Sittin in the Rain at White pass

July 22
Today we're sitting, trapped in the tent this morning due to steady rain.

 We made it 100 miles to White Pass, it was not hard. There was no snow and the trail was beautiful. We hiked 21 miles the first day, then 19, 17, 14, 12, 15 so it was 6 days in the wilderness. Food turned into something else for us quickly, we had enough but it would have been nice to have more snacks. We dreamed about Mexican restaurants and pizza and ice cream. I didn't keep a good journal day to day but I'm gonna start that on the next segment.

We had a lot of time to think while hiking. Sometimes we were silent, sometimes we'd talk for hours. You start remembering things you haven't thought of it a long time, the powers of wonder and imagination are amazing and keep you always entertained. Some parts of the trail are more of a journey through your mind then through the forest. Sometimes the trail looks exactly the same, dense jungle for 10 miles and that will make your thoughts and attention focus inward. Other times you walk along some beautiful ridge with what we call "sweeping views" and those times you generally think about the scenery. It's nice to switch back and forth, the Pacific Crest Trail is awesome!

We aren't in pain much. My backpack started a little heavier on day one and after 19 or 20 miles we were extremely fatigued. Maggie's feet have been in pain sometimes where the break happened last year. But as our packs got lighter, as we ate the food, and on the days we hiked less miles, we felt great. Smooth sailing.

By the end our packs felt so light and the mosquitoes chased us out of the woods the last 10 miles to White Pass where we were welcomed with open arms. The lady, Terry, at the gas station "Kracker Barrel store" let us sit around for hours. We met two other hikers Jacob and Alexis, who had hiked through Oregon on their way to Canada. The best part of this trip has been all the characters we've met along the way. When you meet someone else hiking far on the PCT, you always stop and chat for at least five minutes. We remember everyone we've met and talked about them all. Wondering about their lives and comparing them to each other is fun.

 We made friends with these two and Terry put us all to work stocking shelves and unloading boxes. We found fudge and crackers in the hiker free box and then we were given little pizzas and then we were given all the nasty gas station burritos and pizza pockets we could eat and beer that she let us drink in the store and soda and then Jacob and Alexis unloaded the extra food to us. We filled a huge bag with 20 pounds of awesome packaged hiking food, like peanut butter and Snickers, and tortillas, granola bars soft and crunchy. Danishes and crackers and beef jerky and fruit leather and M&Ms.

It was amazing we are thrilled to have all this wonderful extra food. It was difficult to pack it all, Maggie is going to take my clothes and sleeping pad and rain gear in her bag and my bag is just food! So much food. Bursting completely full of food. I have 40 to 50 pounds of food. And we're gonna need it! Next segment we're plunging into the epic Goat Rocks wilderness that have been on my mind for a while now. It's the highest point on the Washington PCT at 7500 feet and it's a very steep, probably snow-covered climb to get up there and then down the other side.

We had planned originally for this to be a 10 day trip but now have found there's a road we'll cross that will take us to a Buddhist temple with rooms for 20$ night. So we'll go there to break the trip up into two 5 day segments. We've talked to so many people who had come from Goat Rocks, we've been unsure if we can do it. Some have said they are horrible and must be detoured, some have said "YOU CAN'T SKIP THE GOAT ROCKS!" And everything in between. It's one day up the snow, then one day across a famous rich called knife's edge which is supposed to be snow free, and then one day down the snow at dastardly Cispis pass and after that you're on the other side. We're going to try! I'll let you know how it goes but for now we have to wait out this rain. Terry let us camp out behind the store, and who should show up but our friend Jess who we've met three times now and have been texting back and forth about our progress Jacob Alexis and Jess hung out with us late into the night and we camped together. It's been a lot of fun, today it's time to take care errands and such.