The Walking Dom

Mile 2292 / KM 3688
Trout Lake to White Pass to Seattle

Song of my day: The Krackle Barrel on White Pass didn't have wifi so I am still without tunes.

Podcast of my day: "The Mystery Show" It's nothing crazy but I like the host and it's entertaining.

I miss: The trail already!

This crazy adventure is slowly but surely coming to an end and I can't say that I'm ready for it to be over. The closer we get to Canada, the slower I want to get there. I realized that a couple of days ago and since thenI've been enjoying every moment of this journey even more than I did before. I had sort of hit a wall at the end of Oregon, but since the break in Portland I am all about hiking again. My body feels great and my feet are in a good condition. I feel like I could walk all the way to Alaska so I am having a hard time picturing myself at a desk for 9 hours a day, now that I've gotten used to being outside 24/7. Life as a thru-hiker is very simple and dialed down to the very basics. I like that. There's something about walking for 12 hours a day that feels relaxing and it's hard to compare it to anything else. It's obviously not physically relaxing but it is mentally. I would even go as far as to say that these days I need the time in the woods to process whatever happens in town and my favourite moment is when I step from a paved road back into the forest. Everyone goes quiet and retreats back into their own little world.

The last couple of days have been spectacular to say the least. We got out of Huckleberry Central and started climbing up Mount Adams for the rest of the day where we ended up camping very close to the edge of its glacier. That made for a pretty view but also for a very cold night. In general it has gotten a lot colder and the days are getting shorter. Usually we get up at around 6.15am which is ridiculously hard as it is, but even harder when its minus 100 outside and dark. Coyote howling has been replaced by elk callings and lately we've been running into more and more face painted hunters along the trail. It's kind of funny because here we are, clicking our poles and whistling while camouflaged hunters silently army crawl alongside the path. We are totally scaring off their game.

The sun is back and the trail at its best with perfect hiking conditions. Passed a couple day hikers on the way up to Goat Rocks and ran into some trail magic along the way. We came up to our first view of Mount Rainier a couple of hours later and we were b l o w naw a y! What a view! We were looking down into this absolutely gorgeous valley and decided to get an even better view by going all the way up to the top of Knifes Edge. I have to come back here on day and camp up on the ridge. I'll have to bring 4 sleeping bags to not freeze to death, but the view is worth it. We only did 22 miles that day and fell into bed (that sounds better than the reality of a Z-Rest mat is) completely exhausted.

The next morning I saw my first mountain goat and about 3 hours later I was eating a sandwich at the Krackle Barrel on White Pass. Some of the best snowboarders hit the hills there every year and winter is coming (this isn't supposed to be a reference), but I hope we'll make it to Canada before the first snow falls. 3 weeks to the border.

I am going to take a bit of a detour for the next 3 days and fly to Denver for a concert. I know... a bit weird now that I am so close to finishing line, but I don't care. Lucero and Jason Isbell are playing Red Rocks and I would't forgive myself if I missed out on that since two of my good friends from home are flying in as well. So here I am, completely overwhelmed by the amount of people around me, at the Seattle airport. I feel like a cave woman in civilisation. The way that I got here is kind of interesting too; I put my thumb out on a pass which was around 20 miles past White Pass. The ride from there to Seattle takes about 2 hours, so not an easy hitch perse, but I got lucky! Really lucky! I ran into Tim, Dana and Lori from Seattle, who were coming back from a hike with their two dogs and they picked me up in their big white pick up truck. We all ended up going for Mexican food that night as it was Tim's birthday and the fact that they invited a stranger to join for dinner was so cool. I ended up staying at Dana's for the night whom I spent a lovely day with in Seattle. Went for an amazing breakfast and coffee at Elms, did laundry at his house, got to shower twice and he even gave me a ride to the airport later! Crazy!!! Go Toughs! You guys are the best! Thanks for everything. I could have not had a better time in Seattle.