Wednesday, 8 August 2017
Tentsite (324.8) – Crag Lake Outlet & Tentsite (341.7): 16.9 miles / 373.4 total miles walked
Some days are just not…..
Not fun, not memorable, not worthy talking about….just not.
I woke up to the smell of fire and smoke with a very dry throat.
Because it was so hazy, the sun appeared as a huge red fireball while we tackled the first climb of the day.
Going downhill past Sheep Lake got us to Chinook Pass with pit toilets and trash cans. And like true hiker trash we made full use of the facilities, lightening our loads quite a bit.
Some people looked at us sideways, but most were really friendly, even going so far as to give us homemade cookies. So nice of them!
We managed to hike out of there by about 9:45, climbing up the next hill. It was already blazing hot and it wouldn’t get any better all day.
The trail was boring today, and we couldn’t really take a break, because the black biting flies were out in force. It was almost enough to push me to tears.
Elevation, scarce water, heat and then also insects, that’s a combo that gets to me.
I finally managed to squeeze in a tiny break without too many bugs at around 3 pm, before pushing on for the last few miles.
On the last downhill, I was stopped by Denise, who is reading my blog and recognized me. 😁 I especially loved her comment on this section of trail, between Snoqualmie and White Pass: ‘Oh yeah, this is really just something you gotta get through.’ Well, it doesn’t always have to be FUN to be fun, right? It was really great chatting with her and gave me enough of a boost to make it to camp.
Not quite as far as I had wanted to go today, but I am beat. I just ate my last dinner, now I only have a few bars and oatmeal left for the 16 miles into town tomorrow. So excited for some real food and a shower.
Keeping you posted…
When I started reading I first thought that smoke smell was going to be a sign of trouble… glad it was “just” the haze. Keep going girl, and believe me, some of us envy you even for the days which you consider to be the “just not”-type 😉
Keep us posted my lovely ❤