Author: kaulua26

Wednesday, August 17th, 2022, 0940-2000Lake Samish to Whitney junction HWY 20, then Mark’s Way cool barn, WEBO mm 959, Section 8 Puget Sound24 miles, Gain 2240′, Loss 2430′, elevation 7′ I had high hopes of getting back to hiking early in the morning. I was a fool. It’s not possible when trying to depart the Walkers, one of the strongest hiker vortexes on the planet. A hiker I know, Coyote, stayed for 4 days the previous year. But luring me on were a string of pearls…trail angels interspersed throughout the Puget Sound. Given the lack of free camping in this urban\suburban setting, it’s a very lucky and helpful thing. I had my sights set on the Way Cool Barn, a short[…]

Monday, August 15th, 2022, 0620-1300HWY 9 Hobo Camp to Lake Samish & the Walkers home, WEBO mm 935.5, Section 8 Puget Sound20 miles, Gain 3800′, Loss 3800′, elevation 515′ I slept great overnight but had some anxiety over all the road traffic, thinking about how I’d need to walk alongside it for 3 miles in the morning. The highway had little to no shoulder, tight turns, and guardrails intermittently. Huge trucks, including double trailer logging rigs, were frequently driving by, using the route to skirt the weigh stations on I-5 (as was later explained to me). A posted speed limit of 50 mph was laughable. Most traffic was traveling much above 60 mph. I waited a little bit for the light[…]

Sunday, August 14th, 2022, 0620-1920FR 313 to HWY 9, WEBO mm 913.6, Section 8 Puget Sound32 miles, Gain 4580′, Loss 6920′, elevation 280′ I’m calling this day the official start of the Puget Sound section, because I had the first and most awesome views of the sound and also because it was almost all road walking all day. My crappy tent site proved to be one of the worst when I woke to a ton of condensation. But at least it was very quiet. No vehicles came by and I didn’t even hear a noise…well save for one: the honking or barking noise of some still unknown animal. It’s something I hear all the time but last night was especially prevalent.[…]

Saturday, August 13th, 2022, 0730-2030Baker Lake Road to FR 313, WEBO mm 881, Section 7 North Cascades31.5 miles, Gain 6273′, Loss 4540′, elevation 2630′ Dan gave all of us a ride back to the trailhead early in the morning. We picked up Karaoke at the motel, where she stayed for a second night. At least we were efficient in consolidating the ride so he didn’t have to make several trips. It was incredibly nice of him to take us so far…probably about 30 minutes one way. We offered gas money but he wouldn’t take it. Again, I offered my free Te Araroa consultation services… it’s something. The route started off on a very nice closed forest path but all too soon[…]

Thursday, August 11th, 2022, 0620-1530Mt Baker Hot Springs to Baker Lake Road, WEBO mm 849.7, Section 7 North Cascades25.7 miles, Gain 2520′, Loss 2970′, elevation 890′ It was hard not to be too eager about getting into a real town this day. I had a lot of miles to go…a full day.  Thinking only about town can ruin the joy of a day of hiking, causing me to rush. But after so many days without real food and a shower, we were all a bit eager. I actually didn’t feel too gross, given all my water baths. I could have probably gone another 10 days. But I also very much wanted my trekking poles back. The clunky aluminum poles that I’d[…]

Wednesday, August 10th, 2022, 0945-1700Mt Baker HWY to Mt Baker Hot Springs, WEBO mm 824, Section 7 North Cascades19.6 miles, Gain 3520′, Loss 4200′, elevation 1330′ It was a day of all things Mt Baker. First I awoke to a sunlit valley with Mt Baker overseeing the realm. I heard a bald eagle chuckling down along the river. We hung around the camp for awhile in the morning. Then David picked us up, ready to deliver us back to the trail. I think he was a little sad that none of us took him up on his generous offer to take a zero at Camp Baldy. It was no knock against his place. He just didn’t quite understand how us thru[…]

Tuesday, August 9th, 2022, 0615-1700Twin Rocks camp NCNP to (near) Mt Baker HWY, WEBO mm 802, Section 7 North Cascades22.6 miles, Gain 6060′, Loss 6400′, elevation 2400′ Despite my late and tedious night, I was up and at ’em like usual. We tackled the rest of the river valley as a team, which made it more palatable. We didn’t have far to go for the climb over Whatcom Pass, but there were more blowdowns, washouts, and thick undergrowth to push through. Not to mention an encounter with an overly standoffish juvenile black bear. He stood his ground when Wolverine approached, barely lifted a paw when I added my presence, and finally started moving down the hill when Karaoke appeared. Young ones[…]

Monday, August 8th, 2022, 1030-2045Ross Lake Resort to Twin Rocks camp NCNP, WEBO mm 779.3, Section 7 North Cascades26 miles, Gain 4200′, Loss 3200′, elevation 2750′ It was a bit noisy at camp overnight but nothing some earplugs and general exhaustion couldn’t handle. Someone was playing a guitar as I drifted off, which honestly sounded quite nice. I took my plugs out mid-morning, only to be woken by a neighbor banging pots around, as well as talking (to herself?). I assumed she’d gotten up early to start breakfast for her group but then noted it was only 3 am. I put my plugs back in and went to sleep. So did she apparently, as we hikers were the only ones awake[…]

Sunday, August 7th, 2022, 0630-1800Devils Pass to Green Point Camp via Jackita Trail, WEBO mm 755.5, Section 6 Pasayten Wilderness 24 miles, Gain 3900′, Loss 8400′, elevation 1970′ We’d decided to take an alternate route this day, based on comments in FarOut and from Buck30’s blog. The Jackita ridge was really talked up by previous hikers, sounding like it was more scenic. The fact that it was about 5 miles shorter was also helpful but not the primary motivation. All 4 of us had decided to take it. I felt a little responsible for pushing the idea originally, so I hoped it wasn’t a bust. It’s not an official alternate shown on FarOut but at least we all had GPS enabled[…]

Saturday, August 6th, 2022, 0610-1930Chuchuwanteen Trail Camp to Devils Pass, WEBO mm 725.6, Section 6 Pasayten Wilderness 28.8 miles, Gain 7070′, Loss 6510′, elevation 6120′ The Pacific Crest Trail was a dream. It’s still, to this day, my most perfect trail and the only one I can confidential say I would re-hike. This day I got to relive that dream, if only for 13 glorious miles. We got an early start and were shortly at the top of Frosty Pass. It was cold in the valley we came from (a record low for the trip of 33 degrees!) but warmed up nicely once the sun hit…so the pass didn’t quite live up to its name. The trail was in much[…]