23rd September 2013
Mile 2333 to mile 2356 : Chinook Pass to Urich Shelter
Mileage : 23
I was annoyed this morning that my sleeping bag hadn't dried out overnight from my body heat. I was too tired to be annoyed when i discovered it was wet in the first place as i got ready for bed last night, but now i was annoyed. My sleeping bag was wet because a) my rucksack cover is useless , and b) my rucksack liner is also useless. I bought these two items with the express purpose that they keep my stuff dry, but the are patently failing miserably. My warm kit, including my.sleeping bag has a goose down fill as the insulating material, which is superb when dry, and dangerous when wet as it loses all its heat retention properties. Survival in the mountains during bad weather is therefore dependant on keeping this warm kit dry, and last night my sleeping bag, the key lifesaving bit of kit in an emergency, was more than a little damp. As is often the case in mountaineering/hiking equipment, low tech, low cost solutions often out-perform the latest and greatest offering from the big brand names. For my sleeping bag i triple wrapped it in standard shopping bags, and then lined my rurucksack with 2 thick bin bags. It certainly isn't chic, but it works. On a similar note, Shotput and Pepperflake, whom i would see in a couple days for the first time since the Californian border bad solved the wet glove problem. Again it appears that waterproof gloves are rarely so with prolonged exposure to the elements, with my perhaps frostnipped fingers proving the qualities of my own gloves. Shotput and Pepperflake therefore decided an outer layer of household cleaning gloves would help keep their hands dry and therefore warm. Another example of low tech beating high tech. Although i would adopt this in the future, for the coming section i would have to put up with perenially cold and wet hands. Dishcloth dropped Peter Pan, HoopDreams and myself off at the pass and after a small amount of procrastinating, wet set off up the trail. Thankfully it didn't rain too hard today, but even so the constant drizzle, mist, cold an.occasional wind made for unpleasant hiking. For my part, the unpleasantness descended into misery rapidly from the get go. The ankle issue i had felt the night before had not gone away, infact.it.had gotten much, much worse. I must have turned/strained/sprained/twisted it pretty badly yesterday, and for whatever reason was taking its time to surface. But surface it did during the hike today getting worse and worse with each passing mile. I tried to console myself by remembering my.previous ankle issues in the desert 2000 miles ago that as long as i treated it gently, and didn't subject it to too much stress, it would get better in a few days. These thoughts did little to comfort me in the short term however. One thing i have learned about my body when it comes to pain is that it is unable to multi-task, and so my ankle pain actually went away for a lot of the day as it was replaced by something much, much worse : knee pain. About 15 miles in to the hike all was sort of going well, when suddenly my right knee started to hurt. To be specific it was the outward face.if the kneecap that hurt whenever i would bend the knee. For the first few miles after i noticed the pain there was mere discomfort, no great problem as discomfort is all to often the name of the game when it comes to thru-hiking. Soon though, the pain became really noticeable and i became seriously worried. Had the weather been better i would have slowed the pace down, but had i gone any slower i would not have been able to stat warm. Also, the finishline for the day was an actual shelter with a rumoured wood burning stove, i would just have to put up with the pain til i got there. Get i did just after sundown, and it was worth all the fast hiking with my two injuries. The fire was roaring when i arrived, and before long Pan, Hoopdreams and I were thawing out in front of the fire chatting about the day while watching the.steam rising from all our wet hiking clothes strewn all around the fire. We were pretty unaltered andbhit the hay early for some well deserved rest prior to doing it all again the next day, only this time without the cosy cabin at the end of it.
