Day 55 – This is Washington (finally)

I awaken at 6 am in the room where Tofurkey was born. If you are of a certain age you may remember Tofurkey or tofu turkey. To many people it was a source for comedy. But it was really just ahead of its time. Dave’s neighbor was the mastermind, but somehow this utility room I am sleeping in played a pivotal role. How does this relate to hiking? I have no idea.

I feel the side of my head. No donkey ears. Good. No one in the house one is up except Dave and me. He is getting ready for his part-time job. I say goodbye to him and head over to the church to see if I can get 30 minutes of good WiFi to make a blog upload. Try as I may, videos will not upload. I will have to figure this out in Packwood, the town at White Pass, my next stop.

Trail bound

I go down to the store to see if any trail angels are waiting to give rides. (A man can dream, can’t he?) I meet another hiker trying to do the same thing. Her name is Tamara (pronounced Tim-air-ah). We try several numbers on the posted list to no avail. Then Gerry pulls up in his truck. Hurray! Gerry is the man who ferried the Wanders and me up from the trailhead yesterday. Yes, he says, he can take us to the trailhead this morning. Tamara buys him coffee in case he doesn’t have money, tries to take the coffee anyway, and gets arrested or shot, thus spoiling our ride. (It could happen.)

Tamara is a mature (in the best sense) and interesting person. She traveling Sobo and has definite ideas about how she wants to hike. Her ideas are similar to mine. Take pictures, talk to people, take care of your body (reasonable miles), etc. When she says she was a kid “half a lifetime ago,” I needle her for more information. Ok, so she is 58 and stopped being a kid 29 years ago – about the same time she started working for the EPA. I can see where that would wring the youth out of you. Happy trails, Tamara.

At the trailhead, I enter the Mount Adams Wilderness. That sounds promising. Maybe Mount Adams will finally show up. The early hike is normal for Washington so far (sigh) – a pleasant green tunnel with lots of elevation changes. But it is fine. I am hiking again!

I enter a burn area (yes another one). Through the white tree husks, I see Mr. Adams. I’m pretty stoked. I power up the hill, breathing heavily in my post-town stupor. The trail has a new flower today. It is small, violet and very aromatic. It occurs in bunches and reminds me of little slippers.

The Indian Paintbrush in this area have picked up a little magenta in their color.

As I toil through the burn, this composition seems interesting to me. I like the colors and the way that the blanket of flowers complement the dead tree skeletons. It is a wilderness Flanders Field. I am morbid that way, I guess.

I have been playing leap frog with this group of three Nobo hikers. They are “flippers” like me, but they started in Ashland, at about the time I was there. I had slowed down in the heat. But they had persevered and met the Wander Women at Hyatt Lake Campground. They stayed ahead of me until now. When I ask them where they are from, they say North Carolina even though two of them have been living in Denver. Where you live and where you are from must be two different things.

Later, I find them sitting on top of the ridge eating lunch. I join them because the view is so amazing. From here we can see Hood, St. Helens, and Rainier!

And a few minutes later, an unobstructed view of Adams.

I am locked on these magnificent peaks. It has been so long since they have been a part of my day. Until today, Washington has been hiding her hand like a cagey poker player. But, today she lays down her cards: four aces.

This next video reminds me of a similar video taken of Mt. Thielsen. While I think that Mt. Thielsen is prettier, Mt. Adams has much bigger glaciers.

And Adams has Adams Creek. A fast-moving rapids made from glacial run-off. It is dangerous to cross. I teamed up with my friends to find some logs that had been used to cross the river. Here is Jerry starting across first.

Right after that I see my first casualty on the trail. I don’t know what happened to this little feller, but it is sad.

At the end of the day I am ready to stop. It feels like I hiked more than 16 miles. But I am content. I can hear the roar from the Killen Creek waterfall across the meadow from me. The glacier on Mt. Adams is making a terrible racket – booming and lightning-like cracks. How fortunate I am to be here. And how many people even know that a glacier makes noise?

My camp is hidden in the trees at the edge of a meadow at the bottom of the falls. Here is my bed. Notice the hole near the base of the tree next to me? It was freshly dug by a bear. The claw marks are fresh. Hopefully the bear won’t be back soon. But just in case, I am hanging my food in a nearby tree.

I have a plan for optimizing my Goat Rocks experience. Hiking two 16-mile days from here places me in a campsite immediately before the Old Snowy alternate trail and the “knife edge” section of the Goat Rocks. I should be able to take some incredible photos the night before and the next morning.

So, tomorrow there is no rush to leave early and I can take my time hiking the next two days. It should be fun!

• July 26
• Starting mile: 2229
• Ending mile: 2245
• Daily PCT miles: 16
• Total PCT miles: 873