Day 132, Hopeless Wanderer

Part 5, Washington, Day 132

Hopeless Wanderer

Miles: 9.5

Total Miles: 2292.4

***days 126-132 are up. To continue where I left off, go to day 126. 

I barely slept last night. I was camped on a slope and my legs were cramping up all night. I think I slept 2 hours. I only needed to hike 9 miles into White Pass, so I didn't really care. I packed up and hiked out by 7am.

I was so tired that I completely missed a trail junction and walked 1 mile to Shoe Lake. I realized I was off trail and checked my maps. After hiking on the PCT for over 4 months, I can quickly sense when I'm off trail. I just get a feeling that something's not right. There weren't even shoes here, I looked everywhere! Just a gorgeous lake. I had to backtrack for awhile until I found the PCT again. 

At least I got to check out Shoe Lake, I guess. 

Back on the PCT, I continued hiking up the mountain.

I was thrilled when I got to the top and saw that the smoke had cleared enough to see Mt. Ranier. 

This mountain is such a beast. It's easily in my top-favorite mountain list and I can't wait to see more of it.

The whole area was magnificent. There was still a lot of smoke though. 

At one point, the trail hugged the side of a mountain and followed it for awhile. Very beautiful!

I started getting closer to Ranier.

As I got closer to the road, I had cell service and stopped to upload my blog posts. 

It took longer than I expected, but I finally reached the road and walked half a mile to White Pass. 

There's not much here; just a gas station that has some food and an inn. 

Lots if hikers were resupplying here and hanging out. 

I picked up my resupply package and organized my food. I also ate some food, of course!

We made the place look good for awhile:

As hikers rolled in, the fire news started to trickle inn. The trail I hiked to get here had closed just this morning. Many hikers were stuck near Mt. Adams. I learned that the fire I just hiked through and camped directly under, had indeed grown and caused the trail to close. That's why I experienced so much smoke and ash. Yikes! I got lucky by getting through before the closure though. The big problem is with the other news concerning the fires up north. There is no way to Canada for hikers. I will likely have to end my hike a bit early. I'll hike another 100 miles and see what happens. 

In the mean time, I was so tired from the last section, so I got a room at the inn. 

The room is really neat; sort of like a ski lodge room. 

I'm relaxing hardcore right now. I hike out tomorrow and huge rain storms are coming, which is great for the fires. I still get anxious hiking out here in bad weather though. This is a scary place to be in cold, wet weather during a long wilderness stretch. 

I'll just have to wait and see what happens. Whatever happens, I'll be happy with all the beauty I've been able to see. It's hard seeing these places covered in smoke.