Post-trail: Week 1, Seattle

And on Sun's Day, we arrived into Seattle well into Night, from a road Rainy and Foggy and Long. And as it was so Late, we sought Refection on the Road at a 24-hour Golden Arches. And I sought their famous Apple Pie because that's a tradition in my family (and yes, I am being Serious about that), and they told us it would be 8 minutes before they would be Ready (although this turned out to be Not True), but we were willing to wait. And I also sought a chicken sandwich Meal, but was told they were out of Meal 4D, then out of Meal 4C, then out of Meal 4B and at point I gave up and went with whatever chicken thing the guy on the intercom said and it ended up being comparable in size to a hamburger and by the way when was the last time you ate a simple McDonalds hamburger because let me tell you those things are small and (especially to a hiker) are basically flattened sliders. But Something is better than Nothing in this case, and we took the Foodstuffs to the hotel and ate them well past the Witching Hour.

And on Moon's Day I woke early, for the hiker's Circadian still ticked in my Suprachiasmatic Nucleus, but Ian woke late because he's not Crazy. And we spent the day doing the Tourist Thing at Pike Place Market. And we had lunch at Copacabana where we watched the Rains of Sext pour down before drying by None (which would be the Habit of the next few days), and then we wandered the Labyrinth of the market. And there we bought Tchotchkes at the Made in Washington shop (although Ian was more Conscientious and bought Gifts to give to folks back home), and we wandered into a bookstore where I bought a collection of Native American Short Stories on a Whim, and a record store where I bought a jazz interpretation of Bach on vinyl on Impulse. And we also bought more food: mac and cheese from Beecher's Handmade Cheese, pastries from Piroshky Piroshky--which we ate overlooking the Park as the Sun came out--and fresh fruit from a random stall, the fresh-cut free sample from the hawker out front working like a Charm, which we took back to the hotel. And for dinner, we were joined by one of Ian's friends--Tony, who works for Boeing in Seattle--and we ate at Elliott's Oyster House, a Fancy Restaurant on one of the Piers, and I found I like the Brinny oysters more than the Creamy ones (although that may admittedly have just been Salt-Thirst lingering from the Trail). And we talked some about the Trail, and at the end, after hearing some of my Stories, Tony concluded that hiking the PCT is a little bit Crazy. And Ian did Not Disagree. Which I found strange: I did not think the PCT Crazy, on the contrary, I thought it quite Normal. For among the hikers, it *is* normal; I reserve "Crazy" for folks who either jump off trail to do *other* trails (like those who "take a break" to hike the 90+ mile Wonderland Trail around Mount Rainier, then come back and continue the PCT) (and, yes, I Know folks who Did such), or (in my opinion) folks who thru-hike the CDT. But perhaps my Views are slightly Distorted: as Billy Yang once commented on the question of why run an ultramarathon, "it's something that's become somewhat normalized in our little fringe, crazy circle".

And on Tiw's Day, Ian took a Flight back to SoCal, but not before we dropped by a Pike Place vendor to buy a final Gift. And I did the proper Asian protocol and accompanied him to the Air Port, and watched him go through Security. Only I  departed before he finished passing the x-ray Machines and I Should Not Have: for some of the Foodstuff Gifts he had bought were categorized as Liquids and so could not be Carried On (I had thought them but Powders but on closer inspection, yes, they were Fluid). So I Returned to Security to Retrieve, and carry them back to SoCal by Hand. And that is what I Get for not being obeisant to Proper tradition! And to return to Seattle, I took the Light Rail, and for a moment, on those elevated tracks on a Sunny Day, I felt like I was in Taiwan. In the Fancy Places zooming past tall apartment Buildings rising up from cut-grass Communal Spaces; and in the older, Common Places past greenery lush and watery growing Everywhere, the little single-storey hometown Shops and de-facto Hangouts that I could glimpse along the tracks or just Beyond, maybe a block. And Each Place its own Community, its own Tribe with its own Concerns; even the little decorative touches on the Walls and Bridges that must have been so significant when they were made, but now have become just part of the Landscape, seen in passing, rarely noticed, the history already faded into sepia tones in disregarded history textbooks--it was a feeling of passing through Worlds, and though perhaps Small--the suburbs of suburbs--Worlds yet still Rich and Full.

And on Odin's Day I was Tired, and did not Go Anywhere, but stayed in the hotel, and ate through all my remaining Trail Food, partially because I did not want to Carry the Weight back to SoCal, but mostly because I was Lazy.

