We left White Pass mid-afternoon after a fantastic lunch provided by my Mom and Dad, and had a nice leisurely 6 mile afternoon. Sitting in camp that night, we realized that if we did ~22 miles every day rather than our planned 20, we could get into Snoqualmie Pass Wednesday night rather than Thursday morning, and therefore get a day off on Thursday. That was all the encouragement we needed, and did the 98 miles to Snoqualmie in 4.5 days, including a 24 mile day.
The berry action was the best we’ve seen on trail, with great huckleberries and blueberries on the side of the trail. They were enormous, and provided some great morale on the climbs or near the end of the long days. We even saw a few berry pickers heading out to harvest, and got some impromptu trail magic when they gave us some oranges.
The views were excellent in this stretch, especially in the southern section as we went around Chinook Pass, Naches Peak, and Crystal Mountain. Rainer stood out as usual, looming over everything. The sunsets were also fantastic, with great red hues playing off the clouds. The northern half was more tree covered, but it was exciting to start seeing peaks and landmarks that I recognized from my previous hiking and backpacking trips.
Washington has gotten difficult though, and days of 4,000 – 4,500 feet of climbing were normal in our push to get to Snoqualmie Pass slightly earlier than expected. By the end of the section, it was 450 miles since my trail family and I had a proper zero (day off), and we were feeling it. The three of us got into Snoqualmie later on the 4th day and went down to Seattle to stay with my parents, which was extremely restful. We got to wash our disgusting quilts, which had 4 months of dirt, sweat, and oil rubbed into them, as well as our rain coats and puffy jackets.
An unexpected side effect of pushing for our zero is that I got to go to BEFA crew night on Thursday and see some good friends! Catching up a few weeks ahead of schedule was a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to getting back into the air after the trip. On trail, the trail family and I are looking forward to seeing the Alpine Lakes Wilderness at a slower pace, then getting to see the Bavarian style town of Leavenworth!
