Pics: Trout Lake --> GOAT ROCKS!!! --> White Pass

Mt.Adams from Tamarack Lake

...banana hammock?

first look at Mt.Ranier

cool lake in the distance

really cool misty view

cool small waterfall, it was around 6-8' tall

cool rock area, yay for a dirt trail and not a trail covered in rocks!  lol :)

someone took a *lot* of time doing this

theres some kind of rodent sitting on that rock in the middle of the photo.  it looks like a REALLY fat marmot, or  a beaver, but we were in high elevation so not sure if beavers live up here

The following photos are from Goat Rocks Wilderness, which is south of White Pass (hwy 12) in WA. The Knife's Edge portion of trail, was by far the most fun part of the entire PCT hike, this far.  It was an *amazing* experience and the views were unreal.  Plus, we were up there at sunset and I saw possibly the most amazing sunset in my life.  Walking down the knife's edge in the dark was freaking gnarly.  Lol!  It was soooo fun!!! :D

coming up on the knife's edge.  i felt like i was on top of the world 

what is all this white crap?!?

Mt.Ranier in the distance.  I think this is possibly my most favorite picture I've taken on the trip thus far. :)

it was *really* breezy up there...lolol!!

cool silouette

Kyle, hiking toward the moonrise

PCT No Ka Oi <3

epic photoshoot! :)

one of the wider portions of the Knife's Edge

amaaaaaazing sunset!!  this picture doesn't even begin to do justice to the epicness of the moment.

Kyle holding two rocks

Knife's Edge, before it got dark

Kyle drinking coffee in front of the Cookie Monster Glacier!  It looks like cookie monster tossing a cookie into his mouth!  lol!!

we camped just to the left of this.  it was a cool view to wake up to

the peak of Mt.Ranier, peeking up from the smoke from some fire to the east

Cool views

thats the trail cutting across the mountain

this was the ski slope that i was suppsed to have come down from.  i took the wrong "shortcut" and came waaaaay out to the right of all this.  lol.  oops.  it was really fun thought :)

yay!  i found it!

mini hiker reunion!!  Chameleon in the red, Scrub Rat center, Doe Eyes in the rear right, Pitfall in the trucker hat on the right

Pics: Trout Lake Abbey!!

The Trout Lake Abbey is so awesome I'm dedicating an entire picture post to the awesomeness of this place.  check it out at Trout Lake Abbey and at Mt.Adams Zen Center

the Buddhist Temple is in the 2nd floor of this building.  its really pretty in there!  lovely floor to ceiling murals and stuff. :)

the Druid worship area.  the Sanctuary is on the left (it looks like a hobbit house/swiss cheese!), and the Henge is in the middle

the Henge.  it is used for rituals.  it is AMAZING.  all the stone pillars have lights on the bottom so when they light up the area at night, it looks *amazing*, or so Kirk (the Druid) tells us.

Kyle, in front of the pond.  normally you could see Mt.Adams in the background, but it is covered in smoke (the western base of Mt.Adams is on fire, and the PCT is closed, because it goes near that fire)

theres a really cool stream that runs though the entire property, it fills the pond and also irrigates the entire farm.  its so cool!

Kwan-Yin. <3

gratitude

Kyle and I were petting this dog for about an hour and a half

you can't really tell, but this gold puppy was soooo fat!  lol!  she was so awesome!  i wanted to take her hiking with me to Canada.  not sure if a puppy backpack would fit around her rotund middle section. lol!

Greta, the German Shepard puppy that understands German and Danish

Squizzle says, "Canada or Bust!"

the main house at the Trout Lake Abbey

the Buddhist Temple

Pics: Cascade Locks, Oregon --> Trout Lake, Washington

At Shrek's Swamp, a trail angel's house in Cascade Locks:

Kyle's transition from morning to afternoon: coffee in one hand, beer in the other

Squizzle, inspired by Kyle, now has a mohawk.  And a hiking kilt.  Kyle needs a hiking kilt too. :D

My squirrel is a (functioning) alcoholic!  Squizzle!  I don't think squirrels can swim!!! 

Crossing the Bridge of the Gods at night.  This bridge goes over the Columbia River, the OR/WA state border is halfway on this bridge.  Doing this at night was really cool, because the floor of the bridge is a grate, and so you can see through it.  It was interesting walking in the 5 finger shoes, because my toes would get stuck in the grates and it was hard not to trip.  Lol!

