Today was magical. It was everything I had hoped it would be. It felt so good to be in my own backyard. But before I get to walking, more about town, aka Snoqualmie Pass!
I had a great night in the hotel with Amigo. It felt so good to sleep in a bed. I had a soak in the hot tub and then started laundry while he, Flappy, and Mellow hit the Summit Pancake House bar. I was sitting around the hotel room wrapped in only a towel when I was summoned to the bar by the boys. I was using the hotel as an opportunity to wash everything, including my rain gear which is my usual laundry wardrobe. I initially said I couldn't come out due to the clothes issue but then decided it would be fun and that I wanted to hang. To make a long story short, I wound up at the bar in my puffy coat and a hotel towel skirt. Only a thru-hiker could pull that off!
Back to today.....Everyone rendezvoused at the Pancake House for breakfast, including Shameless and Action Pack who had camped just a couple miles before the pass. I had a veggie omelet with pancakes, same as last night. As I was finishing my breakfast, I looked up and saw my friends Khanh and Tim from Seattle walking toward me! I couldn't believe it! They were stopping in for breakfast on their way to a hike. Khanh said she'd had a hunch she would find me there. Anyways, it was so GREAT to see them, and the spontaneity made it even more fun.
We checked out of the hotel around 11, resupplied, and hit up Red Mountain Coffee. I was also able to pick up the package my parents had express mailed to the Chevron Station containing a rain coat and some other warm clothes. This was a relief, as it hadn't been there yesterday. As it turned out, the post master had it, because a signature was required upon delivery. At any rate, it all worked out when Martin showed up around noon. Definitely a very informal set up but everybody was really nice and helpful!!
I wound up hiking out just with Shameless. The rest of my crew decided to take an alternate route that passes some hot springs but misses about 35 miles of PCT (though it's only a 10-ish mile short cut). I thought about doing the hot springs trip but have been looking forward to this stretch of trail since the moment I decided to hike the PCT. I feel like it is a classic section of Washington....Maybe not the most beautiful but definitely the most popular, and it is linking up so many places I have adventured in the past. Definitely no regrets and Shameless and I will meet everyone in Baring on Friday.
The hike today was gorgeous. Shameless and I left the pass around 2:30. I enjoyed countless special memories. Even the notorious switchback before the Kendall Catwalk brought a smile to my face, as did Red and Snoqualmie Mountains which I have great memories of skiing. The Cat walk was fun too......not as long as I'd remembered it though. We got water at Ridge/Gravel Lakes where Joe and I camped before climbing Mt. Thomson a few years ago. Then we passed Alaska Lake where I spent what was probably one of the worse weekends of my life last October. I remembered trying to spot the trail from the lake and just wishing I could transport myself to it because I knew everything would be better then. I was right, but things actually got better a lot sooner. It felt so good to reflect on how far I've come.
After Alaska Lake, we cruised past Joe Lake where I spent a weekend a couple of years ago. The trail actually passes above Alaska and Joe Lakes, but you get great views of them, and I had bushwhacked up to the PCT for a little side excursion from Joe Lake. It's hard to believe I was at Snoqualmie Pass yesterday afternoon, and now I'm in a location one would typically access from Cle Elum/Salmon La Sac. It is so neat to stitch together all these places I have visited on separate trips. I'm currently camped with Shameless and a guy name Log very close to the location the July calendar picture was taken that year near the Chikamin Peak. It is beautiful....we've been in very open terrain with great (albeit smokey) views of Rainier to the south.
I could probably write about this area for pages and pages, but I have to get some sleep. I just feel really happy to be passing through here on this amazing journey. Life is so good!
Hasta manana!
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