Pass was named after a person or the phenomenon? They guessed--and we all hoped!--a person. And I had asked because the next big pass is Harts Pass, and same question: named after a person, or the deer? On the shuttle, there had been a couple of local fishermen, and they had mentioned that Harts Pass is usually full of hunters this time of year. So I thought, maybe it's named after the deer? Haven't seen any deer up here in northern Washington yet--there were lots down in Oregon--but maybe will see some yet!

-- At one point, the sun shone through the trees and I could see little particles drifting through the air between the trees. And I thought, that's not rain--I'm not getting wet--is that ash? Because now I could sense a slight smokiness in the air, and I knew there had been fires around here earlier in the season. But shouldn't the storm have suppressed those? Maybe it was just tree pollen, then? But it was pretty, little specks drifting in the sunlight, going vaguely downward but easily caught in the whirls of the wind, fickle and free.

-- At Rainy Pass there was trail magic--twice! The first I didn't pursue further, but the second I stopped by, mostly to get water. And they offered me grilled cheese--but: lactose!--and they offered me hard boiled eggs, which I also declined. And then they offered me homemade snickerdoodles, and those I couldn't decline and took a couple. And they were good! This was trail magic from a couple of ladies who were doing it just to do it, just to help out hikers so close to the end. And because they knew it was cold. And I got to talking a bit with them, and they've done various section hikes around Washington, lots of backpacking trips along parts of the PCT, and we talked about the beauty of certain sections, like the Goat Rocks--which they *did* get to see on a clear day. And they were very nice, just doing it to do it and support hikers, and in the end I did get some very good snickerdoodles and a liter and a half of water from them.

-- I should mention the gear changes! So in Stehekin I got:

* An extra thermal undershirt, extra thermal long johns. These would be for hiking. Back on Snoqualamie, the forecast had predicted temps from the 20s to 40s up here, and so I had Ian send extra warm underwear, basically, so I could continue to hike in those conditions. Right now it's not looking like I'll need them, but the engineering side of my brain said you carry them anyway.

* Microspikes. Again, that forecast had predicted snow. Right now, don't need them, but you carry them anyway!

* Gloves. I dropped my Outdoor Research gloves and my marigolds in Stehekin. I found I don't use the Outdoor Research gloves--as opposed to my day-hikes when I use them all the time when having to do rock scrambles, say--since my wool gloves do fine and they're warmer. As for the marigolds, they're my cheap waterproofing solution, but I didn't use them even in the storm--they're too hard to pull over the wool gloves when the latter are wet--so I dropped them too.

* Food. 6-days worth! My food bags are *so* heavy! And to carry them for a 19 mile climb? *So* *heavy*! I did drop some stuff: no breakfasts (cold cereal on these cold mornings--just not happening) just pop-tarts, no superfood tablets (I drink just water), and "lots" of mountain house (I'm carrying three now, one leftover from the last section). The rest is pretty standard, all provided by Ian. I did end up leaving a ton of food in the Stehekin hiker box (across the street from the post office, down by the water, in an ostensible bear box): I didn't eat much during the storm--not going to stop to eat when it's cold and wet and windy, I'll just freeze to death--so had a lot left over from there. But the Stehekin hiker box is full of food--I think everyone ships themselves a full resupply, then drops the excess. Dirty Jobs and Paparazzi had the same issue: they had shipped themselves so much food, and a bunch of it ended up in the hiker box. So while you can't resupply out of the store in Stehekin--it's neat but slim pickings there--I'm thinking you can probably do a full resupply and more out of the just the hiker box!

-- Camping cohort: Dirty Jobs, Paparazzi, Pothole, 9 Liter, Pacman, ack name I can't remember. It's pretty crowded, but Dirty Jobs being the nice guy he is, helped find a spot for me and clear out the branches to make it flat and nice.