Miles: ~5
Total: ~48
46.42443N 121.47213W
Sent From:
In a rather logical expectation, I generally will say "Take a load off Annie" anytime I stop and take my pack off. Well, we were camped up near Nannie Ridge, so when I said it last night, Apricots was quick to point out I should be saying, "Take a load off Nannie."
Genius.
I had unrestful sleep last night. The stress of Mittens' injury, the hazy intel on the trail out (which looked good, but i didnt know if it would peter out of existence), the cold clear night... and the misfortune of a popped air mattress. Oof, it will be a tough day.
This morning we helped ease the load in Mittens' pack by taking some of his gear and loading it into our packs as we descended Nannie Ridge down to Walupt Lake. The descent was short, but steep, as it was not official PCT the grading was not equestrian built. Approximately 1800 feet, and two miles later we arrived at the lake.
As we settled down to talk to the camp host (who was out), Apricots realized that her rain jacket fell off her pack somewhere on the trail. (Lets hope we encounter no more rain). She went back to the trailhead hoping a dayhiker might have found it, but no luck.
In short time, I approached another guy waiting for the camp host and asked if he knew how far out we would need to drive to catch cell reception. The guy, Travis, said 60-90 minutes of drive time, and asked why. I explained that Mittens' had been injured, and he immediately called over his wife, Sam, who was a Physicians Assistant in training. She looked at Mittens' knee and gave her best take on the injury, a sprained knee (with some technical medical terms).
We eventually grabbed a campsite because we knew that we would likely be camping the night there while we looked for a ride down the mountain. Turns out the site we grabbed was nearby Sam and Travis. We set up camp, and sent Mittens on a mission to find a ride to cell service. Sam and Travis offered up a ride tomorrow morning, provide we could not secure one today.
Eventually, Mittens showed up in a truck and said he got a ride with the camp host. Apricots hopped in the truck with them, so she could make some calls as well to coordinate gear and meetup with another hiker in White Pass.
B- and I stayed back and played Chess and Cards to pass the time. Three hours later, Mittens and Apricots returned.
The plan: Mittens' parents to the rescue. They will arrive here tomorrow around noon.
So, all things in working order now... except I have no air mattress, and Lauren has no rain coat.
We spent the evening sitting by the campfire with Sam and Travis, their forest ranger friend Matt, and their daughter. They prepared extra pot roast, so there was some lovely trail magic with them sharing delicious dutch oven potroast, and chocolates from s'mores.
Then they heard my air mattress popped, and said that they had an extra and no one should sleep on the cold hard ground. More trail magic, woot woot! Thanks Sam, Travis, and Matt. It was a great evening to a stress induced day.
Time for much needed sleep.
Team Psychricots (plus Mittens and B-)
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