August 11, 2024
12.0 miles, 775′ gain/4285′ loss
I was awake at 4:15am after thunderstorms, wind, and rain for ~2 hours last night, and hiking by 4:35am. Everything was damp, with the tent being completely soaked. Once I packed up in the dark and started hiking, it rained for 2 hours this morning, too. I hiked by headlamp for 1.5 hours, split off from the CDT, made the high point, and then dropped down into the valley. The descent had some gnarly sections, with loose rocks and scrambling, and a few areas with avalanche debris.
I met Loon on the train stop’s connecter trail around 9am and we waited together for 2 hours for the 11:15am train, chatting the entire time. Loon is a mom of 3 and grandma of 2. She’d done the AT and PCT, and is from New Brunswick, CAN.
I really enjoyed the train ride a lot! I bought coffee for me and tea for Loon since it was cold in the shade and we were both damp, had been sitting still for hours, and the train car was open on the sides.
I did my resupply and laundry while waiting for hotel check-in at 3pm (they do not offer early check-in). I dried out my tent, sleeping bag, ground cloth, and sleeping pad on a picnic table nearby the town store. I found contact rewetting drops and mini Hall’s cough drops at the store, which was a great find! However, the cost of food resupply was staggering, and I walked down the road to the gas station to buy more snacks, though it wasn’t much less expensive. After check-in, I did the rest of my town chores, showered, and grabbed a burrito bowl from El Bandito for lunch. I then had Thai pizza from Avalanche Brewing Company for dinner before going to bed early. One of my town highlights was seeing dozens of hummingbirds at someone’s backyard feeders!
