Tacoma Pass

I saw an elk in the field outside the cabin as soon as I stepped outside this morning. It made some noise and ran off. I got started hiking and went through an almost thirty year old burn area first thing.

It was cloudy again today, and colder than yesterday. I had many layers on, and I must have stopped and adjusted them at least twenty times based on whether I was going uphill, downhill, resting, exposed to wind or not, etc. Fall is definitely here.

I got to Tacoma Pass and saw a sign pointing to trail magic. Not Phil’s Dad, the father of a 2009 hiker named Not Phil, does trail magic there every year. He offered me hot dogs as soon as I came in, and then there were also sodas, fruit, and muffins. We spent some time talking about tiny houses and I got to check out the small utility trailer he converted to a camper.

We still needed to do several more miles before dark so we said goodbye and moved on. I reached a campsite on an unused dirt road just after dark. 24.1 miles today.