Date: August 9, 2017
Miles 2163.7 – 2190.5
When we left Cascade Locks yesterday, Matthew informed all of us that Washington was about to get thunderfluffed. But today Washington showed us who’s in charge. Our second day in this state gave us a heat and humidity wave and two consecutive climbs of 1500 and 3000 feet respectively. My legs felt like lead and I had no energy for much of the day, but I had nowhere to go but North so I just kept putting one foot in front of the other.
There were still no views today because of smoke, but there were several creeks in which to wash off the sweaty grime of the day.
The creek rinses didn’t help my clothes much, which have come to smell like stale vinegar and dirt.
I met up with the guys at a great campsite with a spring full of cold, cold water. I did nothing until I drank about a liter of it. Then I ate a huge bag of cous cous, made my nightly hot chocolate, and went to bed – in my tent this time – hoping that the bat that flew into my face earlier would get busy eating all of the mosquitos and biting flies that reappeared, and that the mice had found other places to play.
