Day 166-168 Miles 2298-2350

Day 166

Start: 2298 End: 2300.8 Total: 2.8

We spent the day at Mike & Jason’s house while they were at work. We resupplied at a Grocery Outlet and got some food to make a huge, delicious breakfast full of veggies.

We relaxed throughout the day and took care of some chores. Later when Mike got off work he brought us back to the trail.

We hiked 2.8 miles out and camped next to Sand Lake, we had the place to ourselves!

Day 167

Start: 2300.8 End: 2323.8 Total: 23

We woke up and took our time packing up. We figured the bubble would have moved ahead since we took a day off. We were surprised to see 15 hikers walking by in the morning before we even left camp around 7:45.

It was a tougher morning mentally, getting back into the groove of hiking. I listened to some podcast and book to get me through the morning. My pack was full of food and felt so heavy.

We stopped to get water and there was 12+ people there also getting water. That was something I have not experienced yet on this trail. We were officially in the middle of a big bubble. Among them were Beer Run, Captain, 100 Grand and some others, some of which I had never met.

After that we did a 2000 foot climb then stopped for lunch at the top. There were soon 12+ other hikers up there. There was news of a fire that broke out nearby. It was still far enough away that it looked like we would be okay to camp on trail and hike past the next road the following day and leave it in the rear view.

After lunch we entered into Rainier National Park. It was so pretty and we got a few closer looks at Mt. Rainier. We also saw the smoke plumes of the newest fire. It was far enough away for comfort but made me a bit anxious about the potential for other fires breaking out while we are on trail.

We made our way down the trail to Dewey Lake where we camped next to Payload. We took a dip in the lake then set up camp and went about evening chores before bed.

Day 168

Start: 2323.8 End: 2350.2 Total: 26.4

We had a steep climb out of Dewey Lake to Chinook Pass. We were greeted by some awesome trail magic in the parking lot. The entire bubble was also there. It was trail magic served in various courses of veggies, cereal, potato salad, fruit and beer.

After trail magic we started up another climb out of that pass. We were kind of samdwhiched between other hikers for a lot of the morning which always kind of bothers me. It’s a different experience being in the bubble and around so many other hikers. It has pros and cons but isn’t my favorite thing.

It was pretty terrain through the mountains for the first half of the day and then we entered into a burn zone for the latter half. We ended back in the forest and made it to a cabin like shelter. The entire bubble was there, and also more trail magic!

The people giving the trail magic have been doing it in that spot for 10 years! They had hot dogs, chips, snacks, deserts and beer! We ate our fill then pitched our tent outside the cabin.

P.S

Mantis and I are currently at Steven’s Pass, mile 2467.3. We have about 188 miles left, 218 including the 30 miles we have to backtrack after getting to the border. We have about 11 hiking days left! I am a bit behind on my blogs, the rest will likely come after I finish. We are doing good and staying strong , the end is coming soon so stay tuned!!