Mon. July 25        Miles today: 23.4        Total so far: 1,343.2

We woke up IN a cloud, but it wasn’t that cold, and after we got going, it wasn’t long before the PCT took us up higher, ABOVE the clouds, for a great view of Glacier Peak.  As the sun rose, the clouds began to clear away, and even down in the forest below timberline, the sunbeams were breaking through (very pretty!) till only a few fog drifts were left.  We knew it would be a beautiful day.

At 10:00, when we stopped for a snack, I had to spend some time fixing Bill’s pack.  One of his straps had developed a bad habit of suddenly just “letting go”, and he’d have to stop and reattach it, which was annoying and slowed us down.  So I just plain sewed it down, and told it, “Bad strap!  Behave yourself!”

All morning, we were hiking in “ooh/aah” mode.  The North Cascade scenery here is awesomely beautiful.  I took a lot of pictures!  We had lunch at pretty Lake Sally Ann, and shortly after that, at a trail junction, we came to something we’d never seen before–a pile of official, yellow, US Forest Service trash bags, bulging with junk, and a note on top of the pile that said, “I picked up more trash than I could carry out–please don’t add to it!  Pack OUT what you packed IN!”   Some very wonderful person is walking these trails to pick up other people’s garbage–God bless him!  Bill and I stood in amazement at the size of the garbage pile.  We are scrupulously careful NEVER to leave trash anywhere, and it’s hard to comprehend how people could be so thoughtless and lazy as to leave so much trash in such a beautiful place.

Finally we reached the trail junction with a sign, “PCT Alternate Route” and an arrow pointing right.  I looked at it with a bit of worry, thinking, “Well, here we go–wonder what those nasty river crossings will be like??”  At first, the alternate was quite lovely–a path through pretty meadows.  But soon the “fun” began.  We found ourselves up to our eyeballs in overgrowth, trying to follow the trail, sliding through mud, tripping over rocks, and wondering, “Which one is the trail, and which one is the creekbed?”  It was pretty bad.  Finally, at one VERY frustrating point, I said out loud what I’d been simply thinking: “Man, I SO did not want to go this way!  I SO would rather do the roadwalk!”  And that’s when I found out Bill had wanted to do the roadwalk, too, and was furious that I had not told him it started at the trailhead.  I responded with “But I TRIED to tell you, and you brushed me off!”  Not good.  Snap, snarl, growl!  (Note: if anyone asked me now which way to go, I would say, “Take the alternate, as we did–the scenery is so gorgeous!  It’s worth a nasty river ford and two big climbs!”)

Well, regardless of how we felt (and at that point, we were mad!), we knew it was “Trail Detour or Bust”–no turning back.  It also meant it would take a lot longer to reach Stehekin.  We’d hoped to reach Canada before August 1st, and now that wasn’t going to happen.  So we hiked on, and I know both of us were talking to the Lord about our stupidness and bad attitudes, and asking for help!  And the trail helped us, too.  It stopped being a slog through bushes and mud and turned into a very pleasant forest path through pretty Indian Creek Valley.  We met two older ladies who were out backpacking together, and they asked us for advice on how to travel lighter.  Their packs were HEEEEAVY!  We had a nice conversation with them, then walked on for awhile before making camp near Indian Creek.  There were no mosquitoes (yay!) but lots of flies (argh), so up went the net tent again.

Before we went to sleep, Bill and I spent some time apologizing to each other for getting us into a situation neither of us wanted, and for being so angry.  We did a bunch of hugging and saying, “I love you” and all that, and by the time we went to sleep, we were at peace, and saying, “Well, this is going to be an adventure–we’ll just trust God and make the best of it.”   The Bible is really right on when it says in Ephesians 4:26, “Do not let the sun go down on your anger.”  We had a restful sleep and a good night, because we followed that advice from God who made us and guides us into joy, not bitterness.