Yesterday we got our walk-up permit for the WT and actually obtained pretty much the exact itinerary that we had hoped for. Drove up to Sunrise Visitor Center this morning from Longmire, so had a rather late start of 9:45. Luckily everything went smoothly with meeting up with Qball. We woke up this morning and saw his car two spots over from ours, so we were ready to roll. We gained a lot of elevation on the drive, so we started with a fairly easy few miles.
There were quite a few day hikers on the trail, but their numbers dwindled as we hiked through the day. We got some great views of Rainier and some glaciers during the day. There were quite a few ups and downs, some of which felt pretty steep after the switchbacks of the JMT. We stopped at a campsite for lunch and then shortly after leaving, we ran into several hikers, Virgo and Stumbling Norwegian, that Beardoh and Qball knew from the PCT. It was fun for Beardoh and Qball to be able to chat with them. We always love the chance encounters that can happen out in the woods.
We got to camp at Dick Creek just before 5:30 and we were the first party to arrive. A few minutes after we got there another couple came and later another camper…strange to have three parties when it is listed as having only two sites. This camp is definitely not ideal for hanging. We have made it work, but we’re not near Qball, and Beardoh is right next to the bear pole. Another WT hiker, John, chatted with Beardoh as he hung up his food right before dark and they ended up talking for about an hour about Peace Corps.
We are aiming to get on the trail tomorrow by 8:00. It will be nice to have a leisurely morning and maybe even get back into my hammock after getting up to go to the bathroom in the morning. It has been nice hiking with Qball again. He seems to be someone we can easily pick up with again even after not seeing him for several years.
Daily Miles: 14.4 miles
Total Miles: 14.4 miles
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