Day 102 - Chinook Pass

I woke up feeling really down. Not really sure why, but my heart just isn't into hiking any more. I'm so close though, and I know I'll kick myself if I don't finish.

We started walking, and I got ahead of the other two. I needed some time to myself anyway. The walk was beautiful, with views of Mt. Rainier all day long. My mood started to perk up then. I stoped by a creek and took a break. Mr. President and Edelweiss caught up, so we had lunch. It was a niceplace to rest, and we all took off our shoes to soak our feet. It's always nice to cool your dogs off.

I pushed on ahead of the others, and started up this long climb. It was exposed and hot, but there was an abundance of blueberries that had a slight apple flavor to them. Delicious! I should have stashed a bunch in a bag.

I pushed on and found Bert at the top, resting. I rested with him. Then the two of us kept going. Anderson Lake was coming up, it sounded like good swimming, and after that long climb it sounded even better. We kept going, stopping every now and again to eat those blueberries. We got to the lake, and all thoughts of swimming left my head. I was too tired. The lake was beautiful though, a nice deep aqua color. The other two caught up, as did Fire Wizard. He told us the other three had gone less than a mile from where they camped and then decided to play poker. Oy! They'll never catch up at that rate.

We all kept going, passing Dewey Lake, which I've camped at before (for those who know, remember Camp Dork?) I had forgotten the climb out of that area, and for good reason. It was kind of harsh, especially at the end of the day. We all made it though. Come to find out that Mr. President knew some folks in the area, so we gave them a call and they offered to put us up for the night. The son, Jesse, came and picked us up. Dinner was waiting for us, a vegetarian curry and rice dish, two different soups, corn on the cob, and for dessert, ice cream sandwiches and these fruit sorbet thingies that were served in half of the fruit flavor that they were (so, half an orange rind for orange, half a pineapple for pineapple; you get it).

Afterwards, we were offered showers and beds. I was too exhausted to deal with showering, but I at least cleaned my feet, then crawled into bed. I'm pretty sure I'm going to pass out as soon as my head hits that pillow.