snoqualmie pass, wa

my three hiking days between white pass and snoqualmie pass can be summed up with one word: wet. from the time my friend john dropped me off in a light mist, until my cousin hanna picked me up between heavy rain showers, i was basically soaked (and usually in some stage of cold). the original plan had been for me to take four days to get into snoqualmie but as i grew more fed up with the conditions i kept speeding up my hiking.

i think i took two pictures in that entire 100 mile stretch since most of the time i had my camera buried deep in my pack to keep it dry. as a bonus, being constantly wet led to some new blisters and chafing in places i've never had the pleasure of experiencing them before.

but my stay with andy and hanna was great. lots of food (misir wot for breakfast? absolutely!!), laughs, and dry clothes - the perfect cure for what ailed me and i thoroughly enjoyed my three nights with them. thanks guys!

white pass, wa

i'm at the tail end of a triple zero back in the 'couv. i've hiked to white pass so far and definitely feel i'm on the home stretch now - only 350 miles to go. with another day off planned at snoqualmie pass, trail angels at stevens pass, and the stop in stehekin being the last one of the entire hike, these next couple weeks are going to fly by.

as for the most recent bit of hiking: a couple guys from e.n.d. shoes met tomato and i at the bridge of the gods as we entered washington. they brought us some new shoes and took a few pictures. overall, i've been pretty happy with the stumptowns i've hiked in. i like the lightweight shoes and the lightweight impact e.n.d. is trying to have.

the trail in washington feels great. i don't know what it is exactly - the green forests, soft trails, beautiful mountain views, berries coming into season, fewer mosquitos (so far), etc... - but there's no place like home, and the trail in washington feels like home to me.

went over the goat rocks on friday and john grisso met me at white pass. we'd intended to hike through the goat rocks wilderness together, but a back injury prevented him from hiking and i went ahead and finished the section a day early, which is what led to my triple zero. hope my body remembers how to hike! the last time i hiked the goat rocks it was in a storm with rain, hail and snow, so i was really looking forward to seeing some great views this time. i was pretty bummed when it was cloudy and foggy the morning i started out. it did clear somewhat by the afternoon and i got a few good seconds of views southward as i ate lunch. when i reached white pass and the car, tomato was getting ready to hike on and we said our goodbyes. he's got to keep up a quicker pace because of scheduling back home so i probably won't see him again until after the hike is over.

time to get back out there...

washington, my home

what, you've never heard our state song?

the past couple days i've been mulling over the theme of "feast or famine" on a thru-hike. hmm, maybe "highs and lows" is more appropriate. but i digress...


recently, the weather has been hot. really hot. if you live on the west coast, perhaps you've noticed? and as i've continued to put in high-mileage days, my thoughts turn towards huge, cold drinks more and more frequently. just before getting to sisters, oregon i was really feeling drained. my body was still recovering from the 62+ miles i'd hiked the day before, and the temperature was climbing well into the 90's as i toiled upward through an old, shadeless burn - i was thirsty. i mean, thirsty. as in, actually looking forward to the "lillypad pond" water my guidebook told me was coming up. then, a half-hour after drinking the pond water (delicious) we made it to the road and found a cooler full of trail magic. ice-cold pepsi and coors beer and probably 50 snickers bars and oreo packs. after i downed two beers in about a minute we hitched into sisters. then, as tomato and i were plowing through our 32 oz milkshakes and he was telling me he'd also just drunk two 32 oz mountain dews while i was in the post office, we contemplated the emotional highs and lows of the feast or famine lifestyle.

friday afternoon as i was climbing up the shoulder of mount hood, fixated on the oasis of timberline lodge, i was once again in the throes of extreme thirst. it is such an unpleasant, and consuming feeling. then i hit the wyeast cafeteria and proceeded to gulp down 96 ounces of lemonade and blue powerade from their soda fountain. it was shocking how quickly i went from desire to almost being nauseous i was so full. i still managed to get down a pesto sandwich and fries, and went back to order a bowl of chili. that's when the cook came up to the counter and asked if i wanted some garlic and cheese breadsticks. apparently they were left over from a lunch and going to be thrown out. i said absolutely and took the entire pan - about 14 i think! talk about a freebie.


finally, on saturday i limped down (way, way, way down over 4000 feet) into cascade locks in the late afternoon sun, just happy to be taking a couple days off and my friend john was patiently waiting for me in the charburger parking lot. on the drive back to vancouver i drank a half gallon of chocolate milk and an entire box of ice cream sandwiches - over 2700 calories - then headed to a wedding with a great dinner and microbrew beers. between all the family and friends and the fantastic comestibles, i was on sensory overload.

peaks and valleys. highs and lows. feast or famine. call it what you will, it's living life and it sure ain't boring.

beauty and the beast. my toe hasn't been the same since my 62 miler.

