Miles: 12.5
Adrian: Happy Birthday Danger Prone! I love you!
We had great views of Rainier all morning as we walked towards the road at White Pass, a ski area about 20 miles east of Packwood. The weather has been perfect.We entered Goat Rocks Wilderness and hiked some of the best trail of the trip. It follows a knife-edged ridge for miles weaving in and out of grotesquely formed towers and spires.
Views of Rainer, Adams, and Helens were abundant and grand. This section of trail would have been extremely dangerous had the weather been foul.
It took about an hour to get a hitch into Packwood. I bought a chocolate cake, icing and some candles for Kirsten's party at the pizza joint. We had about 12 hikers join us for pizza, beer and cake. Later some of the crew went across the street to the Blue Spruce Inn for pool and more beer. It was a great night.
We've been hiking with a group that is jokingly calling itself, "The Fellowship". We are a group of individuals that have come together to create a larger whole. I think the experts call it synergy. Anyway, the group is strong and I'm happy to be hiking with them. I'm told nearing the finish, hikers will group together near the end of a thru-hike to end together. It looks as though that may be happening here...and that's fine by me.
I'm looking forward to finish, but I will miss it when it's over. Until then...
Walk good.
Kirsten: Soooo.... once again Adrian sent out our journal entries before I could finish up my thoughts. I'm in a forgiving mood - it being my birthday and all. I would like to recap yesterday's hike a bit.
Goats Rocks was probably one of my favorite places I have walked through in these past four months. The section was short in comparison with other wilderness areas we've seen. Before we approached the knife-edge traverse, the trail slowly rose through alpine meadows and past creeks and waterfalls.
It took about an hour to get a hitch into Packwood. I bought a chocolate cake, icing and some candles for Kirsten's party at the pizza joint. We had about 12 hikers join us for pizza, beer and cake. Later some of the crew went across the street to the Blue Spruce Inn for pool and more beer. It was a great night.We've been hiking with a group that is jokingly calling itself, "The Fellowship". We are a group of individuals that have come together to create a larger whole. I think the experts call it synergy. Anyway, the group is strong and I'm happy to be hiking with them. I'm told nearing the finish, hikers will group together near the end of a thru-hike to end together. It looks as though that may be happening here...and that's fine by me.
I'm looking forward to finish, but I will miss it when it's over. Until then...
Walk good.
Kirsten: Soooo.... once again Adrian sent out our journal entries before I could finish up my thoughts. I'm in a forgiving mood - it being my birthday and all. I would like to recap yesterday's hike a bit.Goats Rocks was probably one of my favorite places I have walked through in these past four months. The section was short in comparison with other wilderness areas we've seen. Before we approached the knife-edge traverse, the trail slowly rose through alpine meadows and past creeks and waterfalls.
The trail eventually wound through lava fields before topping out to a view of Mount Rainier. From there the trail crossed a snowfield and then hugged the mountainside until reaching the knife-edge traverse. What was so cool about the traverse were the views. We could see for dozens of miles in every direction from Mount Rainier to our left to the heavily forested valley to our right.
Back to my birthday. Our friends joined us in Packwood, which may sound like no big deal. Let me tell you that it is. To get thru-hikers to change their plans and come into town when they hadn't intended to is flattering. Moonpie, Hoffa, Jesse, Landshark, Caterpillar, Clearwater and Don't Panic were all there. Miss. Potato Head also showed up, which was great.
Back to my birthday. Our friends joined us in Packwood, which may sound like no big deal. Let me tell you that it is. To get thru-hikers to change their plans and come into town when they hadn't intended to is flattering. Moonpie, Hoffa, Jesse, Landshark, Caterpillar, Clearwater and Don't Panic were all there. Miss. Potato Head also showed up, which was great.
Beautiful and Gorgeous called and sang a fun birthday song to me. I am blessed to have friends like these. I am especially blessed to have Adrian for a husband. He deals with my teasing and taunting in this journal, for one. He is also patient, endlessly so, with me on the trail and that's not such any easy task at times.
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