Ben and I hit 2 milestones today: 1) It was our first day of almost full rain and 2) we hiked our first 20 mile day (14 of the 20 in rain).
We pushed through our first 9 miles before lunch. We stopped at a shelter to eat and rest. While there, the group we camped next to last night called a bunkhouse that they had reservations at to see if they could get in a day earlier. They were a group of 4, but the only room open was for a group of 6. So Ben and I decided to join for the night since more storms were being predicted. The only problem… it was another 11 miles.
So we pushed on in the rain. For the next 5 miles it continued to rain but when it stopped, it was glorious. From the mountain tops you could see that fog was rising out of all of the valleys. One mountain you could just see the peak, everything below it was covered in cloud. It was fantastic.
The last 6 or so miles were fairly painful and painfully long. Finally, we came around a bend and saw the NOC (Natahalla Outdoors Center) where the bunkhouses were. We hobbled to the complex and got our keys. Almost as if it were a cruel joke, we had the farthest bunkhouse in the complex. Everything closed at 7p. We arrived at 6:45p, which meant no pizza for Ben. He was heartbroken as I fixed our dinner, just normal trail food: fettuccine noodles, with canned chicken and a pesto packet.
My favorite part of the day? Meeting Critter, a 6 month old Maltese puppy who is hiking the trail with his owner. He wears a bear bell and has hiked the whole trail with the exception of road crossings, etc. Critter crawled into my lap and snuggled in for a nap. He was really just interested in the the open can of chicken next to me, but I took it anyway.
After dinner, we showered and fell into bed. 20 miles, mostly slipping and sliding, were finally done.
-ansel