JenEric - Pacific Crest Trail Journal - 2010

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When the morning looks like this, you got to get hiking!

Return To Pear Lake

A fitful night's sleep for Gino. His left knee hurt in each position he tried. After what seemed like hours of turning every 5 minutes, he finally came to rest in a diagonal stretched out position and was able to fall asleep.

Woke up at the usual time, around 6, and tried to figure out what to do. 4 days to Stehekin, or 2 days back to Skykomish or some alternate escape route. Either way we knew that we got way too wet yesterday, and we needed to get out of the woods. ewith no immediate way to dry our gear, knees injured, and Lion Heart's feet getting sensitive due to being waterlogged, we reluctantly decided to head back to where we had come from, to Stevens Pass.

It was tough convincing Gino, as he wanted to lay in the tent, then go talk to the hunters about the weather, and then maybe wait out the storm in our tent for a few days! With a thankful kick in the butt from Lion Heart, we were out of our soggy tent, draped in our frigid clothes, and off to enjoy the misty cool but graciously rainless Washington morning.

We were chilled to the bone so luckily our first few miles were uphill. Wet trail in WA quickly turns to slippery snot which all you can di is slips and slide around on it. This trail maneuvering warmed us considerably which we were extremely grateful for!

It was not raining so we pushed through the miles, never really taking a break or stopping. Occasionally we'd stop for a few minutes to get snacks out and then get right back to hiking.

A full day of nonstop hiking had a huge payoff - dryness! We had to push through the wet brush again but this time we had time to dry hiking afterwards. What suffered the most were the feet as they were soaked and just being rubbed raw even further. Got inot camp and had out tent set up by 3:30pm, just as the first few drops of rain began to fall - whey, close!

Coming back to Pear Lake was wonderful. All our clothes and gear were practically dry, thanks to the rainless and windy day. The trees has also dried out nicely allowing Gino to sit out under their cover and relax for a few hours as a light rain fell. Lion Heart was happy and warm in the tent, tending to her sore feet, journaling and reading her book.

Entry 22 of 23
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