Date: April 14, 2017
Miles: 41.5 – 56
Today was a lot of walking through the Cleveland National Forest, which seems like a misnomer given that most everything we walked through was the height of shrubbery. I guess when you’re from Washington State you come to expect a lot from forests. It was pretty shrubbery, though.
After a while we reached a viewpoint where a few clean and shiny people were looking out at the hills. They asked us where we’re headed and it was my first chance to say, “Canada!” They seemed genuinely surprised at my answer and asked us a bunch of questions. Turns out this happens often when we run into day hikers and people in towns, and it’s fun to take in their excitement.
We hit the 50 mile mark today, which was pretty exciting! I don’t really feel like a ‘real’ hiker yet, though…maybe when I get a few more miles under my belt.
We sweated out 6 more miles and camped with a bunch of other hikers at Oriflamme Canyon, all squished amongst giant boulders. I ate a gross amount of mashed potatoes with beef jerky and watched the sun slide down behind the next hill.
