resupply

Tuesday, August 25, 2015, Mile 2461: Magic at the Dinsmores

Liz "Rest Step" Fallin, , , , , Leave a comment

At Dinsmores Hiker Haven, Mile 2461

I got up at 5:30, to give myself time to hit the trailhead at 10:00. The trail was five miles, traversing a bowl before climbing a ridge to a chairlift at Stevens Pass. I worked my way along the ski slopes, and finally down to the parking lot.

Stevens Push 5
Fall Colors above Stevens *
Stevens Chair
Climbing the last ridge, past a chairlift *
Stevens Descent
The descent into Stevens Pass *

Brendan and Alex weren’t there yet, but I met a guy named Fred, who spends most of the year travelling in his van, just seeing different places. He was waiting for his monthly check to arrive (tomorrow), and was getting low on food. And lo and behold, here comes Brendan and Alex with an ENORMOUS vanload of chow. Perfect timing.

We stopped in Skykomish, at the Sky Deli, and I got my coveted BURGER AND SHAKE MMMM!! And then it was down the hill to Baring, and the Dinsmores.

Jerry greeted me with a big hug, and then the kiddos proceeded to unload the van. Eyes started popping in all directions. Not even thrus could put this much food away. They were incredibly grateful.

Andrea came out and gave me another big hug, and her eyes started bugging out as well. Most of the food will last quite well in the hiker dorm fridge, and Brendan ended up taking a bunch home, but there were some mighty happy hikers.

I was very grateful just to be here; I know this is where I’ll need to make my decision, and there’s no better place to do it than in the midst of the hiking community, with the very latest info.

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The shower and laundry house. Before washing clothes or taking a shower, hikers need to pre-wash their socks and their feet.
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The garage. A large portion, to the left, contains the hiker dorm.

Anyway, while the kids were feeding people, I started my laundry, grabbed a shower, and began sorting my resupply. Brendan had brought up my bounce bag as well. Many thrus or longer distance sectioners will have a bounce box. This contains things needed periodically, or sometime in the future, and is generally sent a few resupplies up the road. I have a duffel, which the family brings up whenever they meet me; it’s got a couple of sets of street clothes, some extra toiletries, and the like. It was nice to wear a cotton t-shirt while my hiking clothes were in the laundry. But even if I didn’t have the bag, the Dinsmores have a big stash of loaner clothes for laundry time. Last year, the favorite was a purple prom dress, which appeared several times in the annual hiker photo album which Andrea puts together.

Once I was done shuffling things, Brendan and Alex headed down the hill. I wish we’d had more time to hang out; seeing family has been a huge deal for me.

Another cool thing that happened was that I met Soul Sista (aka Ronnie). She’s done a lot of work with packs, and was able to help me get mine adjusted better. We ended up setting the height to halfway between small and xtra small. But ultimately, she couldn’t get it where it needed to be, and she strongly recommends I get a new pack. Maybe it’s time to take a look at the new Mariposa. Anyway, she is up here for a few weeks, camping on the 2 acres of lawn, and generally helping out. There are several people who come up here and pitch in during the summer, cooking, repairing, driving folks, etc. Did I say this community is awesome?

I slept in the hiker dorm last night. Since Jerry and Andrea introduced a No Alcohol policy, there’s no reason to stay up late and party. The lights were out by ten. Of course, maybe that was because we were all excited about having a Real Bed!

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The hiker dorm at Dinsmores Hiker Haven. They have bunk beds (with real mattresses), recliners, a basic kitchen w/fridge, microwave, and pantry), a huge hiker box with sorted supplies, a wood stove, and TONS of memorabilia from hikers through the years.

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Tuesday, August 18, 2015, Mile 2390: Snoqualmie Pass Zero

Liz "Rest Step" Fallin, , , , , , , Leave a comment

At Snoqualmie Pass, Mile 2390

I slept in until 9 AM, and woke up more refreshed than I had in days. We lazed around, and then went back to the Pancake House, where I ate another enormous breakfast. This is all very good.

I had a lot of little things to finish up, including taking care of the shoes, which was very frustrating. And I had a last bit of laundry to do, which unfortunately involved a fluky washer. Sigh. Some parts of hiking are just plain dull.

We spent some more time this afternoon over at Aardvark’s. It really is the main gathering place. I met Camel, from Germany, Willow, and a handful of other hikers. They were talking about some of the people that I knew. Fuzzy Star had just finished!

Steve and Patrick had to take off in the late afternoon, and that was much harder than I had anticipated. So I reminded myself that this is the chance to Do This Thing, and I need to seize it with both hands. I should see at least one of them next week at the Dinsmores’.

