Day 131 – Tuesday, August 19

These days I’m working hard to slow my pace down and enjoy the last several weeks on the trail. With the miles I have remaining it’s beginning to feel more like a short backpacking trip in the woods. I’m still doing some thirty mile days, basically because I don’t exactly know what else to do during the day except to walk. So I’m finding myself taking lots of pictures and enjoying many more nero’s and zero’s around the small towns in Washington. At this point no matter how many miles I do in a day, I still plan to finish on September 9th, meet up with the family, spend some time in Seattle, and fly home on the 13th. This schedule gives me lots of time to burn along the way.

After leaving Timberline Lodge and the Mt. Hood Wilderness, I found myself in what must be the waterfall capital of the country. They were absolutely beautiful and I only saw a few of them. Tunnel Falls was my favorite.

From the Mt. Hood Wilderness, I ventured north into the state of Washington and the Mt. Adams Wilderness.

After hiking out of the Mt. Adams Wilderness and making a quick stop in the town of Trout Lake, I entered into the Goat Rock Wilderness. What an awesome area! I would put this area way up there on the my list of suggestions for a weekend backpacking outing. It’s a fairly short section that reminded me of being back in the Sierras. The Goat Rock area is beautiful with Mt. Adams to the south and Mt. Rainier to the north. Heavy clouds moved in on me as I crossed over what’s called the Knife’s Edge. Photos just can’t capture the views I pass everyday. After arriving at White Pass yesterday around noon, I hitched a ride down to the town of Packwood and I’m enjoying a day off from the trail.

From here, I will head into Mt. Rainier National Park, on north through Washington to the Canadian border,  and then to Manning Park in British Columbia to complete my journey.