Date: July 23, 2017
Miles: 1836.7 – 1869.6
Today could be summed up in a few words: Mt. Thielsen. Tons of bugs. 32 miles. Aching legs. Bed.
It was a beautiful day, though, as long and buggy as it was. I’ve climbed Mt. Thielsen before, so I knew it would be an amazing sight, and the peak known as the lightning rod of the Cascades was just as impressive as the first time I saw it.
We had lunch by a creek running from its base, then put it behind us for the rest of the afternoon.
We camped in a dark, buggy spot in the forest with a long, steep climb to get water out of a mosquito occupied stream. That night, Joe Dirt’s tent pole popped, making us all jump. A couple minutes later a few of the baffles in my sleeping pad exploded. Poor Rodeo was in his tent between ours and probably thought he was being shot at. I heard him exclaim, ‘what is happening??’ which sent me into giggles. I said a quick prayer to the gear gods to keep my pad from totally giving up before I replace it.
