Day 163-165 Miles 2245-2298

Day 163

Start: 2245 End: 2272.6 Total: 27.6

It was a cold night and I slightly regretted exchanging my 0 degree bag for my 20 degree but I made it through the night. We had a good view of the mountains with the sunrise right from our sleeping bags. I drank coffee and had breakfast in bed before packing up.

We got packed up and were walking by 7:30. It was really nice trail in the morning as we crossed some rivers and lost around 2000 feet of elevation. We had a couple last peaks at Mt. Adam’s before dipping into the forest below.

7.5 miles in we filled up our water at a spring that was coming directly out of the ground beneath a field of lava rocks. We went another 7 miles, mostly uphill through the forest. We then had lunch at a small pond and took a longer rest. My legs and body felt so tired, it felt so nice to sit & lie down.

After lunch we had a 600 foot climb. It felt like it went on for a while but it was the perfect grade and length. I had a blast powering up it. after the ascent was a short descent to a trickling stream where we filled our water bottles.

We went another 4 miles on flat terrain before the final climb of the day. We thought about camping before it but decided it was best to get it out of the way as there would already be lots of climbing the next day.

We went up it and it was over before we knew it. We planned on stopping at a creek but it had mostly dried up so we went another .8 to a lake. The sun had already went behind the mountains but we were still plenty sweaty.

We dropped our packs and went for a swim, the lake was crowded with other hikers/campers. After our swim we found a spot to set up for the night and hurriedly made our dinner as we were quite starved from the long day.

Day 164

Start: 2272.6 End: 2291.8 Total: 20 ish

We woke up a bit sloggish from the day before. I ate a big breakfast and we packed up and left. I knew it was going to be an awesome day as we would be walking through Goat Rocks.

We walked uphill a mile or two before getting our first views of the goat rocks and our first epic valley view.

We walked around the bowl of that valley and up & over Cispus Pass into another incredible valley.

We walked down into a bit and stopped at a river to get more water and ended up taking a longer coffee break and soaking in the views.

We kept up a very slow pace after that, taking lots of photos and taking our time as we ascended a couple thousand feet. We walked along the edge of the valley, then into a forest, then on a bunch of exposed rocks with amazing views of Adam’s getting further and further away.

We made our way to the top and got our first views of Mt. Rainier.

We decided to take an alternative route that added even more elevation and mileage onto the day. It went higher up so it looked like it would have incredible views of the whole valley. We were not disappointed! We had lunch up there and enjoyed the 360 views.

After lunch we made our way down a knife’s edge of scree, small and large rocks that were not the most stable. You could see the trail extend miles out into the horizon on the edge of the mountain. It was super cool. Coming down we got saw a herd of mountain goats in the valley below. We were very excited to see the goats of Goat Rocks!

We kept making our way down, soaking in the incredible views around us.

Eventually we tucked back behind the mountains and started to leave the goat rocks behind us. We stopped and filled water at a stream that was very exposed. I was starting to feel the heat of the day, the wind was keeping it manageable up top. After leaving the stream we went into the forest and it felt even hotter and more humid the more we descended.

We went 5 or so miles and were dismayed when we stopped to refill our waters and it was just a tiny trickle of a stream. It took so long to get enough water to filter, but eventually we got enough.

We had another climb back up to end the day. It was a big, 1500 foot climb but luckily it was out of the sun for the most part. We made our way up and set up camp with views of a lake and Mt. Rainier. We tested our team work and our tent as it was so windy up on the ridge. Both passed the test! We made dinner and watched another awesome sunset before going to bed.

Day 165

Start: 2291.8 End: 2298 Total: 6

We did a quick 6 miles downhill in the morning. My friend Grapenut from the Appalachian Trail lives in Yakima, Washington. He picked us up from the trailhead, bringing donuts and coffee for us!

He drove us down to Yakima and we spent the day floating the Yakima river with him, his brother and some friends. Later we returned to his house and had some pizza before crashing there for the night!