August 16 Distance: 20.5 miles | Descent: 2300′ | Ascent: 2630′ Mile marker: 852.1 Lunch: J – garlic mushroom orzo (B), A – red Thai curry (A) Dinner: J – mac n cheese with a beef jerky stick (A), A – unstuffed peppers jazzed up (B) We were surprised to wake up in the rain…

August 15 Distance: 0 miles Mile marker: 832.6 Lunch: J – spicy bacon mac (A-), A – black rice surprise (B) Dinner: J&A – supreme pizza (A+) We went on a boat tour around Crater Lake today! We got a pizza for dinner! It was a good day!

August 13 Distance: 26.7 miles | Ascent: 3190′ | Descent: 2910′ Mile marker: 815.0 Lunch: J – chicken taco (A), A – Korean beef (A) Dinner: J – apple cinnamon oatmeal (B), A – spaghetti (A) Today was probably our easiest day yet. Or at least it felt like it. Maybe we’re getting stronger or…

August 14 Distance: 13.6 Mile marker: 832.6 Lunch: J – chili and rice (A-), A – chili and rice, but a different batch (B+) Dinner: J&A – hot dog (A+) We decided to see the sunrise over Crater Lake this morning. That meant an early 4am start to the day. We made it to the…

August 12 Distance: 23.6 miles | Ascent: 3840′ | Descent: 3210′ Mile marker: 788.3 Lunch: J – chicken chili (A-), A – mac n cheese (A) Dinner: J – Korean beef (A), A – chicken taco (A+) Up at dawn by the lake. It was a pretty sunrise. We climbed through a wall of mosquitoes.…

August 11 Distance: 18.3 miles | Ascent: 2710′ | Descent: 2210′ Mile marker: 764.7 Lunch: J – spaghetti (A-), A – chili with rice (B+) Dinner: J – mac n cheese (B), A – apple cinnamon oatmeal (A) We spent the morning trying to figure out what to do with Jason’s old broken pack. No…

August 10 Distance: 18.2 miles (+1.2 off trail) | Ascent: 2280′ | Descent: 2830′ Mile marker: 747.6 Lunch: J – spicy mac (B-), A – chicken soup (A+) Dinner: J – chili with rice (A), A – spicy tomato pasta (B) Today was pretty uneventful. We woke up early at 4:30am. It was our first…

August 9 Distance: 25.2 miles | Ascent: 2640′ |Descent: 2310′ Mile marker: 729.1 Lunch: J – black rice surprise (D+), A -.tomato orzo (A) Dinner: J – mac n cheese (A-), A – chicken chili (A+) We decided to count northbound hikers we crossed paths with on the trail today. Counting infrequent and irregular events…

August 8 Distance: 25.9 miles | Ascent: 3030′ | Descent: 4120′ Mile marker: 703.9 Lunch: J – tomato pasta with pine nuts (C+), A – masamam curry (A) Dinner: J – chili and orzo (A), A – mac n cheese with peas (A+) We camped just north of a restricted area yesterday, meaning we weren’t…

August 7 Distance: 18.9 miles | Ascent: 4090′ | Descent: 2150′ Mile marker: 678.0 Lunch: J – garlic mushroom couscous (C+), A – chili orzo (B+) Dinner: J – tomato orzo (B-), A – spicy mac (A-) We walked across a lot of lava rock today! It was not so smooth sailing, but the views…

August 3 Distance: 29.9 miles | Ascent: 2650′ | Descent: 4100′ Mile marker: 588.1 Lunch: J – unstuffed peppers (C-), A – tomato pasta (A) Dinner: J&A – pulled pork sandwich and pancake This is what I originally wrote as I knew I was falling asleep in the tent: Three trail magics appeared to us…

August 6 Distance: 22.1 miles | Ascent: 2380′ | Descent: 4030′ Mile marker: 658.7 Lunch: J – Thanksgiving (B+), A – garlic mushroom orzo (B) Dinner: J&A – spanakopita and potstickers (A) Early start to the day! Up at 5am and out the gate by 6am to make it to the Big Lake Youth Camp…

August 5 Distance: 24.2 miles | Ascent: 4700′ | Descent: 4060′ Mile marker: 636.6 Lunch; J – chicken parm (A+), A – biscuits and gravy (A) Dinner: J – biscuits and gravy (A-), and cheese tomato shells (B-), A – Thanksgiving (B+) Trying to recover from the prior night of poor sleep, we slept in…

August 4 Distance: 24.3 miles | Ascent: 4640′ | Descent: 2230′ Mile marker: 612.4 Lunch: J – chicken stars soup (B+), A – spicy bacon mac (B-) Dinner: J – Mexican surprise (C), A – chicken parm (A+), shared at Lake Olalie lodge – Chef Boyardee ravioli (A+) The day started fairly slow. We didn’t…

