Destination: Crown Basin Shelter
Miles: 10.5 (plus 0.3 off trail miles)
Cumulative Miles: 2019
After pulling a late night catching up with old trail friends, we crashed in our tent only to wake just before 8am. PseudoGnome joined us for a walk over to the room Uncle Tom got. We hung around with him saying our goodbyes. It was kind of difficult. How does one say goodbye to someone they hiked for two months with and now knows that they probably won't see them on the trail again, perhaps never again.
It was great to see MeGaTex, and sad to say goodbye. Good luck guys. In the morning madness, we missed a few friends, but we had to get back to the trail. We packed up while PseudoGnome ran to the store and picked up a few groceries for us. Then we hopped in the truck and made the long drive back to the trail, arriving just before 4pm. He's a trooper, doing whatever he can to help us, and for that we are very thankful.
We left him to his 3 hour drive home, and hit the trail. Very quickly we climbed up into the fog. At times it was so thick, we could only see 100 feet ahead of us, if that. The air was very damp and chilly, leaving moisture on the plants. Our pant legs did a good job at grabbing said moisture.
At one point Psycho was sure he saw a bear, and certainly heard it. He backed down the trail to a reasonable distance and started yelling to scare the bear. It did not run away, so we were rather concerned. As we started making more noise, we heard the "bear" talk. Oops, the bear was actually some campers.
We chatted with the campers who told us that we were going to be getting showers tomorrow, but the worst of the weather should pass after that. We didn't like that news, but we more or less expect rain up here. We made the final two miles towards camp, wandering off trail a few yards to grab water. We then put on our head lamps and hiked another quarter mile to a shelter.
The shelter is more of a lean-to than a cabin, and we put our tent up under it, but we'll be very appreciative of it if it does rain tonight. We are bundled in our bags, hoping tomorrow is warmer, but we doubt it will be.
We wonder what magnificent views were hidden by the fog. We're in Mt. Rainier National Park, but we have yet to see the mountain.
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Glad that was not a bear. Yes it is hard to say good bye to friends...knowing your paths may never cross again. But one never knows. I hope you stay warm in your lean too...and continue on with blessings of safety...so
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