Friday, August 7, 2026
14.66 miles, 3668′ gain/4344′ loss
We were up at 6am and I was hiking by 6:45am. It was 50 overnight, and my pillow went flat in the night, despite a patch job. I used my clothes bag which was an unsatisfactory pillow. My sleeping mat needed to be re-inflated twice. I think it is actually leaking.
It hit 76 degrees actual this afternoon and felt another 8-10 degrees hotter in the sun. I was grateful that the majority of the day was in the shade of the trees, with occasional views of Rainier and the surrounding mountains.
It was interesting to see the smoke in the distance making a straight line across the horizon. I also saw mist and dust rise into the air after I heard a loud rumbling from a glacier in the next valley. I’m curious if there was some rockfall, ice slide, or something similar.
I crossed paths with a few handfuls of people today, but not a lot compared to the east side of the park. Two people heading clockwise told me there was a guy who had been at S Puyallup for 9 days with stomach problems, though he was going to try to head to Longmire today. Thankfully, the man wasn’t here when I arrived.
I arrived at South Puyallup campsite at 1pm, where I scoped out all of the sites and settled on site 3. I set up my tent, inspected my pillow for other leaks and was unable to find more, and had some snacks while charging my Garmon InReach Mini and my watch. Jacob and Emily arrived at 3:45 pm. We ate dinner and chatted until we headed towards an early bedtime.
