29 August - Day 128 - Cooler and north toward Mt Adams

From campsite (Mile 2194.5) to Blue Lake (Mile 2214)

PCT Miles today: 19.5

Dionysus here.

Wow, Washington is more different than Oregon than I had expected. As soon as we crossed the border we moved into a hilly, chilly landscape. Misty moist clouds hanging low over the hills. We wake to condensation on the rain fly and in our bags. The air is softer if more severe - we are finally cold in our tents at night. And my hair has sucked up the moisture like one of those funny grow-a-dinosaur sponges that starts out the size of a sticker then you add water and kablam! it's the size of your face. We joke that it is sentient and, generally speaking, unhappy with the cold and bent on world domination - "I AM THE GREAT AND POWERFUL HAIR "(à la Wizard of Oz), it seems to say.

Another day tromping around very near the Colombia Gorge and heading east toward Mt. Adams. A couple big climbs. Loads more huckleberries. And legitimate rainforest around us the whole time. You wouldn't believe the ferns here.

We crossed the 2200-mile mark. Is it possible it's only 460-odd miles to go?

It was also fun to see our first familiar faces in quite a while, and when it rain it pours (which I think is especially true here). We ran into Grit and Last Minute both of whom we'd last seen at Shelter Cove before the fire (300 miles ago).

Last Minute, Pan, Grit, and Dionysus

We also saw Anchorman for the first time since Mammoth or Tahoe (gods, it seems like ages ago -- something like 2.5 months and 1300 miles). Anyhow he looked clean and trim like no self-respecting thruhiker should (seriously, how do you manage that, man?) As well we saw Helicopter, who looks vibrant and strong (and how do you manage that, woman?)

Meanwhile we bundle up deeper in our sleeping bags and scrape the bottom of our food bags to try and find extra calories in order to stay warm. It's getting chillier.

The campsite at Blue Lake was really very beautiful -- only marred by the toilet paper/wet wipes wadded up here and there behind trees. We've seen this increasingly since entering Oregon -- and now in Washington it's quite frequent. Half of it appears to be female piddles beside the trail. Either way, it's a disgrace.

Cold night of a north wind blowing across the lake to our camp in the trees. The trees roared most of the night. brrrrrrrr.



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