Warm Fire, Hiker Hugs and Huckleberries

Trail mile:  2344.4 - 2360.9 = 16.5 trail miles hiked today

Elevation:   4812 - 4665.7

It was a very wet, rainy, cold night, but I did stay warm.  I love my little tent and warm sleeping bag! I made a short morning video to greet the day (see below). I stayed in my warm bag later than usual because I had to talk myself into walking in the rain. I finally donned my bright pink rain jacket and pants to hike.  

As I start out, I pass a hiker going south who tells me that there are people at the cabin with a warm fire going in the wood stove.  That is enough to quicken my pace in anticipation of a place to dry out.  I had packed a wet rain fly and all my stuff is damp.  When I get to the cabin, I find it is a large, nicely built cabin with a huge supply of fire wood for hikers to use.  Cans, Boombox and Mama Bear are still there with the wood stove going. Nice and warm!  I was so glad to see them again. They greet me with big hugs, saying they were worried about me. They were hoping I hadn't had to stay in the burn area.  One thing I've loved about this hike is that people on trail look out for each other. We ate breakfast, talked, got water from creek and took selfies. 

The trail was wet and slippery.

Fog over the meadow, looking out from the porch of the cabin.

Camp Mike Urich.  Such a welcome site!

We hang up wet gear to dry in front of the fire.

 

Boombox, Cans, Mama Bear, and me.

Mama Bear, Boombox and Cans

Breakfast: Cans and me with Boombox in the background. Pic taken by Mama Bear.

I check out that all is left right in the cabin before I hit the trail.

I discover fields and fields of huckleberries, a favorite of mine.

All the low bushes in this old burn area are huckleberry bushes.

The other hikers leave me at the cabin because I have to let my rain fly dry.  I later meet up with Mama Bear down the trail as she had walked a quarter mile in the wrong direction and had to come back. We hiked together off and on and agreed to camp together that night. It was a cold wet day until near the end. At first the trail is fairly level, but eventually I break out of the forest and start climbing over Sheets Pass, followed by another 400 feet up and down over another saddle.  The bonus was that I came across acres of huckleberries, which I love. I snacked on them for about 3 hours of my hike. Probably ate close to a quart of berries. Good energy food and it was wonderful to eat something fresh, rather than freeze dried or dehydrated. Although it is still foggy and cold, it is not raining. Mama Bear waits for me at the place we agreed to camp.  However, we have to hike 1.5 miles further than planned as the place we were going to camp was taken by other hikers. This is the first time that has happened to me on the trail.  But, it turned out to be a good thing because this extra mileage brought us down lower in elevation.  Therefore, where we stayed was much drier and warmer than our original destination.  We camped in the open, hoping that we would not get wet from dripping trees.  We made a nice warm fire and enjoyed dinner and conversation as we warmed up inside and out.

Yummy Huckleberries!

Foggy, damp hike today

Tents up, fire made and dinner cooking

Bear vault does double duty as a camp stool by the warm fire.

 I was not supposed to get to Snoqualmie pass for two more days, but since I was forced to hike further than my schedule yesterday and today, I figure I only have 17.6 miles left. Mama Bear is meeting a friend at the pass who is joining her for a few day of the hike.  She suggests we try to get to Snoqualmie Pass tomorrow.  Depending on the weather and the difficulty of the hike, we’ll see if we can make that happen.  I'm hoping for a good nights sleep. My left knee is acting up off and on since that long descent out of the Sierras. It is very minor, just a twinge.  Hopefully, with some good stretching and anti-inflammatory drugs, it will settle down and I'll have a good hiking day tomorrow. 
By the way, the plan to stay dry did not work.  As soon as the sun starting going down, my rain fly was soaked and everything again felt damp, even inside the tent. I really don't care for humidity!