Day 143 - Goat Rocks — Vive ut Vivas

Start: 0730 - near Cispus River tributary
End: 1800 - White Pass (to Kracker Barrel
Miles (today): 21.5 (20.5 PCT, 0.5 alternate, 0.5 off)
Miles (cumulative): 2328.5 (2105.5 PCT, 149.5 alternate, 73.5 off)

Visit Goat Rocks - you won't regret it.

It wasn't too cold this morning, which was a relief. In fact, it was warm enough that we didn't eat breakfast huddled in our tent; instead, we joined Dirt Squirrel and ate breakfast on the log next to the fire pit. When Aquarius and Miyagi woke up they joined in our conversation- it was nice.

our amazing campsite- Miyagi, Aquarius, and Nick are packing up

Per usual, I started hiking before Nick. It was a delightful morning made even better when I caught up to Dirt Squirrel, who had stopped to talk to Sprout. It was like she had read my mind - I knew today was going to be beautiful and really wanted to share the experience with someone; she felt the same way.

The entire morning was breathtaking- it felt like we were back in the Sierras without as much snow. The views of the mountains (Adams, St. Helens, and Rainier) were so wonderfully distracting that it was difficult to focus on the hike. Dirt Squirrel and I stopped a lot to marvel at where we were.

Most southbound hikers I met told me to take the Old Snowy alternate; even though it was steep and the PCT was not, they said the alternate was more scenic and less sketchy. Dirt Squirrel and I got to the alternate trail junction along with a new hiking face, Jiggy. Jiggy didn't want to take the alternate even though I told him what other hikers told me. In his defense, the PCT trail didn't look sketchy and seemed like the better choice (I mean, who wants to go up a steep incline when you can avoid it?). He joked that he'd race us.

Taking the alternate was the best decision ever. First of all, the views were incredible! Dirt Squirrel and I hung out up there for quite a while and were eventually joined by Yucca and Sprout. We were all so happy because the trail was so damn beautiful- good times. :)

we saw all three mountains at once by taking the Old Snowy alternate - Adams, St Helens, and Rainier

The other reason taking the alternate was the best decision ever was because it WAS safer. When Dirt Squirrel and I finally made it back down to the PCT, we saw Jigger sitting on the side of the trail looking a little shaky. He told us he slipped off the snow covered trail and slid about 300 feet down the side of the mountain, unable to stop himself until he hit a big rock. Scary!!! Even though I just met him, I gave him a huge hug and told him we were so happy he's ok. Before we hiked on, we made sure all was well.

Hiking with Dirt Squirrel was great. We talked a lot about the trail and how it has changed us even though we didn't think it would. We talked about our childhoods. We talked about relationships. We talked about overtraining (we are definitely pushing our bodies way too much out here). We talked about seemingly everything - she is such a wonderful person.

Towards the end of a delightful lunch with Dirt Squirrel, Nick walked by but didn't see us. He didn't hear us yelling to him, either, because his headphones were probably turned up too loud. I screamed at the top of my lungs and he didn't even flinch. Dirt Squirrel and I had a good laugh about this and then I decided to try to catch up to him (I didn't want him to think I was still ahead of him).

I managed to catch up to him (there was a lot of uphill) and then, because I was in a groove and because the store with our resupply box closed at 1800, I kept going. After a few hours I started to really miss Dirt Squirrel - the trail was definitely not flat and the constant downhill was starting to kill my good mood. Worse, my pace slowed so much that I didn't think I'd make it to the store before 1800.

Before I could get too down on things, I saw some goats - the goats made me laugh because Dirt Squirrel had told me she would lose her shit if she saw goats today. Another good thing - Nick caught up to me (of course he did, it was all downhill) which removed the stress of me having to make it to the store before they closed. He ran on ahead while I did my best to conquer the rocky, downhill terrain.

On the way down I met Grandma, who was taking a break. Although she didn't say it at first, something in her voice told me she was struggling. When I asked her if she was ok, she admitted her knee was bothering her. I gave her some of my Aleve and told her we only had 4 miles to go. I thought of her the entire way to town and I really hope she made it ok. I wonder if I should have walked with her....

When I finally made it to White Pass, it was another 0.5 mile road walk to the Kracker Barrel store (note: it is NOT the Cracker Barrel restaurant, it's a gas station/convenient store). I laughed when I saw Nick's arrow pointing me in the right direction - he's being extra helpful ever since the Elk Lake incident. I suppose I can't blame him and I'd rather have him give me too much information than not enough, but, for the record, this time I had already figured it out on my own. :)

The 0.5 mile road walk sucked (walking on the hard road hurts so much!), but I made it to the store before 1800 (it's crazy that i walked 29 miles yesterday in almost the same amount of time it took me to walk 21.5 miles today - that should tell you something about how steep the trail was today).

Tonight Nick and I are treating ourselves to a studio condo at the Village Inn next to the Kracker Barrel. Nick had already bought some food (frozen pizza, pot pies, eggs, bread, ice cream) and picked up our packages. Great news! The missing package was found and delivered, although it looked like it had been through a lot. I loved the apology note attached. :)