21st September 2013
No miles
I woke up again in a bed for what i would guess as the last time in aanother month as up the trail in one final push up the trail to the Canadian border. As Bob and Kelley hadn't done enough for me already, Kelley said she would drive me back up to White Pass to save me a difficult set of hitches. The morning as spent resupplying and send boxes, but by mid afternoon we were on our way and speeding back through Mt Rainier National Park. Kelley dropped me right at the little.petrol station at the top of the pass where i had gotten off trail over ten days ago now, and so i was exactly where i needed to be to carry on hiking. I thanked Kelley for she and Bob had done for me, and she headed back home to Seattle, and i headed inside to see if there were any hikers about. Inside i found a couple hikers i didn't know, but also a couple i did : Fireball and Busted with whom i had crossed the halfway mark almost exactly 1000 miles ago. We swapped stories for a few minutes before they told me that all of PRT, and also Starfox and Chick-Chack, were at the pass. I couldn't believe it, i had done it. I had spent almost 2 months clawing myself a ten day lead.on them all so that i could catch them.all.when i got back trail after my holiday, and i had done it uncannyily well. All the assembled hikers in the petrol station were due to head out that evening, and as i thought my lot might all do the same i headed half a mile down the road to the campsite to find them. I needn't have worried, i found Starfox, Chick-Chack and Mr Green doing what PRT does best : resting. As much as i was surprised to get back on trail just as they were passing through, they were more surprised. After a heartfelt reunion they gave me the skinny on the rest of PRT and the hiking coming up over the next few days.Peter Pan was the only one hiking that day, and was on her way southbound from Chinook Pass back to White Pass,.and Dishcloth and Hoop Dreams were driving up to the campground to pick her up and take her back to Packwood, a little town they were staying in a few miles down from the pass. It turned out that Dishcloth was no longer on trail. His feet were hurting too much for him to continue so he had gotten of trail halfway through Oregon at Shelter Cove. Once getting off trail he had flown back to his native Texas, gotten in his car, and then drove back to the trail to act as a mobile trail angel for PRT. Incredible! A little while later Dishcloth and Kate arrived by car, and Peter Pan appeared from.out of the forest. It was a good moment, the last time we had all seen each other at the same time was at Sierra City, some 1100 miles ago when we were all enduring the intense heat of Northern California, well no longer. The weather forecast said to expect rain, wind and cold for the foreseeable future. The forecast was so bad that Mr Green, Starfox and Chick-Chack were not going to hike on tomorrow, but instead were going to skip up 2 sections and wait out the weather at the Dinsmore's hiker Haven near Steven's Pass, some 170 miles up the trail. Skipping is never on my agenda, so i knew i would be facing the weather. Thankfully Pan and HoopDreams were of a similar mindset to me. They were going to zero tomorrow, and then hike north from Chinook Pass, a day's hike away. I then, would hike up to Chinook Pass tomorrow on my own and hike with them after that. With plans laid Dishcloth, Hoopdreams and Peter Pan headed back to Packwood leaving the rest of us to endure the weather that night. I did so under my new shelter, a massive sheet of Tyvek tarpaulin which i spread over a picnic table. I was glad of the opportunity to test it out before hitting the trail for real the next day.
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