Was on the road before six this morning. A mile down the forest service road past empty ski lodges and I had reached Snoqualmie Pass and Highway 90. A brief stop at the Chevron station and its mini-market to buy some extra food items to see me through to White Pass and I was walking south again, this time along mostly tree covered ridges which offered exposed views of the surrounding area now and then. The views were a sea of evergreens covering the low mountains. A quick adjustment had to be made regarding water because this area was much drier than the North Cascades. In the northern mountains with all the snowmelt keeping your one liter water bottle topped off was more than sufficient. Here, what streams there were that were still flowing were mere trickles and at one point it was 12 miles between a trickling creek and the next spring. You absolutely had to carry more water. Many times along the trail you'd suddenly emerge on some forest service or lumber company road and then plunge back into the woods on the other side. At the end of the day I once again emerged on one of these roads cutting across the PCT and there on the other side were two people in the opening to their tent. As I approached, I finally recognized them as Yannick and Shirley, two Southbounders I'd been trying to chase down since Stevens Pass. I suppose I was a little surprised because I hadn't expected to catch them as quickly as I had. The reason for this became readily apparent as we chatted about their grand adventure. You see, thru-hiking the PCT is just one part of what they call the Transcontinental Triathlon. They actually started in Juneau, Alaska
and kayaked to Seattle, which took them around 60 days to complete. Now they're on the PCT, but lack the true ultra-lite equipment that most hikers use nowadays, so they're carrying far more weight than I am. Add that to the fact that the legs don't get much of a workout in a kayak. Shirley at this point and with the hiking boots she has can only go 20 miles before her feet start hurting. They're planning to swap out equipment once they get to Bend, Oregon. When I interrupted them, they had just started cooking dinner---bean and rice tortillas. They offered me some but I declined because I know how valuable food and each calorie it represents are and I didn't want to take theirs. However, after Yannick showed me the amount of food they were actually carrying, I quickly gave in and accepted their offer. It had to have been the tastiest bean and rice tortilla I'd ever had. Yummy. After dinner and the chat I pitched my tent a short distance away and bedded down for the night. They'd told me that Steve and Kristen were at most a day ahead so I was determined to catch them. By the way, after Yannick and Shirley finish the PCT, they're going to take a break for Thanksgiving and the Christmas holidays and then go cycling from the U.S.-Mexico border to the southern tip of Chile down in Tierra del Fuego. The Transcontinental Triathlon.
Blowdowns
View near Snoqualmie
A Welcome Spring
30 Miles
and kayaked to Seattle, which took them around 60 days to complete. Now they're on the PCT, but lack the true ultra-lite equipment that most hikers use nowadays, so they're carrying far more weight than I am. Add that to the fact that the legs don't get much of a workout in a kayak. Shirley at this point and with the hiking boots she has can only go 20 miles before her feet start hurting. They're planning to swap out equipment once they get to Bend, Oregon. When I interrupted them, they had just started cooking dinner---bean and rice tortillas. They offered me some but I declined because I know how valuable food and each calorie it represents are and I didn't want to take theirs. However, after Yannick showed me the amount of food they were actually carrying, I quickly gave in and accepted their offer. It had to have been the tastiest bean and rice tortilla I'd ever had. Yummy. After dinner and the chat I pitched my tent a short distance away and bedded down for the night. They'd told me that Steve and Kristen were at most a day ahead so I was determined to catch them. By the way, after Yannick and Shirley finish the PCT, they're going to take a break for Thanksgiving and the Christmas holidays and then go cycling from the U.S.-Mexico border to the southern tip of Chile down in Tierra del Fuego. The Transcontinental Triathlon.
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