Day 124 8/11/18
2244.3 – 2272.4 28.1 miles
This morning was very cold, I ended up wearing my thermal top all day. Rain started in the afternoon and continued through the night which was great, we need rain on these fires! But with rain comes wet shoes and no sun to dry them out….oh well! Fortunately, my tent has performed well during the few rainy days there have been. With an all mesh bottom and a “bathtub” sheet that clips in you might not think the design is good by looking at it.
Below: This is the upcoming fire detour for tomorrow. The mileage and trail condition is unknown which is a different feeling. It’s actually rather nice not looking at the GutHooks app for a change.
Above/Below: I was all snuggled in my tent and although it was raining I decided I should get out to take some pictures of our campsite before it got to dark.
Day 125 8/12/18
2272.4 – 2294.9 22.5 miles
Amazingly we awoke to clear skies this morning. I was worried for days that we would be socked in by smoke and miss the famous Goat Rocks/Cispus views I’d been bragging about to the guys. Today was far from disappointing as we are above the valley blanketed in clouds.
Above: A breeze from the valley sent some clouds up our way, I liked the black/white contrast here (this picture is not altered to black & white, it’s just as I saw it)
Above: Now that we are in day hiker vicinity I can ask someone to take our picture! Mt Adams behind us.
After getting through the Sierras I didn’t imagine I’d be crossing anymore snow fields. It was actually rather fun and brought back June memories.
Above: This patch of snow continued further down the mountain than can be seen here. The surface was icy and the past foot steps were melted away. The foot holds left were icy and melted to a slight incline making this rather sketchy to get across. Below: After I got across another hiker was making his way but had no trekking poles and was bent over bracing himself with his hands trying not to fall. I told him to stop where he was and I’d bring him a pole to use. After seeing us cross and testing it for themselves the two hikers and dog in the background decided to find another route. A fall here would have been a long hard tumble.
Below: Squinting to see a mountain goat below on a large snow field. This is one time I wish I’d packed binoculars.
Below: Down to the left of this next snow field is the start of the Clear Fork/Miriam Fire detour. The trail heads along the west(left) side of the hill. You might be able to see 2 hikers in the large brown spot just left of the snow.
Below: This is the Clear Fork fire, the Miriam fire is further away on the other side of that mountain.
Below: Black Hole and I taking a quick 15 minute lunch with some other hikers. At this point it was unclear just how many miles this detour was and Black Hole needed to get to the Kracker Barrel store by 6pm in order to get his resupply.
Below: This is the detour trail that hasn’t seen much use for awhile.
Below: Hundreds of tadpoles in this large puddle.
By about 6pm Bud Light and I arrived at highway 12, luckily I had enough cell service to message Kelly to come get us. She’d been waiting at the Kracker Barrel store. Today ended up being a great day with views going across the Goat Rocks and good weather. The detour route wasn’t as pleasant due to it being an unmaintained trail with lots of tree roots to maneuver around it was slow going and descents hard on the knees. The day ended with pizza and relaxing at Steve & Lindas house in Yakima with a day off planned for tomorrow!
Man Seeking Mountains 