August 19
Miles: 18.1
Mile Markers: 2261.4 – 2279.4
Miles to Canada: 376.4
Listening to: Riza – La Sirena
My alarm went off at 5:00 this morning but I wasn’t on the trail until 6:30. Happy Feet set off, and then I set off, and Rocky was still putting her things away. Happy Feet stopped at the top of a hill to have breakfast with a view and I kept walking, so they’re both behind me now. I feel a little bit better and a little more rested than I did the last few weeks really. Walking and being alone in the woods is restorative. Even though I’m still really tired physically, I don’t feel so emotionally charged, or so drained.
I think hiking with the group was a good distraction and trail days was a lot of fun. But it was also a distraction and it left me no time to really think or process anything. Just loudness and noise filling my head instead of my own thoughts, which is kind of distressing in a way. I used to be a lot more of an extrovert, but since COVID, I’ve become a lot more introverted, and maybe you could even say, a recluse. It’s hard for me to be around people all the time. I can handle it in doses, but when it’s 24 hours a day non-stop being with people, I feel like I’m crawling out of my skin, wanting time alone, and I don’t mean like an hour here and there to myself. I need days alone.
Roses and the boys were 5 miles ahead, as of last night, and I think they’re going to try to hike about 26 miles today so I may not catch up to them again today. Maybe I’ll see them at White Pass.
It’s hard to be the lone introvert in a group of super extroverts. I end up feeling guilty. I end up feeling a little invisible. Maybe it’s my own perception of things, but that’s how it feels.
I hiked alone most of the day, only seeing a few day hikers and southbound people but no NOBOs passed me by. The trail has been mostly in the forest until it came around to bend into an open space with a view down into the valley below and a view of Mount Adams. I heard somebody yelling my name behind me. It was Rocky.
We leap frogged the rest of the day and the rest of the day was filled with amazing views of Mount St. Helens, Mount Adams and then finally around another bend on a ridgeline, saw Mount Rainier. We had hiked already about 4,000 ft of ascent and we were both pretty tired. Up ahead was Knife’s Edge, which is a section that can be dangerous when it’s windy because you walk on a narrow ridge with sharp drops on both sides, and there was this snow patch up ahead as well. We were both really tired and thought it might not be a good idea to hike that section while exhausted. So we found a campsite up on the top of a ridge with an amazing view of all the mountains.
Scratch and Happy feet camped nearby as well. There was space in the area with all the other girls but I just wanted to be alone, so I found a spot a little bit further down the ridge. It’s an amazing view of Mount Rainier.
Roses sent a message telling me they were 7 miles ahead, and they all hoped I would catch up and that they wanted me around.
I decided to get up early and hike over Knife’s Edge and hopefully catch up with them at White Pass. I do want to.
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