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I love these guys!

After they left, I took all my extras from the resupply, and dumped them into the Aardvark’s hiker box. And I watched people’s eyes bug out. I love doing that! Patriot, a young guy from Louisiana, had a positively glazed look in his eyes. There were a few homemade breakfasts, dinners, and desserts. These are extras based on my anticipated 5-6 day hike through Section J, and they disappeared almost instantly.

Dinner was random munchies from the convenience store: unimpressive, but with some treats. Now it’s time to put some finishing touches on my pack before bed, so that I can leave right after breakfast. I am incredibly grateful for my family.

Monday, August 17, 2015, Mile 2390: Family!

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At Snoqualmie Pass, Mile 2390

I got up very early this morning, tossed some trail mix down my throat, and headed downhill. The trail was about five miles, and pretty fast, which was a good thing, as I couldn’t wait for breakfast.

PCT Snoqualmie Sign
Breakfast ahead

Almost immediately, I began hearing the highway. Normally, I hate this on a hike, but this time it was just a sign that I was getting closer to my destination.

Snoqualmie Highway
First glimpse of I-90 *

I met another hiker, who is recording everyone’s names (the amusing part is that I can’t remember his). I gave him mine, of course. I saw that he had Thermo’s on there, and so I showed him the picture. He shared the joke he tells everyone: “Did you hear the news?” “What news?” “They found bones on the moon!” “What?!” “Yeah, looks like the cow didn’t make it.” Which is really funny, if you haven’t heard news for days, and you’re heading in for a resupply. Trust me, it works.

I arrived at the pass about 10:30, and got our room at the Summit Inn.

Summit Inn
The lap of luxury

As soon as I’d dropped off my gear, it was time for First Breakfast! Double order of Swedish pancakes, side of bacon, and two huge glasses of OJ. Heaven!

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First Breakfast!

Steve and Patrick arrived just as I was finishing, and Patrick practically jumped into my arms. We settled down for Second Breakfast, where I had fruit, more bacon, and nibbled off of everyone else’s plate.

Brendan couldn’t make it, as he had something going on with Alex. But he’s planning on meeting me at the Dinsmores next week, which should be great fun.

I had a wonderful time with Steve and Patrick. It was a little dull for them at times, as I had chores to do: cleaning out the pack, sorting through the new and old food, doing gear repair. Steve did yeoman’s service bringing up last minute supplies that I had requested over the previous week.

Of special note is my brand new pair of Cascadia 10s. The old ones continued to split, almost all the way across the toe. I pre-taped the new ones with precision-cut patches (what a pain); it may or may not help. If and when the rip starts to happen, I’ve got a fresh supply of duct tape. I don’t think it’s unreasonable that they would last the remaining 250 miles of my trip. I saw three other hikers with splits across their 10s.

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Poor quality control

In the afternoon, we headed over to Aardvark’s. It’s a snack bar in a trailer, and they serve avant-garde sandwiches. Didn’t appeal to me, but there was a large canopy attached to the trailer, with three picnic tables, a handful of hiker boxes, a trail register, and several hikers.

When we walked in, the first thing I heard was “Hey, Rest Step!” How cool is that? Turns out it was Mo’ Betta and her other half, Monte Cristo, whom I had met the night before. I sat down with them, and introduced them to Steve and Patrick. We talked and talked, and had a great time. They were taking off later that afternoon, after finishing their resupply. I really love this community, and it was great to be able to share that with Steve and Patrick.

I spent the latter part of the afternoon doing laundry, cleaning out my hydration system, all the usual suspects. I’m glad I got a heavy-duty cleaning done, but it’s a lot of work.

We weren’t sure where we’d go for dinner, but we ended up going next door, the other way from the Chevron station, to a funky medium-sized coffee house which also made pizza to go.

And once we were done with that adventure, it was time to go hot tubbing! Awesome! We hung out for a while in the hot tub, and then we were joined by four hikers. One of them was from Lynn, MA, not too far from where Mom grew up, and his accent was oh so slightly familiar.

Oh yeah. I’m going to sleep in a bed tonight. That’s a pretty big deal, and I feel very spoiled.

*Photo credit: Eric Aalto

Thursday, July 30, 2015, Mile 2292: White Pass Zero

Liz "Rest Step" Fallin, , , , , Leave a comment

At White Pass, Mile 2292

Got up this morning, and it was pretty clear that my leg wasn’t better. I went down to the store, had a heaping plate of biscuits and gravy, and decided to take a zero. A zero is when you stay two nights in one place, and have zero miles on the middle day. It gave me more time to organize my resupply, and to rest my leg. So after breakfast I went back up the (steep) stairs to the motel, and paid for another night.

