DAY 146: TROUT LAKE

miles: 24

Blue Lake ---> Trout Lake, WA

Still with the foot pain. It persists.

Leaving town my feet feel alright and then each day they feel progressively worse and worse. What is it? Nerve damaged mixed with a little bit of plantar fasciitis.

Today started out alright, more gorgeous forest scenery, nothing too dramatic in terms of elevation losses or gains. We are still enjoying the Indian Heaven Wilderness and it has revealed more mushrooms than I've ever seen!

molding and decomposing pancake mushrooms.

I walked up on Ben and asked, "Why are you collecting these?" His reply, "I'm out of T.P."

At some point in the afternoon, Ben stopped in his tracks and said, "The ground is moving." I stared. It was indeed moving... It was as if the soil was alive! There were hundreds of tiny frogs jumping around everywhere! We had to be careful not to step on them as we passed and Ben, being the frog lover (animal lover) that he is, left an endearing little note for the hikers behind us warning them of the little guys.

So many road crossings. And surprisingly well traveled roads! 

Although we only did about 24 miles today, I was beat. My feet were screaming. My stomach was screaming. We had an unanticipated climb just before the road and I struggled.

There is always a climb before getting to town and it always catches us off guard, when we are in our weakest, most famished state.

We had heard that the hitch into Trout Lake (13 miles down the road) would be a very difficult hitch, and seeing as it was after 5:00pm, our odds of actually snagging a ride were very, very slim. We crossed our fingers.

When we reached the road it was definitely not bustling with traffic...

We spotted another hiker down the road, Muk Muk (!) and went to stand with her. She had been waiting an hour and a half for someone to give her a ride.

YIKES.

There was little to no service on the road, but Ben tried to get a hold of someone, anyone, in town by calling the grocery store.

Then, suddenly, a car appeared!

"You guys look desperate"

Yes. very.

The woman told us to hold tight as she re-arranged and tried to make space for us. Not sure yet whether or not we would be able to get in this vehicle, I was preparing to beg, but luckily she and her husband made room for us and agreed to shuttle us to Trout Lake! They were from there and were very much aware of thru-hikers and were very nice. Thank you again to The Hanson's for picking us up - if they hadn't, we probably would have spent the night on the side of the road that night.

As soon as we got to Trout Lake, we realized just how cute this place was: cats roaming about, the friendliest staff ever (at the Trout Lake Grocery and Cafe), cheap, clean, cozy rooms for only $25 a night (includes laundry). This was probably one of my favorite town stops. Definitely one of the comfiest beds I slept in on the entire trail.

We were welcomed into the Grocery, allowed to pick up our boxes, shop around, do laundry, they gave us the tour. It was quite a relief to know we were welcome here. You never know what you are going to get when you roll into town.

Trout Lake Grocery - one of the best places on trail.

My trail fantasy come true - a cat that is welcome (and wants to be) in our hotel room.

Look at this big love!