Day 135: mile 2347.5-2367.7
I was right to think I would wake up to a ton of moisture in the air. My tent was surrounded by fog, but surprisingly I didn’t have much condensation. Woohoo!
I packed up and made my way to the pit toilets. My excitement that I didn’t have to dig a hole was quickly dashed when I got to the door. I have smelled some unpleasant pit toilets in my day, but these were by far the worst I’ve come across. I covered my nose and mouth with my buff and still gagged as I quickly went about my business. Despite the smell and dry heaving, not having to dig a cathole was worth the suffering.
I had to put on my rain jacket as I made my way through the tree cover. The trees were raining! They had collected little water droplets that poured down on me at a pretty steady rate. This is something I haven’t experienced before being a desert girl.
I was feeling a bit frustrated since I was doing some hard work climbing up this mountain, but not reaping the rewards. The sky was white, and my views were pretty limited.
Thankfully, around noon the clouds cleared for the afternoon and into the evening. I ended up spending the majority of the day under tree cover, but when I did pop out, the view was spectacular!
Feeling less than energized I approached a campsite 2 miles short of where I had planned, ready to call it for the day, but thankfully it was full. I say thankfully because this forced me to push on and complete the climb ahead of me. I have a feeling this is going to happen a lot in WA. The campsites have been really full with sections hikers, and understandably so, it’s beautiful up here!
I arrived at the campsite to find two couples lounging in camp chairs next to a fire. My frozen hands and I were pretty jealous. I said hello and went about my business. I was just about done staking out my tent when one of the gentlemen asked if I needed help once he discovered I was out here all alone. There was a little more to it than just that, and it was the way he said it that bothered me. I put on my best fake smile and let him know I’d been out here alone for almost 2,000 miles and didn’t need any help. I try not to let the comments get to me, but sometimes it just drives me nuts when some men have the gall to suggest women are any less capable of being out in the backcountry alone. Never doubt this or any of the badass ladies out here on the trail!
I brushed it off and hopped in my tent to get under my quilt as quick as I could. It’s a cold one tonight!
Goodnight!
XOXO Green Light