The Adventures of...: Day 137, 138

Day 137, 22 miles, endpoint PCT mile 2287

It was still raining this morning and we did not want to leave the tent. So we didn't. We had breakfast and hung out in the tent for a while, waiting to see what the rain would do. It kept coming down and we knew we just had to face it. We packed up as quickly as we could, trying to keep things from getting too wet, and started hiking at 8:30, one of our latest starts in a very long time.

We trudged through the wet forest for quite awhile. The rain was strong in the morning, but tapered off as the day went on. By 2pm the rain stopped altogether and the sun just barely broke through the gray clouds. We decided to take advantage of the sun by pulling out the tent, rainfly, quilt, and tyvec groundsheet to dry out.

Feeling relieved that we wouldn't be faced with a miserable night in a wet tent, we packed everything back up and carried on. We crossed into the Goat Rocks Wilderness and encountered sky scraping peaks, snow patches, and large rocky outcroppings. It was beautiful alpine territory.

The clouds cooperated for the most part until the late evening, when they began rolling back in as we hiked up and down a razor edge ridge. Despite the clouds, the ridge did give us amazing mountain and valley views.

We are currently just below the mountain crest we were just on, in a chilly but dry spot. It feels like it will be very cold tonight.

Tomorrow will be a resupply stop at White Pass, a ski resort along Highway 12.

Entering Goat Rocks in the rain!

Enjoying some blue sky!

Cispus River Canyon

Very limited visibility... it's a good thing the tracks were easy to follow!

Clouds to the west.... clearing to the east.

Better trails and scenery usually means tougher hiking.

The clouds opened up for a brief moment to show us the nearby peaks.

The famous knife ridge. On a clear day Mt. Rainier would be the perfect background for this shot.

Day 138, 16 miles, endpoint PCT mile 2303/Packwood, WA

We continued through the gorgeous scenery of the Goat Rocks Wilderness this morning, except this time we had the good fortune of clear skies and sunshine. After a long uphill to a pass, we had views of Mt. Rainier, which we weren't able to see yesterday due to the clouds. The mountain looked even bigger, standing watch over the craggy, snowy Goat Rocks peaks. We took a break at the top, then started the descent to our next resupply stop at White Pass.

We reached Highway 12 and walked 3/4 of a mile to the bottom of the chair lifts at White Pass. Besides the stagnant lifts, the only other thing at White Pass was the Kracker Barrel convenience store, where we picked up our resupply package.

By coincidence, something really important was happening later today: the opening game of the NFL season. The Seahawks were playing the Packers. We are huge Seahawks fans. And we were in Washington. Near a town. We had to see that game; it wasn't even a question.

We hitched a ride 20 miles West to the town of Packwood with a guy who just finished up a section hike of the PCT and was driving home to Seattle. He was a huge fan of the TV show American Ninja Warrior and told us he was in the process of building an obstacle course like on the TV show in his backyard.

Once in Packwood we checked into the Hotel Packwood, a kitchy bed and breakfast type place, minus the breakfast. Shared bathrooms were down the hall, and our bedroom was decorated like the guest bedroom at Grandma's. It was cheap and cozy and fun, and the woman who ran the place, Marilyn, did our laundry for us, so it was a great stop for the night.

For dinner we got pizza at the local pizza shop. We each ordered the special: one large 15" pizza for $12 during the Seahawks game. Yes, we each had our own large pizza. At halftime, we moved across the street to the town's bar and watched the rest of the game with rowdy locals and hunters in camouflage. The atmosphere was electric; you would have thought it was the Superbowl, and not the first game of the season. To top off a great night, the Seahawks dominated the Packers. Go Hawks!

Tomorrow we will head back to the trail; thanks for everything, Packwood!