Got an early start on our way to Longmire. We were on the trail by 6:45…our earliest start on this trail. Even though we had our tarps up for the first time on this trail, it did not rain. In fact, it turned out to be a beautiful day, albeit a big chilly. We got into Longmire and went straight to the ranger station. We were told that Nickel Creek campsite was full, so we weren’t able to change our schedule at that time. We were told to check back at 10:00 to see if a spot had opened up, but by then we had decided to stick with our current schedule.
We spent a bit of time on the porch of the Longmire Inn while sorting through our food resupply. Beardoh was able to charge his phone, but Sweetpea’s charger didn’t fit in their outlets, so she couldn’t charge her iPod. We headed back to the trail after a 45 minute break. The trail continued to follow the road and we passed by several waterfalls and lakes. We had lunch at Reflection Lake where we got nice views of Mount Rainier.
Today we started to see people we had seen on the other side of the loop. Virgo, Stumbling Norwegian and their crew were finishing up the trail, so it was nice to run into them again. It is always fun to see people for a second time on a trail like this. One group we saw again was three guys (Brian Frankl, Scott and Marathon Man) doing the trail in 3 days. Brian is the founder of ULA backpacks. It was cool to get more of a chance to talk with them. We were taking a break when they came by, so they stopped and took a break with us.
There was some sketchy trail this afternoon which looked like the trail was crumbling off the mountain. It seems like they will need to find a more permanent fix for that area.
We got to our Maple Creek campsite around 4:00 and were actually able to hang our hammocks in the last open spot. Our hammocks are right next together and we could even hold hands if we wanted. We spent most of the afternoon reading and trying to stay warm as the temperatures started to cool off.
Daily Miles: 15.9 miles
Total Miles: 69.7 miles
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