Saturday, 28 September 2013
Day 145 : The beginning of the end
22nd September 2013
Mile 2304 to mile 2333 : White Pass to Chinook Pass
Mileage : 29
Although i am already 150 miles into the state, it feels like i am.starting Washington today. I wanted to get an early start and finish the day's hike in the light but it was not to be. It took a while pack up as the rain was still coming down hard, and just as i was ready to go i thought I'd check i had my brand new head torch close to hand, so i wouldn't have to explode my pack later to get it. I was very glad that i did this check, as i couldn't find it anywhere. I checked inside of everything i owned and turned everything inside-out and upside-down looking for it in vain until finally i retraced my steps that morning and found it by the lake where i had gotten water that morning. At 9:30 i eventually hit the trail and hiked as fast as i could until i got to Chinook Pass 29 miles later. I think that day i stopped for a total of 20 minutes, but although i didn't take many breaks, my hiking speed was slow and i didn't get to the pass until well after dark and by that time i was cold, wet and miserable. At Chinook Pass i stook my thumb out and started waving at every passing car in the hope they were going back to Packwood and the motel room that PRT had there. Every car that passed stopped, which was good, but none were going to Packwood, so i was there a while standing by the side of the road seeing lights coming up the pass in the cold, wet, dark and hoping they were cars going my way. I was 2 cars away from giving up when Jenny stopped. Jenny was on her way to Enumclaw, but when she saw what a state i was in she took pity on me and decided to take me to Packwood and for that kindness I am extremely grateful. Upon arrival into Packwood it took a while to find the motel at PRT was staying, the whole place was badly lit and the owner badly tempered. I couldn't get hold of anyone by phone but recognised the array of hiker equipment outside one of the doors, and knocked on the door the stuff was closest to, and luckily Dishcloth answered the door. The first thing i did was get.straight in the shower and get clean and warm. I didn't actually have much dirt on me having only been out hiking for 1 day, but it did take almost 20 minutes to feel properly warm again. Some time later i was ensconced in my sleeping bag drifting of to sleep when i noticed two things. The first was.a pain in my left ankle, and the second was that my fingers were numb. I'd actually noticed this before I'd gotten in the shower, but assumed.it would go away when i warmed up, it didn't, and so i added it to my list of body parts that have gone numb. This list now includes : the balls of my feet, my left hip/waist area, which is due to my pulling the hip strap of my rucksack in really tight and it pressing hard on my hips now that i have so little fat on me, and now my finger tips. All four on my right hand are numb, and the middle two of my left hand. I understand why my feet and hips are numb, but can't explain the fingers. Starfox, who has mountaineering experience, later suspected that i could have been frost-nip, the first stage of frostbite, this seems unlikely, but not impossible, given how cold, wet and windy it was today.
Mile 2304 to mile 2333 : White Pass to Chinook Pass
Mileage : 29
Although i am already 150 miles into the state, it feels like i am.starting Washington today. I wanted to get an early start and finish the day's hike in the light but it was not to be. It took a while pack up as the rain was still coming down hard, and just as i was ready to go i thought I'd check i had my brand new head torch close to hand, so i wouldn't have to explode my pack later to get it. I was very glad that i did this check, as i couldn't find it anywhere. I checked inside of everything i owned and turned everything inside-out and upside-down looking for it in vain until finally i retraced my steps that morning and found it by the lake where i had gotten water that morning. At 9:30 i eventually hit the trail and hiked as fast as i could until i got to Chinook Pass 29 miles later. I think that day i stopped for a total of 20 minutes, but although i didn't take many breaks, my hiking speed was slow and i didn't get to the pass until well after dark and by that time i was cold, wet and miserable. At Chinook Pass i stook my thumb out and started waving at every passing car in the hope they were going back to Packwood and the motel room that PRT had there. Every car that passed stopped, which was good, but none were going to Packwood, so i was there a while standing by the side of the road seeing lights coming up the pass in the cold, wet, dark and hoping they were cars going my way. I was 2 cars away from giving up when Jenny stopped. Jenny was on her way to Enumclaw, but when she saw what a state i was in she took pity on me and decided to take me to Packwood and for that kindness I am extremely grateful. Upon arrival into Packwood it took a while to find the motel at PRT was staying, the whole place was badly lit and the owner badly tempered. I couldn't get hold of anyone by phone but recognised the array of hiker equipment outside one of the doors, and knocked on the door the stuff was closest to, and luckily Dishcloth answered the door. The first thing i did was get.straight in the shower and get clean and warm. I didn't actually have much dirt on me having only been out hiking for 1 day, but it did take almost 20 minutes to feel properly warm again. Some time later i was ensconced in my sleeping bag drifting of to sleep when i noticed two things. The first was.a pain in my left ankle, and the second was that my fingers were numb. I'd actually noticed this before I'd gotten in the shower, but assumed.it would go away when i warmed up, it didn't, and so i added it to my list of body parts that have gone numb. This list now includes : the balls of my feet, my left hip/waist area, which is due to my pulling the hip strap of my rucksack in really tight and it pressing hard on my hips now that i have so little fat on me, and now my finger tips. All four on my right hand are numb, and the middle two of my left hand. I understand why my feet and hips are numb, but can't explain the fingers. Starfox, who has mountaineering experience, later suspected that i could have been frost-nip, the first stage of frostbite, this seems unlikely, but not impossible, given how cold, wet and windy it was today.
