Day 25 (127)

Miles: 29.4

Mileage: 2,620

It was our biggest day yet and as far as my feet were concerned, it was a twenty-mile day.

It only took 480 miles but it seems my feet have finally settled in to hiking. And it’s less than 40 miles to the hotel in Canada where I will stop hiking. Oh, feet.

The weather forecast suggested rain today, but we only got a few sprinkles. There were clouds that could have carried rain above us. But only sunshine reached us.

After a five-mile climb over Cutthroat Pass, we went down for the rest of the morning. A solid afternoon climb took us back up around 6,000 feet and there we stayed. Most of the next 25 miles are up high.

The views today were vast and craggy. The ridge to the south this afternoon was cut in half by an old forest fire with charred earth to the east and lush green trees to the west.

We ate dinner by the last reliable water source for 20 miles. It’s strange to have such a long water carry in Washington. This state is known among hikers as a wet walk. We’ve had almost no remarkable weather to speak of. But that’s fine with me. And we have two days left, so anything could still happen.

Richard says the most exciting thing that happened today was when we were buzzed by a peregrine falcon going what I can only guess was near its top speed of 120 mph in a full dive for some prey. We mostly heard it go over us and barely saw the brown blur. My first thought was bear!? Because that’s where my amigdala goes first when out in the woods. Richard thought it was a tiny brown jet because that’s really what it sounded like.

And while that was really cool, I thought the most exciting thing today was that my feet didn’t hurt. Potato/potaato.