Day 127, Welcome to the Jungle

Part 5, Washington, Day 127

Welcome to the Jungle

Miles: 23.4

Total Miles: 2179.45

Today was definitely a day of magic and misery. I slept so good last night. I couldn't even keep my eyes open, and I must have slept for a good 8 hours. I was hiking by 7am.

I realized this morning that I'm sick with something. I have no energy and am dizzy constantly. My lymph nodes are swollen, and I have a bit of a headache. There's really nothing to do but hike though. I'm sweating profusely and am moving slowly. I'm hydrating all day though, and I hope this passes. 

The trail today passed through dense green forest. It felt like a jungle, getting hotter and stuffier as the day progressed. The temps are high today, in the 90's. 

I didn't see a single hiker for most of the day. I was worried about my health and also concerned about my pace. I was moving slow and wondered if I would have enough food to get to White Pass. With my pack already obscenely heavy, it was safe to say that I was in a grind today. I felt like I was walking through wet cement.

The thick Washington forest was making me a bit claustrophobic. I turned a corner and saw this on the ground, which startled me:

It was dormant. There are hornets everywhere here.

I took so many breaks today. It seemed that I couldn't make it a mile without stopping.

The trail either went straight up or straight down. It rarely went straight.

I found this trail magic!

It was empty... How sad. 

Empty trail magic... The story of my hike. Or is it?

I saw Houdini here at Trout Creek. We agreed to meet up at camp later. He was struggling too. Maybe it's the heat.

 I planned to camp after only 23.5 miles today for several reasons. I was dragging today, and there was a 3,000 foot climb with no water for 11 miles coming up. 

I crossed a bridge over Wind River.

Near Wind River road, I heard voices. Trail magic? Even better... It was Legend!

Some hikers were sitting around and hanging out. I joined them. Somehow, my nail got painted. 

Legend took Houdini's and my pack in his truck and drove them to the campground. We slack-packed 3 miles and it felt so easy hiking without a pack! When we got to Panther Creek, Legend was waiting with some trail magic. 

We all sat around while he cooked and it was like watching a trail cooking show. This was hilarious. He does this with hikers all the time. It's called the Sunset Club.

He cooked us dinner. This is trail spaghetti. 

We all sat around afterward while Legend entertained us. 

Here's Houdini. He thru hiked in 2012 too.

We set up our tents nearby.

Two people approached us an introduced themselves. They were Luna and Werewolf, two former thru hikers. They offered us a place to stay and informed us of trail magic they'd left near the trail. We checked it out. 

It's amazing how all this magic changed my day.

When I got back to camp I heard I rustling in the bushes. It was Raingear! He's an extremely popular hiker this year. He had quite an adventure getting here tonight, traveling only on abandoned logging roads. 

I caught up with him and then went to my tent to type blog up. It's easily over 90 degrees tonight. I'm sweating in my tent. I'm so tired that I think I'll sleep ok. I really hope I feel better physically tomorrow.