Day 149: Back to Misery and Stress
September 6, 2017
Mile 2441.70 Deception Creek to Mile 2461.70 Skykomish, WA
Annnnd the mood plummets. I felt like shit today. No rhyme or reason, but I guess I just simply don’t have the mental capacity to sustain high morale for more than a day at this point in the hike. We got up earlier than normal so we could ensure we’d get to Skykomish before dark. As soon as we started hiking, though, I just couldn’t deal with it. There were several huge climbs today with limited (but better) views due to the continued smoke. You just wind up busting your ass for zero reward and it can be so demoralizing. There was no part of the day that I wanted to be out here. I’m tired of dealing with everything out here. Especially the climbs. Gosh, I cannot wait to see miles of flat Hoosier corn fields when I get home.
I did finally manage to get my wits about me for the final climb into town when I decided to put on a very political and social injustice-based hardcore record at a volume level that will surely damage my hearing, but that’s what I desperately needed to finish off the day. Unfortunately for Glowworm, who had been having a rather good day prior to the last climb, she finally broke while hiking up and really struggled to complete the day.
Once we got to Stevens Pass, we were able to hitch to Skykomish at around 6:00 PM which was about an hour and half later than we hoped and planned for. Once in town, we ate at the Whistling Post tavern. This whole town was once a critical stop along one of the key railroads in the Pacific Northwest region with timber as the main cargo. Point is, the Whistling Post is an original circa 1903 fake facade tavern that is really indicative of the other buildings in town.
By the time we finally finished dinner it was dark. The plan was to hitch just outside of town to the Dinsmore’s, local trail angel, but since it was dark in a small town, hitchhiking was going to be next to impossible. So we called the Cascadia Inn, just a few steps from the tavern knowing full well that their 14 rooms were likely booked. The incredibly kind man on the phone said that they were booked, but one party was a no show so he contacted them and was able to confirm that we could have the room if we wanted. We weren’t planning on spending money on another room before Canada, but it was our only option and honestly we just really needed it after the rough few days we’ve had.