Day 144 : The calm before the storm
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.
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.
The holiday
This morning i woke up firmly off trail for the first time since he Mexican border all those months ago. For the next 10 days i will be a tourist with Sophie while we do our best to explore a small be of the American Northwest. I have decided that as this is not part of the trail, i will not be sharing it on the blog. The next blog post will be after Sophie has left and i am on my way back to the trail.
Day 143 : The Goat Rocks
9th September 2013
Mile 2285 to mile 2304 : The Goat Rocks to White Pass
Mileage : 19
Today there were two objectives, reach White.Pass.via the Goat Rocks, and hitch off trail to Seattle. Sophie, my better half, is coming out to the US for ten days to see me, and together we're going to be tourists and lots of things unrelated to the trail. Most people i know have had friends and family visit at least once on the trail, and i have been jealous everytime someone tells me of some real RnR away from the trail. Tomorrow it will be my turn with me meeting Sophie at the airport after a long flight from the UK. Between now and then however is the Goat Rocks wilderness. The Goal Rocks is the first real wilderness on Washington, and i have been looking forward to them for some time as their beauty is well known among the hiker community and so i was itching to get started when i awoke this morning. As i was breaking my trailside camp Cartwheel showed up, and it was with hikers that i shared the Goat Rocks that day. I think it is fair to say that Cartwheel is a bit of an oddball, with some hikers liking him and others finding him a bit, well, odd. I am definitely of the 'like' camp and remember his hospitality at Timberline Lodge well. Together we hiked up.a.steep climb towards the summit of Old Snowy, a prominent summit from.which we sat and admired the staggering views of Washington. The views of Mt Rainier in particular were simply jaw dropping. Unfortunately as i needed to getto White Pass with enough time to hitch into Seattle i couldn't dawdle, but that just meant i was playing with fire, or more correctly vertical drops of several hundred feet, as i descended along a knife edge ridge back down towards White Pass. It was by far my favourite few miles of trail since the Sierras over 1000 miles ago. The Goat Rocks wilderness was alas too short, and by the middle White Pass with my thumb out Seattle bound. I am a little ashamed to sat i have neither photos nor names of any of the occupants of the three cars that took me into Seattle but for some reason it just didn't cross.my.mind. My.first ride was from a group of 3 girls and a guy about my age just coming back from doing the Wonderland Trail, which goes all the way around the circumference of Mt Rainier much like the Timberline Trail does Mt Hood. I did wonder why then they were picking me.up at White Pass, as the pass is no where near the Wonderland Trail, but in my experience it is bad manners to argue with someone offering you ride, so i just nodded politely. At the bottom of the pass, and at the southern entrance to Mt Rainier National Park i we.parted ways and i was left once again on the side of the road with my thumb out trying to flag down passing cars as best i could. An hour later i was still there, and getting a bit worried. The southern entrance of the park is in a deep valley and was already losing the light even though it was barely 5pm. I also had no mobile phone reception to call my angels in Seattle who were putting me up for the night. Not good. Finally ny.luck changed and a couple picked me up and took me up to through park's northern entrance where again i was left by the side if the road. This time however, i got a ride almost instantly from a naturalised German woman was up in the park for the day. I allayed her fears that i was a crazed murderer looking for my next victim by informing her i was a stranded British hiker/tourist on my way to Seattle to pick my girlfriend from the airport, and that seemed to do the trick. Before long we were speeding towards Seattle, and not just to he city in general, but actually to where i was going, right to the door. It turned out thus woman lived only a few streets away from where i was going, an incredible but of luck on my part given the vastness of the Seattle metropolitan area. About 90 minutes later i was once again ejected from a car, byte this time at the house of Bob and Kelley Kiel. Bob and Kelley are the parents of Nightcrawler, aka Jess who live in south Seattle and who often help out hikers in need. I am very grateful to them. My luck continued as i arrived just in time for dinner, and so i sat down to a delicious homecooked meal if corn on the cob, spicy chicken and rice, salad, and glass or two of wine it was sublime, if not a bit surreal given my hitching fortune, and the fact that only a few hours before i had been in the wilderness of the Cascade mountains. A good end to a.great day.
