I went to sleep last night without taking my Advil PM. Seems like I sleep better with the pill, but end up feeling tired and taking an extra hour to get going in the morning. The alternative is to skip the pill, toss and turn all night, but be awake and ready to go in the morning. I'm not sure which is better.
In any case, I got an early start and made great progress. The trail skirted lava fields as it headed toward Mt. Adams. For the most part it stayed pretty level, with a couple hundred feet up and down throughout the day. There were two decent climbs, the first an 800 foot job up Berry Mountain, which had plenty of huckleberry bushes but no ripe berries. Near the base of the climb I ran into Boss Man Bill, or "Freak of Nature" as he's known around here. He is a trail maintenance guy with the PCTA. I met him in Southern California, where he was volunteering time before heading back home to Washington. It was weird to come around the corner in the middle of nowhere and be recognized instantly by someone you met only briefly, three months and almost 2000 miles ago!
After climbing Berry Mountain I began descending the other side, taking in views of Mt. Adams to the northwest, Mt. Hood to the south, and Mt. St. Helens to the west. I soon came to Blue Lake (pictured), where I stopped for lunch. After that I hit a few small snow patches, but nothing bad yet. For the most part I just cruised along, knocking out an easy 36 miles. The only challenge was a 1000 foot climb at the end of the day, but views of the mountains, framed through gaps in the trees, kept me energized all day (pictured: Mt. Adams behind a field of wildflowers).
I have been seeing lots of frogs all day - big and small, from dark brown to bright green. Sometimes it's tough not to step on the little guys, since they like to sit on the trail. I had a run-in with one toward the end of the day. He hopped in front of me, so I did a shuffle step to avoid squashing him. He hopped off trail, so I was going to take another step when he hopped back in front of me. Now I'm really off balance, so I start to take lots of little steps, trying to regain my balance while still avoiding the frog. He thinks this is terrifying, so he starts hopping back and forth, peeing the whole time. Well he looks like he's jet powered by a steady stream of urine, like an amphibious ski-doo. Meanwhile I'm doing a jig trying to regain balance, avoid the frog, and not get pissed on. It was like a bizarre version of Frogger, for both of us.
I am now camped by road 23, a small byway at the foot of Mt. Adams. Tomorrow I start my day with a 2200 foot climb up the mountain. I will also be slogging through snow, so I better get some rest!