getting spoiled

well, mom and john showed up friday afternoon on schedule at the northern edge of crater lake park. they were a welcome sight, and i couldn't stop grinning as i looked through all the bags and coolers of food they had brought with them. for weeks i've been fantasizing about what i'd like to eat - hours would pass as i fixated on cheesecake, donuts, macaroni, etc... - and mom made every effort to fulfill those dreams. (i'd just like to point out that the slice of cheesecake is on a full-size plate. see the fork peeking out from behind? so good.)


tonight we're staying in a chalet at willamette pass. tomato and i both hiked pretty big days (i ended up walking just over 44 miles, but tomato broke the 60 mile barrier!) and everyone was tired as we ate a late dinner. my laptop was calling to me though, and i'm staying up far too late enjoying my unlimited internet access. i still won't get everything done though, especially as my eyes are beginning to close involuntarily.

mom and john have been amazing - picking up and dropping off tomato and myself at different trailheads at all hours of the evenings and mornings. today they even met me halfway with cold drinks and fresh fruit - if only every hiking day were like that! but i felt bad when the road i asked them to pick me up on this evening turned out to be little more than an off-roading dirt track. they made a heroic effort to reach the trail junction, but the van just couldn't do it and they were forced to stop a 1/2 mile away. it took an hour each way to drive the 6 miles of "road." we're looking at other options for my drop-off in the morning...



tomato and i are still on track for arriving at the washington border on the first of august, though it will certainly involve some tough hiking days. i'm going to shoot for a 50+ on monday. we'll see how it goes.



sunrise on crater lake

oregon trail

yup, made it to oregon. we rolled into ashland on saturday afternoon as planned. between june 29th and july 18th i hiked 634.8 miles. that's 31.7 miles a day, including all resupplies in towns along the way. my feet got a little sore, and i may have developed a blister or two under some calouses... but all in all, it was cool to see what i was capable of. tomato and i are headed out this afternoon and hope to be at the oregon/washington border on august 1st. more big days ahead.

thanks again to tomato's parents gene and susan for being such generous hosts in their rv the past couple nights. it was a much needed and much appreciated rest. (our only scheduled day off in july)

now i'm really looking forward to meeting up with mom and john next weekend around crater lake for some more good food and pampering! :)




can't seem to eat enough! 1/2 gallon of ice cream? just an appetizer now. the seiad valley pancake challenge however, is a near-impossible undertaking. it easily defeated me.


hiking is dirty business sometimes


view of mt shasta in the early morning

old station, ca

boy, my posts have started dwindling as my momentum has picked up.

since i hooked back up with tomato in truckee, we've been moving right along. since my stay in south lake tahoe i've averaged just under 30 miles a day. i've had really great stays with trail angels in bucks lake, belden, and now old station. bucks lake has great new trail angels in nancy and terry williams who shared their family's 4th of july barbecue with five of us hikers - tomato and i were their 5th and 6th hikers ever. belden trail angels laurie and brenda braaten are legendary and lived up to their reputation with shuttles and an incredible, all-we-could-eat breakfast for eight hikers. i bet brenda flipped over 70 pancakes that morning. and my stop here in old station with the heitmans has been short but sweet. they're going out of town for a wedding (hikers that met on the trail in '05) and Frodo (of the infamous Scout and Frodo trail angel couple) is here to help run the place along with Buck Larsony and Tadpole. in the four hours i've been here i've had a shower, done laundry, ate a fantasticly huge and delicious dinner -veggie lasagna (specially made for two of us), green salad (w/ avocado!), garlic bread (real garlic!), obcene amount of berry cobbler (frodo's mom made it!), and orange ice cream (homemade and hand cranked!)- and tomato and i borrowed a car to rush to the local store to resupply. now i'm yawning and trying to quickly finish up here.

unfortunately i haven't talked at all about the beautiful and fragrant wildflowers i've been hiking through, or the bear i (sorta) saw, or the pleasant weather, or how my $#@!$ pct atlas is still not in my possession (right now i'm hiking with a couple pictures on my camera of other peoples' guides) or the wonderful staff at drakesbad guest ranch (huge meals, showers, and natural hot springs - need i say more?), or much of anything really. perhaps next time.







tomato and i are shooting for ashland, oregon on the evening of the eighteenth. 350 miles in 10 days. it's a tall order, so we'll see what happens...

pit stop in truckee, ca

when i got to donner pass this morning, i called up bill and molly person who open their home to thru-hikers and call it "pooh's corner." she was kind enough to pick me up, feed me lunch, and let me shower and do laundry. so i'll be headed back out to the trail momentarily, feeling refreshed.

the mosquitos have gotten pretty bad. the cold weather we had in the sierras kept them at bay for a little while, but that brief reprieve is over. check out this video i shot behind me while i was sprinting through a particularly bad stretch.

the miles are coming easier now, and i'm feeling strong. even had a 40 mile day last week.