Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Day 164: chrome dome, and epic trail magic at Chinook Pass!!

Saturday 9/29/12
Miles 2,313-2332 (19 miles)
Elevation 5,500'

Aloha aspiring 2013 PCT hikers! Seems like a lot of you found this blog. It was around beginning-mid September last year when I started looking at the blogs of the 2011 hikers. :). Several of you have asked me about how I attach my Chrome Dome (which I'm still carrying, btw). I attach one trekking pole to the handle with a twist tie. The reason is to make the handle longer. Because the chrome dome that Golite makes has a short handle. This way, I hold the umbrella with one hand and my other trekking pole in the other hand. It is not hands free. I think golite was at kickoff this year, because I saw some hikers that attached it to their shoulder strap. The thing is, the sun does not stay in the same place in relation to you. Therefore you're gonna need to adjust your shade throughout the day. That's why I chose not to go with a hands-free method. Plus, sometimes it's windy. You're gonna get real good at aiming your umbrella so it doesn't flip inside out, but still get you shade. Plus, sometimes if you're going uphill, if the wind is blowing the right way you can use your umbrella to catch wind and help pull you uphill. It's kinda like windsurfing. :). If you don't want to spend the money on a chrome dome (I think I paid around $40, many hikers got it on sale for $20), a thrift store umbrella works too. However, I think the chrome dome is superior for 2 reasons: 1)it's indestructible. It's been flipped inside out so many times and has not broken. 2)The reflective coating on the outside. That silvery material actually reflects away heat. It makes a huge difference. Seriously. Once you're done with the desert, the umbrella works great in rain and hail too. There are other companies that sell reflective umbrellas for cheaper, I saw other hikers with em. Dunno their names though. But I LOVE my chrome dome, it is my favorite piece of miscellaneous gear.

Brrrrr it was cold all day today! We camped next to a lake and woke up with fog and mist all around. It was crazy! I felt like a Sasquatch was gonna come running out of the trees any minute! Lol! The mist was so thick it was falling like a drizzle. Two section hikers came by in the morning. One guy was in a t-shirt. I was thinking, holy crap this guy is nuts!! I was freezing and I had my jacket on! Lol!!

The whole day was pretty much all foggy like that. It was pretty cold. Kyle was going to wait for me at 16 miles, but he wasn't there. Grr! That was annoying. Not because he wasn't there, but because all day I've been craving my Coffee Crisp candy bar but I wanted to give Kyle some, so I was gonna wait til I found him to eat it. And he wasn't there. So I'd have to wait *even longer* til I got to eat my candy. Grrr!!! Lol!! By the way, Coffee Crisp candy bars are *amazing*. Oh my gosh. I've never had them before because I never seen them in stores. I hear it's a Canadian thing? I dunno. They are delicious. Possibly my favorite candy. :)

Anyhow, Chinook Pass was pretty close. It was a road with trash cans and stuff. I figured Kyle was just gonna mow over there. I don't blame him for not stopping. It was cold. And it's even more cold when you're not walking. That's the secret to hiking in Washington. Just keep moving, because when you're not moving its COLD!! Lol! Well, it's cold even hen you are hiking, but more so when you stop.

Sam from Ollalie Lake was doing trail magic. She had a whole camp setup with food and beer and all kinds of epicness. AWESOME!!! She fed us steak and corn and beans. YUM!! :). Plus she had pop tarts, pudding, frosted donuts, lucky charms cereal, coffee, and so much more! It was like all of mine and Kyle's favorite things!! Lolol! Oh, she has a super cute puppy named Lolli. Oh my gosh. It was a hyper puppy. I wanted to kidnap puppy and take her hiking with me! Lol!

Trooper was there too. He's another hiker who's been in and out of my vicinity since day 2. Lol! He was hurt, his back was all scraped up and swollen. He and his crew decided to go cliff diving at night. It didn't turn out so well. Oops.

Oh! I saw a hiker today, Paws, who I haven't seen since Julian, CA! That was mile 77!! Holy crap! Lol! He was hiking to Portland, then going to Canada and flipping south. I met him as he was southbounding. That is so cool!! I often wonder about the people I see early on, whether or not they're still on trail. I haven't seen Paws (who I knew as Rob, before he got his trail name) in over 2,200 miles!! Lol. Such is the randomness of the trail. :)

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