At mile 2540.6. Hiked 24.1 miles today. It was bound to happen sooner or later. I woke up this morning thinking I was in my bed at home. I had early morning views of Glacier Peak. Yet again, there was more blow-down, but not as much as I encountered yesterday.  This one presented an interesting problem. I managed by climbing over. One last snow crossing. Or will it be the last? The winding trail. Mica Lake Another view of the reflections in Mica lake. Here I'm having a mid-morning swim in Mica Lake. Having frigid clear...

At mile 2515.5. Hiked 28.8 miles today. I swam in Lake Sally Ann. Here is the trail. The cones on this tree were purple. I ate lunch at Reflection Pond. It was hot and I had looked forward to a swim, but the pond turned out to be shallow and unappealing so I cooled off in the shade instead. Some section hikers gave me some seaweed that they said went well with tuna so I ate tuna-seaweed wraps for the first and probably last time. With harassing flies and mosquitoes, the pond...

At mile 2486.7. Hiked 22.5 miles today. Since I was in town to enjoy the modern conveniences of the Cascadia Inn, I got my usual “in town” late start. Trail Angel, Chris gave me a ride up to Stevens Pass, but first I picked up a couple of blueberry muffins at the deli. I’d already had granola cereal and plenty of coffee at the Cascadia. It was a hot and smoky day. It seemed like my shirt was soaked with sweat all day long. There were some fantastic vantage points...

At mile 2464.2. Hiked 10.3 miles today. Today I hiked into Stevens Pass and hitched a ride for the 14 miles to Skykomish where I stayed at Cascadia Inn.  With a morning start at 5:20 am the air was not moving and the mosquitoes were harassing me the whole way. I hiked past several lakes and a long way through the ski area at Stevens Pass. The bartender in Skykomish later told me that Vail Resorts had just bought the ski resort and were closing the deal in a month.  While...