Start point
Tentsite at 2378.2
End point
Unmarked tentsite at 2396.7
Miles hiked
18.7
Wilderness area
Wenatchee National Forest
Snoqualmie National Forest
People I met
A whole lot
The day on trail
I’m trying to push to Skykomish quickly, because I have to meet Beth at Stevens Pass, but I’m getting tired. These long days can wear you down.
I dilly dallied this morning, and am planning on stopping at Snoqualmie Pass for food and maybe some laundry. Hopefully I can get a little resupply from the convenience store there.
I started a little late, but I needed the rest. Also, this is my hike and I wanted to start late. Oh well. Hopefully I can make up the time later.
My tent was dry, but the weather was flirting with drizzle. I had my camera stowed away when I started. Despite the weather, it was truly beautiful. There were rocks with little waterfalls — are these springs? And I think some Reishi mushrooms.
It’s just so wonderful out here. The trail still has that thick layer of organic material I love.
I left National Forest land. Which is a bummer, I guess.
And I walked around a watershed area.
And I came to Yakima Pass.
Some jackass shot a trail sign on a tree and the tree bled its sap out.
This kind of nonsense makes me skeptical of so many things about humanity. It breaks my heart.
But we need more heart and less break, I suppose.
Just after noon, I was cruising around a curve in the mountains and came across a guy with a camera and a wonderful lighting setup. He goes by Miles for Moments and he hiked the PCT in 2022, southbound. He was out there doing hikertrash portraits and he did mine. I also recognized a few people he photographed earlier today! Goldi is a friend and I met No Filter and Mountain Goat.
This was so cool. And I really like his camera, so I now have Canon’s mirrorless body on my radar.
After my portrait session…which was again so freaking cool, I descended down the little valley I was in and found this walkway.
There was this old sign, with a worn off message. But we know it’s closed off to motorcycles and bicycles. It was under a sign for some local lakes, Ollalie and Mirror, and Snoqualmie Pass.
I’m really excited for Snoqualmie pass. They have a pizza shop that’s renowned and it’ll be good to have a short town stop.
Meanwhile, I saw a bee on some flowers.
And had some views.
I just love Washington.
The trail was really cool. It was starting to drizzle. It was in thick forest with a heavy scent of soil, pine, and water. It’s such a delightful smell.
There was a guy who kept leapfrogging me. Eventually I got ahead of him and didn’t see him again. I like seeing people, but I hate leapfrogging! There were rock outcroppings that were getting shiny with water and we couldn’t see far in the distance from the clouds and rain.
It eventually started to level out and clear up.
I’m getting there!
What did I find in those two miles?
A walkway!
Mushrooms! I think baby reishis.
And some other mushrooms!
I turned a corner and suddenly I could see down to Snoqualmie Pass. There was cell service and a descent down to the facility.
You could turn right at the ski lifts to go straight down, or you can follow the actual trail.
I followed the actual trail. I also saw a guy I met a couple days ago who has a white backpack. Only it’s supposedly not white; it’s “undyed”.
He took the ski lift route. I want the trail. So I took the trail. Hiking my own hike.
At the bottom was some heavy equipment.
Gotta keep that lift running!
I got down to the Pass and started heading to the far end, where all the facilities are. There was a sign just off the trail and then some more heavy equipment on the side of the road.
I went to the local hotel which is listed as having laundry service. They made it clear I wasn’t welcome to stay there nor use any of their facilities. Fine.
I went to the pizza shop and ran into a couple hikers. Em was there, and we caught up a little. I ordered a pie and got a small resupply.
The people at the shop let me plug in my external battery and headlamp to charge up, so I did that. While that charged and my pie baked, I messed around on my phone and talked with some of the people who work there.
After my pizza was done, I ate a couple slices, then took the rest of it to a bench outside where a bunch of other hikers are. They were all heading to a hostel for dinner and to do laundry. Most of them were spending the night there.
I figured I could do a quick load of laundry, jump in on someone’s load, and take off. Maybe grab a bite but I was really full from the pizza and had a couple slices in a bag for breakfast tomorrow.
I went to the hostel, paid for dinner and laundry, and caught up with people. Em and company were there. I chatted with a guy I kept running into who was an okay guy.
I managed to sneak into a load of laundry, but the dryer wasn’t the best.I had to hike out with wet chonies. Damn. I hope it’s okay. I just don’t want to spend the night at a hostel and have a slow morning slowing me down.
As my laundry went, I took a shower then chatted with more people. The hostel was an old ski lodge so it had a lot of character. I loved the location. I had a bite of dinner — chili and cornbread. It was good, but I was full.
Laundry finished, I packed up and took off. Most of my clothes were dry enough. My undies weren’t. Damn.
Still gotta do what I gotta do. I took off. It was dark and it was a little hard to find the trail. But I was able to eventually. I went a little up the trail and started to get some chafe from my underwear. My wet underwear.
I went as far as I could. I took my underwear off, but the chafe continued. I eventually found a small spot I could set up my tent and pitched it. It was time for bed, and to let this chafe heal up before it gets worse. I wish I’d have been able to make it farther. But I can get up early, which I’ll have to do because I’m in a fairly heavily trafficked area and I want to be inconspicuous, and make some miles.
So that was it. It’s time for bed.