We're in Washington!  This is the town on the other side of river, opposite of Cascade Locks.

this was a pretty fancy campsite!  it had stone lining around the trees!  like someone's front lawn!  lol!!

view in Washington

this was our first full day in WA.  it was overcast and bleh.  i'm turning around and walking back to Bend, damnit!  lol!

sunshine!  oh glorious sunshine!

random property in the middle of nowhere (the trail actually passes to the right of the house)

interesting 1/2 picnic table, with a bag of delicious plums!!!  thanks, anonymous person that left them there! :)

cool bridge

awesome encouragement along the trail. lol!

i don't remember what i was taking a pic of

Kyle, becoming one with the earth...

my Shrek Bandana skirt.  my other skirt (that i've had since day one),  fell apart 2 days out of cascade locks.  the bandanas were the only fabric i had with me.

Washington view.  a patch of reforested area

I was standing right on top of this, until Scallywag pointed it out to me. :)

Kyle's hands were cold.  I told him his butt is warm.  This is one solution to warming his hands.

fuzzy  hitchiker!

Washington evening scenic shot

Day 166: another glorious day! :)

Monday 10/1/12
Miles 2346-2373 (27 miles)
Elevation 3,476'

Oh man. I didn't get to camp today til after 9pm. It was dark. That was a lot of night hiking. It gets dark by about 7pm. It wasn't really by choice. There was a 12 mile stretch with no water so we wanted to get to the next water source. That would have put us at 25 miles. But the water source was on the side of a hill on a series of switchbacks, so there wasn't anywhere flat to camp. :(

Today was absolutely beautiful. It was sunny and clear skies and we got amazing views of Mt.Ranier. We also passed a cool Hut today! It was built by volunteers from a local snowmobile club. I took a pic of it. I'll post my pics when I can get to a computer. The hut has a wood burning stove and benches and a table and a loft inside. There was an outhouse out back. There are several huts we've passed by on the trail. They are used a lot by cross country skiiers and snowshoers. This one is by a dirt road so its used by 4x4 people as well as snowmobilers in the winter. We saw Doe Eyes and Scrub Rat there. That was cool, I like those two. :). They're from San Diego, inland of Torrey Pines. Scrub Rat brews his own beer and is quite passionate about beer. Every time we talk about town stops and stuff, he asks, is there a brewery there? Lol!

The views were pretty nice today. It seems like day after day, the leaves are getting more and more red. Fall is here! We also went through a bunch of clear cut logged areas. Since northern California we've been through a lot of logged areas. This one was an old logged area so it wasn't all gnarly and torn up like some of the newer ones are. Looking from a distance, it looks like bare patches of trees in interesting geometric shapes all along the mountain. :( I wonder why timber companies don't reforest the clear cutted areas. I wonder if they buy the land or just lease it. Because, if they own the land, and they reforest it, then they could harvest the trees again in x amount of years. Plus it would be visually a lot better, prevent erosion, and would be a lot healthier overall for the forest. Bleh. Clear cut areas are kinda depressing to walk through. Even more so than burn areas. Definitely makes me think twice about my paper and wood consumption. :)

Oh. Speaking of paper. For you aspiring 2013 hikers, if you haven't already, get Yogi's Guide to the PCT. it is absolutely *invaluable*. Especially if you don't know what you're doing. Lol. I've never backpacked before going on this trip. Neither has Kyle. So we literally had no idea what we were doing. Both of us had Yogi's book, and it really helped a LOT. There's the PCT handbook and also the town and trail guide. Get both. I didn't get the data book. You won't need it if you're using Halfmile's maps. Anyhow, start reading yogi's handbook, it has a lot of great information about preparation, etc.

So we're right next to Tacoma Pass right now. I guess there's a dirt road nearby because I hear cars. Ah well, nap time! My feet are tired. O.o lol!

Day 165: wow, beautiful day in Washington

Sunday 9/30/12
Miles 2,332-2,346 (14 miles)
Elevation 5,979'

Oh glorious sunny day!! We didn't get back on trail til 2pm. Lol! We want to give Sam the trail name Trapper Keeper because she is so good at trapping hikers wherever she is, because she is so awesome. Lol!