Day 142 : The green tunnel
8th September 2013
Mile 2256 to mile 2285 : Mt Adams to the Goat Rocks
Mileage : 29
I was hoping today for some stunning views of Mt Adams today, but views today were elusive. I arrived in camp last night just as he light was fading, and i still don't have a head lamp so i couldn't see how close to a nearby waterfall i was sleeping. I woke up at dawn to discover my sleeping bag was soaking wet from condensation, so i was pretty close. I tried to look on the bright side which was that the white noise from the falls meant i had slept the whole night without waking up once. I broke camp at speed so as to get moving and start warming up as quickly as possible. I waved good morning to Frosty and Goldie, with whom i had arrived in camp the night before and set off down the side of the mountain. The day proved more difficult than it should have been given the good weather and relatively easy terrain. For some reason i just didn't have much energy, and i struggled all day. I stopped on an exposed hill top at lunch to let my sleeping bag dry, and took in one of the few views of the day, before plunging back into the forest below me. Just after lunch Goldie and Frosty caught me, testament to how fast they were moving, and how i was moving as i left camp at least 45 minutes before them, and i leap frogged with them later.in the day as we climbed into the Goat Rocks wilderness. It was good to be above treeline again and to finally have good weather long enough to enjoys the views, and views there were. The setting sun set Mt Adamsalight and even illuminated the brown ruin of a volcanoe that is Mt StHelens. I arrived at my camp spot, as indicated by the map, to find a marshy meadow, and no good looking spots for me to sleep on. By this time the light was almost totally gone so i had to make do with a trailside patch yet again, but i didn't mind, at least my commute to work in the morning would be short! The final hurdle of the day involved my stove. From the outset i have been using a homemade pop can stove which uses as its fuel either denatured alcohol, or an antifreeze called HEET. At my last trail stop i couldn't find either, so i compromised with buying isopropylalcohol, which does work if it is pure, but i didn't see that the stuff i bought was only 70%, with the remainder being water. This stuff just didn't work. Usually my pot sits right on the stove and it does its thing in the evening quite happily unattended leaving me free to do other chores. Tonight though it took forever to boil the water i needed for my dehydrated rice, to the point where i almost lost my temper and threw it away. I persevered though and was finally rewarded with some tepid aldente rice that i ate in the dark ensconced in my sleeping bag, at least there was no condensation so far that night.
Day 141 : Mt Adams
7th September 2013
Mile n/a to mile 2356 : Trout Lake to the base of Mt Adams.
Mileage : 33
My hike in to Trout Lake was 18 miles downhill, my hike out was 15 miles uphill towards Mt Adams. The weather had cleared up overnight and i was treated to glorious sunshine, and stunning views of Mt Adams, as i hiked up the road towards the mountain. I was further treated to a slack pack, ie a hike with no rucksack, courtesy of Cuddles and Funsize, who had a car and had spotted me hiking past where they were staying. The kindly took my rucksack up to the trailhead and hid it in some bushes so i wouldn't have to hike with it. The last time i slack packed was over 1500 miles ago at Tehachapi, so i didn't feel bad about doing it here, especially as i was road walking. Several hours later i was back at the trail having completed my detour to Trout Lake having only lost one or two hiking hours, a small price to pay considering what I'd gotten from the town. It did mean that that i had to keep pushing hard in order to keep on schedule. The trail ascended the mountain on its west flank, before contourbig around it clockwise before heading down the north face of it. I set up camp by a small stream just before the descent and watched the lightshow of the sunset on the glaciated sides of Mt Adams, a good end to a good day.
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