2015-07-28 Kracker Barrel
Hanging out in front of the Kracker Barrel, with Caesar, Eastbound, and Fluffy Star. Photo credit: Teri Stalcup (Peanut).

I planned on hanging out at the store, and spending time napping and icing. I met Fluffy Star (aka Kathrin Schulte), a girl from Germany (who likes fluffy things, and stars). And I met Peanut (aka Teri Stalcup), and Goat.

After lunch, I bought another bag of ice and headed back to the motel room. A few hours of reading, napping, and icing later, I gave it up and had another enormous sub sandwich for dinner.

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Relaxing and putting the feet up

While I was down there, a woman named Peter Pan (aka Denise Lane) arrived. There were no more hotel rooms, as there was a large high school cross country camp going on. I offered to share mine, and so we got her situated. A couple of the guys wanted to share as well, but that was not where I needed to go.

I called Steve from the motel room, and said I thought I needed to see a doctor, but that I’d decide in the morning. A bit later, Denise (who is an acupuncturist from Oregon) was looking at my leg, and saying “Oh, that’s not good.” It was getting more red, hot and swollen by the hour, and I finally called Steve and said I needed to go to the doctor first thing on Friday 7/31.

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Nasty medical-type picture. This was the shot we shared with the doc.

So his plan was to arrive by nine, and we’d head into Yakima. I packed up my stuff, carefully so that everything was in its place, and not haphazardly like I didn’t care anymore. Because I do care, and I need to have hope.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015, Mile 2292: Kracker Barrel

Liz "Rest Step" Fallin, , , , , Leave a comment

At White Pass, Mile 2292

I got up at 5. Today’s goal, of course, was the Kracker Barrel, 13 miles and 2000 feet; my resupply box was there, and they closed in the late afternoon. I had to hit the trail early, as I knew I’d be in pain all the way.  My leg was *really* beginning to hurt. Well, actually, it has been hurting, since the second day. It’s my foot, ankle, and lower leg, getting worse. And worse. And worse. But my only choice has been to hike 40 miles on a bad leg.

It was time to quit my complaining, and head for White Pass. I refilled at the spring, which was maybe a quarter mile off trail, and I was off. It was a long day, but not without its eye candy.

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Mt. Rainier was becoming a much more frequent visitor

The trail went generally up, until the junction with the Shoe Lake Trail. I met the group of retirees there while I was having a snack break. They were going to take the alternate loop down to Shoe Lake. I stuck to the main PCT; there was a large talus slope, but after that the views were amazing.

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Shoe Lake, looking down from the main PCT

We met again at the junction, crested the ridge, and then traversed a stunning basin around Hogback Mountain and Hogback Ridge. Mt. Rainier showed her head above the ridge, and behind us was a beautiful view of the Goat Rocks.

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The trail around the basin, toward Hogback on the right
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One last view of the Goat Rocks, with the top of Mt. Adams just visible behind the ridge

Alas, with my reduced speed, they were soon out of sight. The trail began a long descent to Ginette Lake, where I grabbed a liter, and then switchbacked down to White Pass.

From the pass itself, it’s a half mile road walk west to the Kracker Barrel, home to resupply boxes, convenience store foods, a little bit of a menu, and all kinds of general goodness. I arrived about 4, only a little later than I thought I’d be.

My plan was to grab my resupply box and hit the trail. But I decided the heck with it: I’m going to get a room at the lodge, resupply, sleep late, and regroup in the morning. So I’ve got a nice Motel-6-esque room with kitchenette, which as far as I’m concerned is the Taj Mahal. I exploded my pack (yes, that is a phrase), and headed down to pick up my resupply.

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My first resupply box. Best part? More Snickers.
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And then, FOOD! For the record, that sandwich was huge.

I took the last bit of my dinner, went out, and camped on the bench along the front of the store. It’s the hiker hangout, and I got to chatting with a girl (whose name I can’t remember). Turns out she has shin splints, and was going to skip a SOBO section to head to Trout Lake. She’s getting compression sleeves, and is the second person who is using those for shin splints (Casey Burt being the other one).  We compared symptoms, and at this juncture it looks like it could be a leading candidate for me. It’s certainly not an uncommon injury among long distance hikers. Anyway, Steve will be bringing compression sleeves up with the Chinook Pass resupply (THANK YOU).

I’ve been having a great time at the Kracker Barrel so far; lots of giggles over this, that, and the other thing. Far more so than last year, I feel part of a community. And that’s good, because that’s one of the things I’ve been hoping to find.