Start: 0900 - near Sandy River
End: 2000 - Indian Springs Campground
Miles (today): 21.5 (19.5 PCT, 2 alternate)
Miles (cumulative): 2164 (1958 PCT, 133.5 alternate, 72.5 off)
It rained hard all night and the sound was wonderful to fall asleep to. However, the condensation inside the tent got my sleeping bag pretty wet (thank goodness for dry down, at least I stayed warm).
Last night, Nick and I had discussed maybe sleeping in if the weather was still crappy. Well, even though the skies were clear this morning, we slept in anyway. For my part, I had a difficult time facing our wet reality - pretty much everything had been affected by the rain. One thing is for certain: putting on cold, damp clothes takes courage.
It took us forever to get organized, packed, and ready to hike - it was 0900 before we got back on the trail. So late! I'm not a fan of starting so late - I'd much rather get the bulk of the miles done in the morning. It's so much better to eat lunch knowing you are more than halfway done with the day than the opposite. Also, I don't like worrying about whether or not I'll make it to camp before dark.
Despite the late start, the hiking was good. I was only about 0.4 miles in when we emerged from the trees and were greeted by the sun. I was so happy I cried, no joke.
We took the Ramona Falls alternate, which was nice - the falls were beautiful. Nick and I hiked together most of the morning, which was nice, too.
Ramona falls
A closer view of Ramona Falls
We took a long lunch so we could lay out stuff to dry, like the tent, our sleeping bags, and socks. I love the warm sun and miss it desperately when it isn't around.
The afternoon excitement was seeing Ice Cream again. I think the last time I saw him was at Coppertone's before Mohave! He's camping with us, too, so I had a chance to catch up with him. So fun!!!
My feet and ankles and shins aren't the happiest at the moment. I did good until the last 6 miles, which were pretty rough. If it tells you anything, Nick and Ice Cream caught up to me with only 5 miles to go and they made it to camp a whole hour before I did. That's ok, tomorrow is a short 15 miles to Cascade Locks, where I will get a little break and, hopefully, some new shoes.
Along the trail:
I loved how this rock was balanced on top of the other
the light shining through the trees was beautiful
a cute slug - he was huge!
crossing a river on a fallen tree - the rope was extremely helpful
blueberries on the trail! Delicious!
More pics of Mt. Hood
