8/22/17 – White Pass

Day 120

Miles: 2,277.03 to 2,292.38

Total miles hiked: 1,651.34
“Whom of our Washington hiking friends do you think we would meet on the trail first?” Dave asked yesterday.

“Tim Nair,” was my guess. 
From all our hiking friends, Tim and his wife Masako are the ones we would often randomly and completely unexpectedly meet on trail. But today proved me wrong. The first friend we met was Darren with whom we hiked and climbed many times in the past. We haven’t seen him lately and it was very nice to share few trail miles and catch up.

Speaking of trail miles, the first few led us through a rocky alpine terrain, dropping steeply just to gain elevation on the opposite slope. I enjoyed the first mile; however slow it was, the green meadows and colorful flowers, and the sound of the alpine stream making its way over rocks. 

We spend some time in the forest afterwards, climbing a 2,000-foot hill, that’s where we met Darren and his two friends. It was the last day of a 5-day trip for them, and the conversation we had made the climb go by much faster.

After topping up, we traversed more open area with views of Mt. Rainier and Goat Rocks behind our backs.

The last part before White Pass was mostly downhill. It was a forest section with limited views so we picked up speed and soon we were at Hwy 12, only half mile from Krakel Barrel store where our resupply box awaited. As a true lazy hikers, we yogied a half mile ride from a hiker who was just about to leave the trailhead.

Originally we planned to resupply, rest for an hour or two, and hit the trail again, but like always things took much long get than anticipated, and it was 5:30 when we were ready to leave. The closest camp was 3 miles and another climb away, and it did not promise fresh coffee early in the morning like the store did, so we ended up pitching tent on a grassy area nearby and chilled for the rest of the evening. It means harder day tomorrow but after stuffing ourselves with junk food all afternoon we should have enough energy for the climb.