August 3, 2021 PCT mile 2229.9 - 2250.2 PCT miles 20.3

We decided to push to complete the 66 miles to White Pass in 2.5 days of hiking because of the rain forecast for Friday. We slept in a bit and then grabbed coffee and oatmeal at the lovely Trout Lake Valley Inn (highly recommend!) before heading out. We couldn’t ride their bikes back into town, so we walked the mile back to the grocery store to catch the 8:00 AM Trail Angel shuttle up to the trailhead, 13 miles along a forest service road. We really appreciated the transportation. We walked passed a field of beautiful cows - several looked to have hearts painted on their foreheads. Trout Lake is a nice small town.

We saw Magnet, his beautiful dog Lupin, Australian Shepherd, Bumfoot and Tails waiting for the shuttle. Chris scored more KT tape from the grocery store clerk who had just one roll left behind the counter. KT tape seems to be magic - no knee issues. Old knees might be just fine without the tape, but don’t want to chance it because we have a few long days of serious climbing ahead ~ 6000 feet up and almost the same in descent - several times.

While exiting the shuttle and grabbing our packs, we heard, “Hey, is that Chris and Rick??” We turned around and saw Astro sitting at the trailhead waiting for the ride back into Trout Lake. Wow! Never thought we’d see him again. He is a speedy hiker we met early on in this hike in the Southern California section and last saw on the top of Forester Pass. Picture provided. We chatted for a few minutes and learned how our paths had somehow met again. He had been taking 3-4 days off every couple of weeks since Northern California whenever his wife could catch him for a visit. He hikes so fast and so many miles a day -30+! This explains it. As we are now just 20 miles ahead (maybe), we know he will pass us in the morning or we will see him up at White Pass. Nice guy - always smiling. Hope we see him again.

Morning hike was up through a burn zone with white sky haze hanging above us from the fires. Then we entered the wildflowers galore section. So many! So beautiful. Really spectacular.

After a few more miles we hiked behind Mt. Adams and saw the glacier. Impressive, but would undoubtedly be more beautiful if the sky was blue, not white. We also knew fording the Adams River was ahead of us this day, but surprised by the strength of flow and…lack of crossing areas. No fun. Chris let out her customary wimped when approaching big river crossings. After hunting and looking at footprints from other hikers, we found some wet logs above the raging river to cross. Chris wasn’t having it. Rick danced across effortlessly, while Chris considered options. Fording was a no-go because of the depth and speed of the muddy water. So, she sat on the slippery log teetering four feet above the flow and scooted herself (and pack) across. No injures, just glad it wasn’t videoed…not one bit pretty.

While hiking, minds drift and we sometimes say to each other ‘you know what would be great right now?’ Rick usually mentions food/ice cream/lemonade. Chris - animals to pet! Today’s hike continued behind Mt. Adams and Chris’ ‘what would be great right now’ became a reality! In this remote area we came across four beautiful horses and riders and one woman holding a puppy. What?! Riding with a puppy? Chris was delighted! Horses and a puppy with us on this trail. We hadn’t seen anyone in miles. The woman holding the 8-week old Australian Shepherd puppy stopped and handed the pup down to Chris to smell puppy breath and kiss. So soft, so sweet. Australian Shepherds seem to dominate the trail.

Mosquito swarms were truly terrible, today. Stopped after about 20 miles when we saw a tent site large enough for our tent and clear water in a close stream. Mosquitoes were ready to feed, so we pitched the tent quickly and then ran to stream to clean. Mosquitoes followed us along with black flies. Not pleasant. The water in this stream was so cold we could submerge our feet for a count of ..2! Crazy cold snow melt. Coldest yet. Made for great drinking water and difficult cleaning water.

Other hikers pitched nearby after we were safe in the tent and ready for bed. They lit a citronella candle - ahhh. Think it may have helped lower number of bugs.