Day 95 – dirt road to big huCkleberry mountain
July 24 | NOBO Miles 2172.9-2192
I was awakened at 5:30 by the very annoying rustling of the rude dude who had camped 10 feet away from me last night packing up his belongings before first light. I mean, really guy, the dirt road stretched as far as you could see in both directions… could you have gone maybe 10 paces further?
My grouchiness aside, I fell back asleep and didn’t leave this morning till 8:00. What is this, a vacation?
The trail was easy, downhill, and shaded. I stopped for a photo at a little vista point overlooking a creek and valley.
And then there were more trees and soft dirt.
I stopped for a break at a creek with a very idyllic wooden footbridge across it. To complete the scene, there were blackberry bushes all over the other side. I used them to breathe life into my sad cold oatmeal, in addition to some white chocolate chips I robbed from my trail mix.
Motivating myself once again, and in no hurry as a huge climb awaited me in the midday heat, I shuffled along. I came upon some trail magic in the form of buckets of dehydrated food and fresh apples, and left a note in the log for all the dudes–they’re all bound to pass by here within the week. Little did I know I would see some of them sooner than I thought…
I started the climb up from Panther Creek, and within minutes I was a sweating fool. To take my mind off things I began listening to “The Shack” on Audible. I climbed up and up and past this cool view of the North side of Hood. For a split second I wished I was heading back toward Timberline Lodge…
But alas, I kept climbing. And I saw a dude approaching from the opposite direction. And then I got closer. And then I realized… it was Sodee! Who I hadn’t seen for 1000 miles!
Five minutes later Crazy Eyes rolled up and we had a full on reunion. They started SOBO at the border around the beginning of July and I knew I was bound to run into them one of these days. Crazy Eyes had apparently lost his phone to some creek in Northern Washington, and without Guthook he walked 4 extra miles around some lake before realizing he was going northbound. Sodee said Washington was the best part of the trail so far. We all goofed a while and I met a nice new dude they were hiking with (named Oh Lordie, lol) before we parted ways. I told them to hurry up and meet me in the Sierra.
I hiked on a few more miles with a smile on my face, picked some afternoon snack huckleberries, and set up camp at this dope spot overlooking Mt. Adams.
I caught the sunset and some Netflix and passed out.
