The Walking Dom

Mile 2226 / KM 3582
Timberline Lodge to Cascade Locks to Trout Lake

I miss: Dry clothes

Song of my day: No songs. Spotify quit workin' so I've been listening to audio books instead. Currently listening to "Under the banner of Heaven". Crazy stuff.

Podcast of my day: "Comedy Bang Bang" is kind of a hit or miss but mostly a hit.

The rain started the moment we left Timberline Lodge after two relaxing days in Portland. First it was just a drizzle and it was kind of nice and foggy, but soon the drizzle (my nizzle) turned into heavy rain and big pools of water formed on the trail until the pools turned into small rivers that came flowing down over our feet as we were making our way up the hills. We hiked about 17 miles that afternoon until we finally gave up. Neither Katie nor I had rain pants due to our "ultra-light"-philosophy... Well... I say screw that philosophy. This girl's getting some rain pants ASAP! We put up our tents in the freezing cold and ate our sad cold dinners while trying to get warm in our damp sleeping bags. If I had been alone that day I would have definitely bailed out of the situation, but since Katie serves as my conscience and as my solid rock in the rough waters I didn't. All we could do was laugh about our pitiful situation. Why were we doing this? We couldn't remember, but it didn't matter. We had fun either way and things are just half as bad when you're able to share them. For the next 2 days we pretty much had our heads down, while plowing ahead, Cascade Locks as the goal. About 10 miles before town we passed Tunnel Falls which was another highlight on this trip. I have wanted to walk behind a waterfall since I was a kid and this one in particular had sort of had a Jurassic Park kind of feel to it because of the intense green and the ferns everywhere. After a rocky downhill and a short hitch to town we ended up staying at a trail angel's house for the night where we were able to shower and dry our stuff.

Cascade Locks is located by the Columbia River which divides Oregon and Washington and is connected by the famous "Bridge of the Gods" where Reese Witherspoon aka Sheryl Strayed aka Johnny Cash's wife called it quits back in the days. After the obligatory visit to the local brewery we were well on our way to Trout Lake where I had ordered my rain pants to. It took us 3.5 days to get there in which we didn't see anything other than fog and rain and fog and some more rain. Only in the very last hours before town did the sun shine through and we were able to get a glimpse of the mighty Mount Adams. We rolled into Trout Lake which very well could be called Huckleberry City. I ate so many berries that I can't even look at them anymore which is weird because I usually don't have a limit when it comes to berry things. Trout Lake is a super friendly hiker town with a shop, a gas station, a small diner and about 20 trail angels. Believe it or not, we ended up staying at a Buddhist Monastery that night and met a big white monk called Cozen dressed in orange robes. Yep... Didn't see that one coming in the middle of Washington.

Obviously it hasn't rained a single drop of water since I got my rain pants... I'll keep them though, to ensure that the rain holds off. I'm willing to take that burden in exchange for some sunny weather.