Day 64 – Clearing Skies

I sleep OK, but not great. The rain forest is sticky. And sticky is not conducive to sleep. The happiest moment of the morning is when the sleep program on my phone plays my musical alarm. I don’t know who wrote that music, but it is so hopeful. I want to let it play all the way through, but I have neighbors this morning, so I shut it off after listening to a few bars under my quilt.

What to wear

I have some decisions to make. My hiking clothes are still wet from yesterday’s rain. I slept with them next to me under the tarp so the deer wouldn’t run off with them (for their saltiness). I decide to wear the wet shorts, because my underwear and pants all chafe me. I wear my old useless but dry socks. I wear my fleece instead of my hiking shirt because it doesn’t chafe me.

I hang my wet shirt and socks from the back of the pack, hoping that soon they will dry.

Still a beautiful day

I charge up the hill into the day. My legs are full of energy and the trail seems easy. I pass several folks on the way up. One guy is Jazzy (Jeff) who camped below me last night. We will leap frog through the day and eventually camp together again tonight.

The trail is beautiful today. The rain has cleared the haze and smoke from the air, and I get a good look at Rainier again. (See photo at top of post.)

Power

One thing that I have not talked much about is the huckleberry crop here in Washington. The heat dome of early June really knocked back the berry production this year as it melted the snow early and dried everything out. This field under the power lines is normally teeming with bushes loaded with huckleberries. Today I find one older couple with a basket here. She gives me a couple berries. They are small but full of tart blueberry-like flavor. I wonder what the bears will do with such a low crop this year.

Although the huckleberry bushes are bare, I find this precious flower practically leaping in front of me on the trail. It is the only one of its kind I have seen.

I enter another power line field. The towers are built with the poles made from the trunks of trees. These are not dinky towers. The trees used to build these towers were not dinky either.

Magic

When you read other people’s trail blogs, the one thing that cheers me is trail magic. Trail magic is when non-hikers bring goodies to the trail for hikers. Last week it was Early. Today it is Steve. He drove to a place where the trail crossed a forest road and set up his tent. I got there in time to get a pulled pork sandwich, some fresh cherries and a Snickers bar. Awesome!

The two redheads at the bottom of the photo are McGriddle and Amethyst. I will meet them later, too. This trail magic completely replaced my lunch and let me keep hiking without a long break. Someday I am going to bring trail magic to the Florida Trail, and I am going to bring a cooler of ice cold orange sodas!

Trouble afoot

My shoes seem to be failing. Twice today a rock seems to go right through the sole of my left shoe. Of course, it doesn’t, but it the pain feels that way. My foot keeps burning. In the early afternoon, I take my left shoe and sock off to soak my foot in an ice cold spring that flows across the trail. This helps a little. But less than an hour later my foot feels like it has formed a big blister. I have to do something to keep this from happening. I take off my shoes and socks to see what is going on.

I am not happy with what I find. The red part is where the pain is. It is red and oozing some yellow liquid. But what is all that pitting in my skin? It looks like I might have some kind of god-awful fungus. Could it have come from not drying my feet out fully last night? I rub a bunch of hand sanitizer on it to kill any germs and then wrap the sore section with some tape.

Nico, et. al.

This stops the searing pain. Running into a friend also helps. It’s Nico! We met briefly at the cabin two days ago and then several days before that. He has been asking other hikers if they have seen me. It’s always nice to have someone ask about you. We hike together, commiserating about our misfortunes for a good 45 minutes. Our issues are similar. Our equipment is wearing out. Our shoes have been crap. You know, misery loves company! Nico is fun to be with. His hiking is so unlike mine. We make fun of each other.

He keeps me going when my feet would normally slow me down. We get to Mirror Lake where I intend to camp. Under normal circumstances I might push the last 9 miles to the pass. But today I am getting off my feet. Amethyst and McGriddle are at the lake. Amethyst is going for a swim before they head to the hostel near the pass. We all plan to go out tomorrow night. Amethyst says she will buy me any beer I want if I can sneak her into the hot tub at the motel. Deal!

After they leave, I show Nico my feet. The tape has come off and he tells me that it is not Lueko Tape. He gives me some real tape, and I hope it stays on my feet. He heads off for town, but says if he doesn’t make it to town, to pick him up on my way in tomorrow morning. I would be happy to do that.

Just after Nico leaves, Jazzy (Jeff) rolls in to camp. He is toying with the idea of heading into town, but the lake is calling his name and he decides to swim and camp here.

Mirror Lake

Except for the issues with my feet, the day has been so much fun. I have new friends to hang out with tomorrow and maybe old friends will join me in town on Friday. I have this little campsite by the lake to myself. Jeff is up the hill, and there is a large group of townies playing loud music and whooping it up across the lake from me. There is a lot to do tomorrow, but for now just let me relax, enjoy the view from my bedroom and sleep.

Oh, and I want to savor this too:

• August 4
• Starting mile: 2366
• Ending mile: 2385
• Daily PCT miles: 19
• Total PCT miles: 1013