October 19
2118 – 2139
The person in the tent next door was still zipped in when I packed up in the AM. I felt pretty bad for intruding on their wilderness experience like that. I bet they thought they were in the clear since it was well passed hiker midnight when I rolled up. Who hikes at night? I was also displeased when I saw the reflectors on their tent. I do not like camping by other people.
Looked to be a flattish sort of day. The route ahead looked hilly on Guthooks, until I realized the scale. Those weren’t big bumps.
In the morning I had a dry stretch. The first water was a trickly little spring. The water was hard to gather. I MacGyvered up a water spout with some trash from my pocket and felt mighty impressed with myself. Just another example of my incredible skills of invention and self-sufficiency that I’ve obtained out here on the trail.
I had lunch at a haunted lake. Maybe it was the all-over shade, maybe it was the nearly inaudible shouts of children playing in the woods. Either way, for sure haunted.
I’m not gonna lie, it’s a pretty exciting moment when I get cell coverage again after a couple days of no connection. I don’t really want to be a disconnected monk in the woods. Now’s not the time in history to be aloof of what’s happening in the world. As I walked through the scars of a year-old fire, I started seeing the lights from Cascade Locks. I set up camp far above the gorge, leaving me a short downhill in the morning before town day!
Just as I settled in for the evening, my mat make a funny squeak and got more lumpy. Another baffle popped. Any more pops and my mat would be a banana boat. So comfie.
Spinstera 