August 2 Distance: 15.2 miles | Ascent: 4360′ | Descent: 2300′ Mile marker: 558.1 Lunch: J&A – salad, fruit, mashed potatoes, pork chops, tomato soup, steak tips, mac m cheese, sandwiches, a waffle, cookies, brownies, baked brie tarts (A+) Dinner: n/a The sun is rising later every day and we’re nearly ready for headlamps when…

August 1 Distance: 25.0 miles | Ascent: 6050′ | Descent: 4280′ Mile marker: 545.3* Lunch: J – Thanksgiving (B+), A – jambalaya (A) Dinner: J – spicy mac (B-), A – Thanksgiving (A) We were told that Oregon is flat. That we’d cruise for miles and miles without tire or wear. Yet, today was our…

July 31 Distance: 10.5 Mile marker: 520.1* Lunch: A&J – cheeseburger (A+) and cherry milkshake (A+) Dinner: J – jambalaya (A+), A – mac n cheese (B+) Hotels are very nice. It was nice to wake up in a bed and not have to pack it up. We did have to pack everything else up…

July 30 Distance: 3.7 miles | Ascent: 400′ | Descent: 650′ Mile marker: 505.5 Lunch: J – spicy bacon mac (A), A – chili with orzo (B+) Dinner: J – burrito (A+), A – quesabirria (A+) We walked to Oregon! Then we had to cross a terrifying bridge. We went to the hotel to book…

July 29 Distance: 21.6 | Ascent: 3400′ | Descent: 6050′ Mile marker: 501.9 Lunch: J – chili and orzo (A), A – Shin ramen (A) Dinner: J – Shin ramen (A), A – bacon mac (A-) We’ve walked so far, but we’re not even through Washington. We’re also one month in. Jason’s shoes are withered…

July 27 Distance: 22.0 miles | Ascent: 2550′ | Descent: 3260′ Mile marker: 459.6 Lunch: J – mac n cheese with sausage TVP (B), A – rice and beans (A) Dinner: J – spaghetti (A-) and mac n cheese with sausage TVP (B-), A – mac n cheese surprise (B-) Easy day. Hit snooze until…

July 26 Distance: 13.8 miles | Ascent: 2450′ | Descent: 2030′ Mile marker: 237.6 Brunch at Trout Lake café: Jason – omelet and hash browns (A), Alex – breakfast burrito (A+), shared coffee and huckleberry milkshake Dinner: Jason – stir fry (D-), Alex – spaghetti (A) We couldn’t get ahold of any of the trail…

July 25 Distance: 12.0 Mile marker: 423.8 Lunch: J – rice and beans (B-) | A – spicy mac (B+) Dinner: J – chicken chili (C+) | A – chicken teriyaki (A+) Our hike down from Mount Adams was pretty nice. There was a section with a few blowdowns, but nothing worse than we had…

July 24 Distance: 27.9 miles | Ascent: 3970′ | Descent: 3500′ Mile marker: 411.8 Lunch: Jason – chicken teriyaki (A) |Alex – chicken chili (B+) Dinner: Jason – spicy mac (B-) | Alex – Indian curry (A-) We started the day by seeing Mount Adams wayyy off in the distance. We would end up hiking…

July 23 Distance today: 18.0 miles Mile marker: 383.9 We finally got to the Goat Rock Wilderness and experienced the Knife Edge hiking. Wonderful views and an awesome experience. We felt like mountain goats hopping over the rocks and ascending the steep slope. We decided to take the alternate route to avoid tricky (and steep)…

July 21 Distance today: 23.7 miles Mile marker: 350.7 On the map today looked pretty easy – no huge climbs or bushwacking. Our feet were still pretty sore from yesterday’s big hike, but they felt okay this morning. We made it to Chinook Pass before 9am. We made our way towards Mount Rainier National Park,…

July 20 Distance today: 26.1 miles Mile marker: 327.0 We planned for today to be a long day. We got up early and just as we were about to leave our campsite, a retired forest ranger came down trail. The couple from lunch yesterday wanted to learn more about the trees, so we told this…

July 19 Distance today: 21.1 miles Mile marker: 300.9 The day started looking like a threat of rain. The weather report we called on the sat phone said otherwise. We were happy with the coolness the clouds brought as we made our climb out of the campsite. We had a few longish water carries today.…

July 28 Distance: 20.6 | Ascent: 3800′ | Descent: 4400′ Mile marker: 480.3 Lunch: A&J – tuna salad (B+ & B) Dinner: J – mac n cheese (A-), A – spicy mac (B) We got off to an earlyish start to finish climbing our hill we started last night. The trail was very well shaded…

July 22 Distance today: 15.2 miles Mile marker: 365.9 The lake we stayed at was covered with fog in the morning as we quietly packed up. There were two other people when we arrived last night. Thankfully, the sun was burning off the humidity. We made the uneventful 7 mile walk to White Pass where…

July 18 Distance today: 20.3 miles Mile marker: 279.8 We met SOOOO many people on the trail today! Probably over 200. We left the ski lifts at Snoqualmie Pass behind after checking out of our hotel. That was really the only climb of the day and not nearly as steep as leaving Stevens Pass. The…