July 8

Distance today: 19.5 miles

Mile marker: 115.1

We passed the 100 miles from the border today! We’re 2/53ish the way to Mexico!

Last night was a bit later than we would’ve liked. The last section of trail was a bit steep and bush wacky. But we had more climbing yet this morning and wanted to beat the heat. We were up a little past 7am and out of camp by 8am. A red breasted sap sucker helped us wake up by playing the drums on nearby dead trees.

Not too soon out of the trees we got some great views of the alpine landscape. We had an easy stream crossing where our Australian farmer friend caught up with us. She gets very early starts and we tend to sleep in longer than we should.

We made it to the top of the pass. And honestly, it was very anticlimactic. No grand views, no celebratory greeting parties. Just trees and mosquitos. But not too far later we caught our first glimpse of Glacier Peak (maybe).

We rested and grabbed a drink before the long descent to nearly where we started yesterday. The trail was decently maintained. Only a few trees to clamber over and no overgrowth. Eventually we found a beautifully relaxing mossy creek and rested for a bit longer.

As we descended, the Suiattle River came into view. It’s murky and silty and flowing fast. We stopped for lunch far later than we should’ve. Jason had cilantro pesto noodles and Alex had dahl. Just as we were packing up, our favorite Australian farmer friend came up the trail and greeted us. She was planning to camp at our lunch spot and we were covering just a few more miles a day than her. So we said our maybe goodbyes and kept moving down trail. We never did get her name.

We finally crossed the river on the nicest pedestrian bridge we’ve ever seen.

On the other side, we were in the most pristine old growth forest. HUGE trees, moss and ferns galore, and a gentle upslope.

Those views carried us the last 3.5 miles to camp. There was another couple already camped and they had a poodle who barked at us. We caught wind from some other hikers going northbound that the stretch south of this camp is tough: lots of fallen trees, bushwacking, and intense switchbacks.  We’re going to get an early start to beat the heat tomorrow and climb over the next pass. But this section is no joke. Lots of elevation and a lot of distance to cover. We’re starting to feel it in our feet, but we can carry on.