Mon. July 18    Miles today: 26.7     Total so far: 1,218.5

It was a very warm morning when we got up at 5:00 am–55 degrees already!  Wow!  We walked a little while along Blowout Mountain before reaching a ridge with great views in both directions–on one side, Mt. Rainier, and on the other side a large, beautiful valley.  We had a nice breakfast break there, enjoying the views and the morning breeze.  After breakfast, Bill spent some time doing stretches.  He is still battling with plantar fasciitis, which makes his feet really hurt until he can get them stretched and warmed up.  His favorite stretch is to stand on slanted ground (no shortage of that around here!) and lean forward on his trek poles, while keeping his heels down.

Finally we headed on, often hiking through former clearcuts in various “regrowth stages”.  At Tacoma Pass, we met two nice older guys–NoboSteve and his 74-year-old friend, “Plodder.”  Plodder had been hiking with NoboSteve since Chinook Pass, but had simply “run out of steam” and now they were waiting for “Mrs. Plodder” to come pick him up.  We thought it was great that a 74 year old could go that far!  We hurried on for two more miles, aiming for a creek that would be our first water source in 14 miles.  but what a disappointment!  The creek was muddy and yucky.  Sigh.  Out came the water filter, and Bill patiently pumped.  Packs back on, we headed out, and just around the next bend of trail was THE CREEK we’d been looking for, with lots of nice, clear, clean water.  GRRRR! 

Now we were headed for Stampede Pass weather station (our next water source) where we’d also get to see a real “weather array.”  We were not disappointed.  Jacque, the weather technician lady who runs the place, wasn’t home, but there was her cute house with a faucet by the back door where thru-hikers are welcome to her cold, delicious well water.  She has a box near the faucet with a hiker register, information about life at Stampede Pass (deep snow in winter–she gets in and out of her house through the second story window) and a copy of a longdistance hiker newsletter that made for interesting reading as we sat in the shade of the house eating Snickers and drinking cold well water.  Before we left, we looked at the weather array and wondered what all those instruments were.

On we went into a very hot afternoon, through alternate clearcut and forest, for 8 more miles to where there was a pretty cascade right by the trail, where we got more water and washed ourselves, too!  When we stopped for our peanut butter and cracker supper, NoboSteve passed by with a cheery hello.  A couple of hours later, when we reached Twilight Lake (where we’d planned to camp), we found there was no way to get to the lake.  The shoreline all the way around was either dense bushes or swamp.  So we mushed on for another half mile or so to where the PCT crossed a dirt/gravel road and camped there.  We were so tired that all we wanted to do was crash, but the mosquitoes were out in force, which meant having to set up the net tent.  A gentle wind began to blow as we crawled into our sleeping bags, grateful to God for helping us pass the 1,200 mile mark today!  And I continue to be grateful that my shoulder feels fine!