Today was a lovely and wonderful day of hiking. Oh glorious sunshine!! <3. We walked on a ridge opposite of a ski resort. I don't know which one it was but it was really big. And you can see Ranier from up there. I took a break at some point, and ate some salami, cheese, dark chocolate, and red wine. The most epic combination of food I could possibly think of. And I thought to myself, this is amazing!! :) <3

Oh! For all you aspiring PCT 2013 hikers. This is the time you want to start researching gear. And keep an eye out for sales. I bought about 80% of my gear from these following websites:
Www.backcountry.com
Www.steepandcheap.com
Www.whiskeymilitia.com
Www.geartrade.com
Www.theclymb.com
The 2nd and 3rd site is a division of backcountry.com. They are so epic. I bought lots of stuff from them. The Clymb is a members-only site, you need an email invite to join. It's free. If anyone needs an email invite send me an e-mail (kealadancer@gmail.com). It's awesome because when the people you invite buy something for the first time, you get a $10 credit. So everyone email me for an invite because I need some gear for my next adventure. :D

Seriously though, you can get some amazing deals if you keep and eye out. And REI is always a good place to get stuff. There are several REIs along trail that are relatively accessible, so you can always swap out stuff if anything breaks along the way.

Oh, and if you're in an area where you have the luxury of actually trying on a backpack, make sure you do so. There are no outfitters on Oahu (well, there's Soul Trex but they're not geared toward long-distance hikers) which is why I had to buy everything online. Including my pack, so it was always a crapshoot whether anything would fit. But yeah. Try on your pack. I'm lucky mine fit. It's not a perfect fit but hey it got me this far. :)

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. :)

Day 163: another mini hiker reunion!

Friday 9/28/12
Miles 2303-2313 (10 miles)
Elevation 4,966'

We woke up this morning and walked the 1/2 mile back to the store at White Pass because we ran out of coffee (tragedy!!!) and wanted to get some. Plus we needed to charge our phones and make some phone calls. We walked into the store and saw Scallywag!! Cool! Hee Haw walked in shortly after. COOL!!! It was like a hiker reunion part 2. Lol! We ended up staying there til about 1pm, hanging out with everyone. We also met 2 section hikers who were southbounding Washington. They were named Marmot and One-and-a-quarter. They were so cool! It was a fun afternoon.

We finally went back to our tent and packed up to leave. I don't think we left camp til 2pm. We walked out with Doe Eyes and Scrub Rat. Ah well. Stoked we still got 10 miles in despite our late start. Lol!

I met two hunters on trail, they were pretty cool. Actually, all the hunters I've met on trail are pretty cool. They were out hunting elk. I asked them how they got the meat back to their car because oftentimes they'd be pretty far out. They said they cut it up in pieces and throw them in their packs (they both had huge external frame packs), and they had special bags they used to bag everything so bugs don't get into it. He said sometimes it'd be a 2 day process, making multiple trips, with loads of 100+ lbs at a time. Sometimes an elk can be over 400 lbs. yikes!! That's a big animal! Lol. He also said sometimes they'd hire horses or a pack team to pack out the meat. That's the most efficient way.

Interestingly enough, where we camped that night we heard TONS of elk. Gosh they make such weird noises. Lol! Sometimes it's be like a bugling sound and sometimes it's like a whistle. We didn't get to our campsite til after dark. Actually, we never found the campsite that the map said was there. So we just stopped at the first flat spot we found. On my way there I was waking in the dark and I think a small herd of elk ran by me. I couldn't see anything but I heard LOTS of hoofs running around and it sounded like it was just in front if me. It sounded like a bear crashing through brush. I figured it was several elk.

Kyle and I were talking about the random things we used to do when we were little. I loved to go to the meat section and poke at the Saran-wrapped packages of meat. Lol! That was probably a really bad thing to do, as people wouldn't want to buy meat that had some little kid's finger poked in it. Lol! Ground beef was the best. It was the squishiest. Lol!

By the way, those energy gels are really good. I dunno why I've never tried them til now. I guess it's because I've never been involved in a sport where it was popular. Although when I did the paddle board races (I raced the '08 and '09 seasons), the prone paddlers would tape a bunch of them to their boards by their head and consume them along the course. I raced standup so it wouldn't have worked too well because I needed both hands to operate the paddle. We all just wore camelbaks.

Dang. I've really wanted to standup paddle board along this trail. But paddling in a lake is so boring. Lol. And by the time I got to Bend (the Deschutes river runs through town), it was kinda cold and windy. Boo. :(