Almost Famous

Hotels are such a nice treat, but the night at the Summit Inn I couldn't sleep at all. It was 2am when I last looked at the clock and sure enough I still woke up at 6:30. It probably was the 3 cups of coffee I had during my late breakfast at the Pancake House that screwed with me; caffeine seems to hit me hard right now. The good thing is I still felt rested just from being off my feet for most of the day.

In the morning we hit the trail at 10am. As it was a Sunday and the trail resumed at a trailhead, there were day hikers and weekend backpackers up and down the trail for much of the day. We immediately started a long climb and after about an hour ran into four hikers taking photos. They asked us if we were PCT thru hikers and were so excited to hear our answer was "yes". They asked if they could hike with us for a while, so after a few photos all 6 of us set off back up the climb. They were so happy to be hiking with us and made us feel almost famous with their excitement and smiles. We answered a lot of their questions about the trail.  They told us about how they learned of the PCT and their experience last year meeting a 23 year old thru hiker at the Canadian border. That thru hiker sadly just passed away this August after losing his fight with cancer. We took a short break with them and they dug through their bags to find food to offer us. After the break, we said good-bye and headed back up the trail. We continue to meet sich great people out here!

In between two half days of hiking, we hiked 2 full days of 50 miles and gained nearly 13,000ft of elevation. After mentioning this to Katie, she kindly reminded me that we did the San Juan Solstice 50 mile ultra run and it had the same stats. Hmmm, why does this feel so much harder??

Washington continues to be spectacular in its terrain and vistas! This 4 day stretch we have had blue sky gorgeous days every day. I hope that weather pattern continues but realize it is wishful thinking being in the NW in mid-Sept.  As we get closer and closer to Canada I start to reflect more and more on this journey. I feel so lucky to have this opportunity to where I get to take lunch breaks at beautiful lakes, streams or passes overlooking some incredible view of the country we live in. It is strange to think that in less than two weeks my view during lunch will be looking out at my parents backyard.

For today however, I sit outside the Dinsmore's backyard in Baring, WA. We got a hitch this morning out of Stevens Pass from the 27th vehicle to come by. It was from a couple and their two dogs, Max and Marvin, hauling hay back to their farm. They dropped us off at the only stop in town, the Baring store and cafe. We were immediately greeted outside by the friendly waitress and went in for a hot sandwich and slice of pie.

With our bellies full, we walked across the railroad tracks to the last trail angels of the trail, The Dinsmores. Jerry Dinsmore greeted us and gave us the run down of the place. Basically, hikers have a whole apartment area to hang out in, a clothes line outside to dry out our things, a huge fire pit, a shower and Andrea Dinsmore does our laundry for us while we relax. Life doesn't get much better than this!

We got a care package from our friends in Leadville, CO who hiked this trail 7 years ago. Rather than describe the items, I thought I would attach a photo for your enjoyment. Not sure how much of this we will try, but I will say the bacon and cheese crickets were a hit!

Less than 200 miles to go and just one last resupply left.

Trail stats after 147 day and 2476 miles:
-# of showers: 32
-# loads laundry: 22
-# nights indoor: 22
-# days hiking in the rain: 7
-# beers consumed: 67

Pics from top to bottom:
-Katie hiking with our day-hiking friends
-View after the top of the climb
-Deception Lake
-Butterflies were everywhere, even on Katie's butt!
-Hiching to Baring
-The Baring store, cafe and Post Office
-My Strawberry Rhubarb pie
-Funny sign at the cafe
-The Dinsmores Hiker Haven
-The hiker apartment
-Crazy Leadville care package contents
-Midnight Chocolate's cursive handwriting from a register