The Pacific Northwest

Day 149

We've talked about the pacific northwest since we started planning this trip two years ago. Today showed that we have officially arrived.

With denser pines, misty rains and lots of streams we cruised through the day. It took about thirty minutes with all our layers on to warm up, and as assumed everything is wet.

But the wetness was expected, the only real bummer is the lack of a view whenever we get to a scenic lookout, or summit. If only we could see through the clouds we could have witnessed Mount Adams. But, such wasn't the case and we moved through the day. We have been lucky enough to been hearing elk. It's as scary as it is awe inspiring to hear such a large animal.

The whole day was relatively quiet though- with everyone hiking on their own. We've all been starting to buzz about home and the feeling that is trip is ALMOST complete is starting to set in. After this stretch there's only four more to tackle! It's amazing how time seems to move so slowly at points and lighting fast at others. I have a feeling these last few weeks are going to be a blur,

The ironic ending to today was that we had to "dry" camp because there was no water source within our hiking range. Not to worry though plenty of water all over our tent, backpack and stuff if we run through our rations!

Tomorrow we shoot for 27-miles to have a chance at getting a dry spot to stay in Packwood, WA. If not we'll have to camp at the trailhead and head in the following morning.

Let's hope we get there to get warm and dry... At least for one night.

- Andy