DAY 155: SEATTLE

miles: 0

The day has come for some decision making. The issue at the table? Whether or not to skip ahead to Stevens Pass (near Skykomish, WA) 76 PCT miles north of where we were, in order to avoid and beat the approaching weather systems to ensure we make it to the Canadian border. We aren't opposed to skipping ahead (we vow to come back next summer and complete the missing segment) but definitely do not want to... 

We want to/need to finish by October 1st/2nd (3rd at the latest) in order to avoid being in a financial mess and we also want to finish with Dr. Slosh and Smiles. We've been hiking together off and on for the entirety of the trail, but have primarily been together non-stop through all of Washington. They are our family and we all want to reach the monument together. Smiles has family flying in on October 1st and although to outsiders this may seem like an arbitrary restriction to finishing, we care about finishing with them, so we have made this our official deadline as well. This is good because we should finish as soon as possible ANYWAY because of the worsening weather and the sooner we finish, the more likely we are to beat any early fall storms... Better play it safe than sorry. 

So that is what we did - we decided to go ahead and hitch into Seattle and wait out the worst of the current storm (expected to bring heavy rainfall and the seasons first snow to the higher elevations, this particular day being the worst and coldest of all) and leap ahead to Skykomish in order to finish from there (hopefully). 

We ate breakfast at Aardvark - the world's best food cart - and chit chatted with other hikers, touched base with some friends in Seattle (JUSTIN AND SARAH!) and everything fell into place from there. The only thing was: how easy will it be to hitch to Seattle, 45 minutes away?

Ben setting out towards the freeway onramp.

Dr. Slosh, Slosh's aunt, and Smiles getting dropped off at the trailhead while we were hitching - only to turn back and do the same thing as us once they realized there wouldn't be enough time to finish by Oct. 1st, especially since the news about the weather, making it slow going, slippery, and treacherous. 

While hitching, we saw Dr. Slosh and Smiles getting dropped off across the on-ramp and we convened with them for a moment, wishing each other luck, promising to meet up at Stevens Pass... but later this very night we learned of their reversal. They ultimately wound up backtracking back to Snoqualmie due to the conditions and realization that we were running out of time to get to Canada. We'd be reunited soon! 

Back on the on-ramp, Ben and I were not having much luck. Cars whizzed by as we tentatively stuck our thumbs out.

It turned out to be a nice day. 

Hm.

Eventually a van rolled up and we were thrilled to see the owner of Aardvark! He just happened to be heading to Seattle and offered us a ride! The only thing he asked in exchange was for us to spread the word about his business, and I can say with confidence: THIS IS SOME OF THE BEST FOOD.

IF YOU FIND YOURSELF ON SNOQUALMIE PASS - EAT HERE! 

So suddenly we were in Seattle, dodging hip college kids with laptop bags, weaving through  Friday afternoon street traffic... it was quite overwhelming, but in a slightly exhilarating way? I was surprisingly pleased to be in a major metropolis, for some unknown reason. It was a gorgeous day in Seattle, warm, sunny, perfect puffs of clouds, everyone getting off work and buzzing around in excitement. 

I've found that as long as I am able to remain outdoors while in a "bigger city" (while on trail) I can maintain sanity. It's when I'm crammed into a Target, Wal-Mart or Fred Meyer that I become overwhelmed. I think it's the music combined with fluorescent lights that makes me feel like a lunatic. 

We were dropped off near Pike Place, where we eagerly grabbed beers and the last rays of sunshine before our ride came and got us... Thank you again Sarah! 

Best thing today/feeling good.

The city!

Suddenly we were in the comfort of our friends house - THANK YOU AGAIN Justin and Sarah - eating a home cooked meal, petting their dog Riley and feeling euphoric. I hadn't realized how much I needed a "real world" evening with friends and real food.

DAY 154: SNOQUALMIE

miles: 19

September 20th, 2013.

Days where we are heading into town are always (and for some reason ALWAYS) rough for me. I'm not sure if it is mental or if it has something to do with being tired at the end of a section... probably a little bit of both? Today started of well, Ben and I were in great moods, we felt well, and had a lot of energy. Plus - it was another day in paradise, being sunny and warm outside. The perfect temperature. 

Smiles and Dr. Slosh filling up on water. 

Things started going downhill for me once the hunger hit. I'm always starving these days. Food has become a struggle, I'm sick of everything in my food bag and almost refuse to eat it, choosing starvation over gagging down yet another bar. Luckily, I packed out a jumbo bag of Cool Ranch Dorito's and finished them off this morning for mid-morning snack.

