PCT Day 22

Thomas messaged me that our ride would be at their hotel at 10:30.. sweet! I rolled back over after making sure all of my electronics charged. That meant 25 more minutes of sleep!

I checked out and walked to their hotel just as Dennis was driving up. Good timing! Dennis is a trail Angel that lives in Tacoma. He loaded us up and we piled into his car for the 4+ hour drive to Mazama. I’m real tired of cars. Haha, the 3 of us hikers were in the backseat and Dennis’ roommate had shotgun. He wanted to come along for the ride, and who could blame Dennis for wanting company on the 4 hour ride back?

He stopped at the post office for Thomas and Steffi, then again at the North Cascades National Park sign. The views up here just keep getting better! He pulled in to two different overlooks and while ready to be out of the car for good, I was very thankful he took the time to show us the stunning beauty of this place. Simply unimaginable!

He dropped us off at The Lion’s Den, a hiker haven created by a previous PCT hiker. The place was awesome. I set up my tent and recharged some electronics for good measure.. then me and my 2 new friends rode bicycles into town. We looked at all of the options and they decided to bike back after not being impressed with the food options. I got a large glass of red wine and had a French dip sandwich for dinner. The wine was awesome, the food was just ok, it didn’t matter.. I made it up here-I’m happy!

I rode the bike back to camp and then hung out with the other hikers around. There were plenty. Some starting SOBO tomorrow, most SNOBO/flip floppers. I enjoyed sitting around a fire and talking and sharing experiences. Right now I’m still so tired though. I’ll be starting in the morning, I have to be up, packed and ready to leave by 7am. I’ll have a 10 mile road walk before reaching the trail and that 10 plus the other 30 miles to get to the Canadian border don’t count until I turn around and hike back. Yep. I’m tired.