Day 129: Mt Adams

August 26, Day 129: 2230.0-2254.7

Miles Hiked: 24.7

Gratitude of the Day: I’m thankful for the ability to hike straight through the day with little breaks. 

I woke up this morning and opened my eyes to Clancy staring at me with a big cheesy smile on his face, a little creepy but it started my day off laughing.  I got up and started packing up to start my day and was out of camp at 6:45.  It was a beautiful start to the day even if it was uphill for the first 7 miles. The cool air kept me at just the right temperature as I climbed and not too sweaty.  When I reached the top of the hill Mt Adams was hiding in the clouds but the view to the west was stunning to say the least. I stood there for 10 minutes with probably the stupidest smile on my face so happy.

I stated back down trail and Adams was making an attempt to break out of the clouds and finally did as I walked through a meadow. I could see the stunning northwestern glacier as it poured down off the summit ridge, words don’t do it justice as to how beautiful it was. I ran into Maverick around 10:30 having breakfast at a nice lake but I wanted to push until noon before I stopped. I’ve got a new habit of waking up and walking the entire morning until noon, to try to get the majority of the days miles behind me and so I can enjoy more breaks in the afternoon. So I pushed on another 4 miles or so to another tiny lake where I stopped and set up my hammock to have lunch. Once all situated though I had eaten but after 25 minutes the PNW clouds started to roll on and I feared being caught in some rain. So I packed up and started hiking again, with the groups planned camp spot for the night 10.5 miles away. It seems today my legs where the energizer bunny because I pushed to camp only stopping in another meadow with a cascading waterfall to filter water. Then back to business of the trail. Not shortly after I saw my third pine marten on trail, this one was auburn colored and it was hoping through the blueberry bushes to the trail and back into the bushes. I tried to get a video of it but it didn’t turn out, I wish I could have watched it for hours, it looked so playful. Soon after I walked out of the Mt Adams Wilderness and onto the Yakima Indian Reservation. By 4:20 I had covered the miles for the day and arrived at camp. The clouds are still looking like they’ll started seeping water at any moment but my tent is all set up and I’m in all my layers laying in my hammock.