Food.

What will it be like to eat real food again? I don't think I've had something green in months. Except for green gushers.

Snoqualmie 7 miles.

The trail leading up to Snoqualmie Pass was nice, weaving it's way through tall forests. But by the time we reached the point where we only had 4 or 5 miles left, time seemed to become static. I felt like I was going nowhere, and the trail suddenly turned into an obstacle course specifically aiming to break my ankles and knees. It was very slow going and the uphill seemed to never end. We were supposed to be going down, down, down to Snoqualmie Pass and I-90, but appeared to be climbing towards to sky.

I was very close to temper tantrum stage by the time we came up over the hill of the ski resort.

The mountains in our future.

Lots of gross stagnant water.

Wisps of wasp nests discarded on the ground.

Fun Fungi

We finally reached the ski area and Ben and I took the direct short cut that led us straight down the hill to the Summit Inn where we had a reservation waiting for us.

Dr. Slosh and Smiles were right behind us. They were going to go stay with Dr. Slosh's aunt about 40 minutes East of Snoqualmie Pass.

Finally able to see the interstate and ski area.

The ostentatious cabins that speckle the I-90 area also known as: construction zone of hell.

Immediately the mission was to check in to our hotel room as soon as possible. We went inside, met up with other hikers we hadn't seen for ages, and were informed that our wait could be a while... I think 45 minutes went by before we ever saw someone who worked there that could help us! After finally checking in... starvation was the next thing to address. There are only 2 options for a hot meal here: 1) The Summit Inn Pancake place and 2) Aardvark, a food "cart" reminiscent of Portland's food carts serving eclectic mix of foods such as curry, bacon cake with ice cream inside, hamburgers, pineapple cake, and other interestingly DELICIOUS tidbits. Ben had both the giant curry mess AND a sloppy burger. I had the curry and died over the amount of fresh cilantro there was... I love. cilantro.

The decor in the Summit Inn.

Packs.

The food cart "Aardvark" in the Chevron parking lot that was to die for! 

Hikers eating at Aardvark.

Aardvark - some of the best food on trail. Definitely the most nutritious and unique.

Snoqualmie area is kind of like an empty wasteland of strange places. 

After eating and eating and eating, we had some serious decisions to make. Some serious discussions to have. Some assessing to do. A storm was headed our way tonight and it would be bringing heavy rain and the possibility of snow in the higher elevations. We were already behind schedule in terms of our desired end-date of October 1st or 2nd... and we were pondering skipping ahead to Stevens Pass in order to avoid the possibility of trip-ending snow and unpleasant weather.

I've already skipped a large-ish section down in California (remember? the section between Truckee and Sierra City due to the purple rolled ankle?) so I was no purist anymore, by any means but this was a tough decision. Ben was not keen on skipping unless we had to, and I wanted to continue our purist walk through OR/WA but... I also didn't want to be miserable and/or not reach Canada. There were already rumors of snows to come and it was terrifying. We discussed. But we'd sleep on it and see what happened with the weather forecast the next day... For now? ENJOY SITTING DOWN, EATING GOOD FOOD THAT REMINDS US OF PORTLAND, and ENJOY OUR COMFY ROOM.

DAY 153: STEEP

miles: 23

Lots of steep ups and downs today as the trail made it's way through logging roads, clear-cuts, and areas littered with power lines and evidence of human activity. Today will go down in history as one of our least scenic days on the trail, for sure. The landscape was sprinkled with unattractive clear-cuts, bald spots on the hillside. 

At least the weather was nice. 

Double Double Rainbows smashed together.

Mt. Rainier shows up! We are now on the OTHER side of him...whoa! 

The mountains that are ahead. Intimidating...

Our views today.

More mushroom mayhem.

Mushrooms everywhere.

Ben hiking at dusk.

Ben hiking at dusk.

By dusk we had only done about 20 miles - we were perplexed as to why we did so few miles, but it could have had something to do with our late start (9:00am) or our extensive mid-morning break turned lunch (3 hours).

Our goal was to get as close to Snoqualmie Pass as possible, setting ourselves up for a short day in tomorrow. Ideally we would only have 12-15 miles to do, but it was looking more like we'd need to do 19 the following day. Ughh.

Lately, it's been getting harder and harder for me mentally. To stay focused. I've been daydreaming of going home, of the luxuries of "real life", of not walking everyday... Especially now. Today was a real test - the steep, seemingly pointless ascents and descents, and meandering trail that goes out of it's way to switchback more than it needs to. Washington - gettin' hard.