August 27th, 2018
We woke up very late today and didn’t start hiking until after nine. That was a good thing because it meant that we got twelve hours of sleep, which we needed after the wedding and our flights to/from Chicago. The forest instantly transformed in Washington into a moist and fern-filled area in contrast to the dry and dusty forests of Oregon. It is pretty, but drying out our tent and clothing is hard. We planned to do a very short day to transition back into hiking after our break, but the campsite we planned to stay at was full and we couldn’t find another suitable area for four miles. It seems after returning from Chicago we are in a bubble with a lot of hikers. Because we took the day slowly and the terrain was somewhat challenging, that meant we didn’t get to camp until almost ten. Good thing our headlamps were charged. A weekender was unhappy about the noise we made as we set up camp. Instead of asking us to quiet down, which we would have gladly done, he walked into our campsite and tried to start a fight. It was unpleasant, but he must have been stressed out about things. He eventually calmed down. On the bright side, we’re excited to now be at camp, all set up, and ready for a good night of sleep.