And on Thor's Day, I sallied forth for more Tourist things (for that was what I Was, and if there was Shame in that, then I would just have to Carry it) and walked out to the Space Needle, arriving early enough to get the Cheaper price and went on Up! And it was pretty Neat, even if the Fogs were encroaching and the View becoming but more Obscured even as I Looked, but I walked the Top floor, which was enclosed in walls of Glass but still had seams open to the Air, and I found I could not walk to the Edge for my acro-phobia--a fear I had not felt since crossing the suspension bridge over Bridge Creek. But then I went down to the Penult floor, which Rotates and has a glass Floor, but had no problems there. Strange. But after that I visited the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum, which was Beautiful but that I realized I had Already Seen when it toured San Francisco back when I was in graduate school. After that, I wandered to the Seattle Center Cafeteria to eat lunch and realized how much smaller the Portions, and how much costlier the Price, of food in the Big City as opposed to the small Trail Towns of which I had become accustomed.

From there I walked back towards the Shore, stopping at Rachel's Ginger Beer to try a Cucumber x Tarragon Ginger Beer (at the recommendation of the person behind the counter) which was Very Good, and I can Unapologetically forward the Recommendation. And then I ended the day at the Seattle Central Library, which looks a magnificent bit of Trellis work from the Outside--a cube latticed in concrete filigrees--and I was hopeful would be fun to Explore on the Inside, for I love nothing more than getting Lost in Libraries. But, alas, only the bottom three floors were open, the rest closed by COVID, so instead of Exploring I mostly just sat at a table and worked on Blog Entries.

And on Freya's Day, I gathered my things and Checked Out in the morning to catch my Train back to Southern California. And I had thought to walk there, but I had a mighty Struggle with the courtesy computer at the hotel as I tried to print my Boarding Pass, a struggle which I ultimately Lost, and now with little Sand left in the Glass, I simply called an Uber.

And so ended my Sojourn in Seattle!

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Some notes:

-- Evidently the hotel we stayed at was on Pill Hill: it was surrounded by no fewer than three hospitals. And the folks who stayed there were often folks from far away doing long term stays for treatments at the various hospitals, so it wasn't as fancy as it could be. But that was fine by me: from a hiker's point of view, no fewer than 3 washers and dryers in the basement available for use 24-hours a day, showers that were crowded but had more than enough hot water, and even a deep sink in the main room for washing gear! All they needed was a hiker box and they'd be set!

-- Seattle was a strange city: the architecture--tall buildings and narrow streets that sometimes stayed perpendicular, but would stray into peculiar angles at critical junctures--always suggest to me big cities with lots of people. Only the first few days I was there, there *weren't* any people. Perhaps it was the weather, perhaps it was the comparisons I made with Taipei (on the trail I had dreamed a lot about Taipei--or rather, about shooting street photography in Taipei), but I was surprised by just how *empty* the streets were. Even around Pike Place Market--a tourist spot--the passageways weren't as full as I would expect. This got a little better by the end of the week--there seemed to be more people around on my walk to the Space Needle, even though it was raining. I don't know if this was an actual increase in streetside population, or rather just my expectations slowly diminishing to better match reality!

-- Physically, I've found that it's my feet that are taking the longest to recover. My toes are still numb of course--I don't expect the nerves in those to grow back until Christmas. But also the pads of my feet--the pads under the heel a bit, but mostly the pads on the other side of the arch, where the toes connect with the foot--the pads feel like there are permanent rocks there that I'm always stepping on. The first couple nights my feet would also swell up, and I would take my usual 4-ibuprofen regimen to quell it. Oh, and for some reason my calves keep cramping at night so I'm increasing both my salt and water intake. But to be fair, foot and leg problems make sense--20 miles a day with 40 pounds on your back for months on end will do that! What is less expected are the numbness in my hips (from the hip belt of my pack; I guess this proves I was indeed putting most of my pack weight on my hips!), and the strained feeling in the tendons in my right neck and shoulder (hmm, maybe the pack *isn't* on my hips after all!). The latter is especially concerning: it feels like an overuse injury I'd get from sitting slumped in my chair at the office. On the trail in the last few days, it would start hurting even before I put my pack on in the morning, whereas here I can at least get through most of the day without pain, with the strain kicking in only towards late afternoon. I'm hopeful most of these aches and pains will eventually go away with time.