Total up/down:+1548/-2075.
Dear Trail Friends,
After my big 25 mile hike I just keep doing less and less. Today I got up early and hiked to Big Lake Youth Camp in time for a camp lunch. I had a shower and hung out at their welcome center for PCT hikers, where I got to see Ixnay (pig Latin for Nix because he was offered beer, cigarettes and something else I can't remember and said no thank you to all of them. He's the guy I cast as a villain when he told me people who skipped the Sierra because of the snow storms and came back to hike it later were not real thru hikers but "glorified section hikers" and "lost s lot of status in the hiker community." I think I told you that I met him again further down the trail and clearly had hurt his feelings when I told him I didn't agree with him and wanted to slow down and hike my own hike. ( I thought at the time he was going on a rant and I just wanted peace and quiet). I discovered him to be a kindhearted gruff curmudgeon and he highlights one of the trail lessons for me: people may run me the wrong way but wait and see. There's usually something about them I will really come to care for. I was thinking of that phrase "to rub someone the wrong way." Thinking how dogs and cuts love to have their hair rubbed backwards -- the wrong way.
Anyway. Got to see Ixnay, who I also ran into just beyond Crater Lake and again at Shelter Cove. Also got to see the Orcas couple Chickpea and I-nominate again.
The meals here were fun. An incredible volume of exuberant young person noise in the dining room (guests and staff are upstairs in a loft perched above the main area. ) then there was silence and they sang a grace I had never heard before, very simple, thanking God for the food and the good things he gives us. Not sure if it was the words, the young voices in harmony, the simplicity--but I teared up when I heard it. Alas I took three greedy servings of the vegetarian noodle dish (pad Thai? Something like that) and felt slightly sick all afternoon from overeating!
Dinner was retried beans and rice in big tortilla wraps with lettuce, tomato, onion,guacamole, sour cream, cheddar cheese, salsa, ranch dressing. Simple and good like the grace they sang (a different one for each meal).
Fun to see the young people in clusters, rock climbing, making music, exercising. Out on the water boating. Very active and alive place.
Photo 1: Surprised at how close Mt Washington suddenly was in my hike this morning. I found the first miles exhausting -- lava fields again with big loose rocky trail tread that required constant attention and looking at the trail and planning each step. I prefer reverie. Also one cannot get into a stride. It's picky picky picky one considered step at a time. So nice to get back on a dirt trail ( and even downhill!) for the last mile or two.
Tomorrows hike should be easy like those last few miles. Also I will walk to where the trail crosses a road so I don't have to backtrack -- this should make my hike tomorrow only about 5 1/2 miles. I am even considering staying for breakfast (at 8:30am) because I should be able to walk those miles easily in 2 1/2 to 3 hours. More likely though I will wake up early and yearning for the trail and simply give myself the luxury of a couple leisurely rest breaks in the woods. (Hope it is woods. There was a huge fire around here in 2011 and there is a lot of burn area. Not so easy to make rest stops in. )
Photo 2: the welcome sign as I followed the trail into Big Lake Youth Camp
Photo 3: thru hikers Sweet Cakes and Radish going through the hiker box, reputed to be one of the best on the trail. I actually took a few bars because I have really been noticing I want more food than I brought.
Photo 4: they don't allow camping on the their site but suggested we hike around the lake to this cove to park. You can see my tent with Mt Washington behind it. You can also see it's a windy day making little ripples on the lake. They are small in the world of waves, but aren't they lovely? How about for today Bonnie's wave be a ripple on Big Lake?
Happy Trails. Thank you as always for your interest, caring and support. I spoke with s man hiking with his dog and I realized that this blog gives me some of the sense of companionship and joy of life that hiking with a dog would. You may not think so, but I couldn't pay you a higher compliment. (His dog Echo -- same name as my beloved Siamese cat-- looks part Wolf but is amazingly calm and friendly. She gave me some dog kisses licking my ears and cheeks and I realized how I miss that simple spontaneous love that dogs are such masters of.
I was saying Happy Trails, wasn't I? It is dark now outside my tent. There are four or five other tents along the shore now and I hear the voices from other tents. I look forward to going to sleep. I love sleeping in my little tent. I love looking out at the darkening lake. I am so lucky to be here.
Thanks to Chrissy for correcting my date mix-up. August 13 is when she and I meet at Timberline. ( September 13 is the date I originally planned to complete my hike. I will probably beat it by a few days which is good -- making my way back to Orcas by public transportation (manning to Vancouver to Bellingham to Anacortes to orcas) could take a few days. There is for instance only one bus from Manning per day. )
May you walk in beauty.
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