Twin Buttes to FS 23

Yesterday took an exhaustive toll on my body. By the time we reached the end of our day, I was already wondering if I could physically hike the next day. Turns out, I could and I am!

Being able to hike and hiking with enthusiasm are two very different things. I tackled the easier rolling hills of the first half of our day with the same slowness as I tackled the steep incline of the second half of our day. My body wanted sleep and completely shut down as we sat next to a roaring creek preparing for some lunch. I don’t often take naps during lunch, but when I do, they hit hard (see picture below).

Plan C

Brianna and I had a lot of time to talk about yesterday’s adventure in the snow and what it means for us moving forward in Washington. A compromise has been struck! We will flop back down to Oregon and hike south. The compromise bit is that I get to not feel like our lives are in jeopardy on Mount Adams and Brianna made me promise we would flip back up to Washington after Oregon, even if it means we can’t hike all of California. So we are clear, there is still snow in Oregon, it’s just less dangerous than what’s in Washington. Southward and onward!

It’s Still A Small World Afterall

I met an Air Force veteran in Cascade Locks after we informed Penny & Curt of our new plans and flopped back down here. Not only was he an Air Force vet, he was also a firefighter like I was. We had a long conversation over several beers and it turns out he and I were both at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait at the same time. He wasn’t a firefighter at that time, he was doing medic work for the Army, but still pretty cool.

We are not people person people, though we do enjoy meeting new people. If you only click with or can fall in love with 1 in 1,000 or 1,000,000 people, the best way to find them is through sheer volume!

Tomorrow we hike the Eagle Creek alternate section from Cascade Locks back to the PCT. Plan C is a go.