Oh boy! Rosie and I woke up in the middle of the night to thunder and lightning. The booms were loud and long, and we began to worry about the day ahead of us. We had taken multiple easy days, which caused us to pick up more miles on our final day of this leg. Unfortunately, we had to pay our milage debt in the pouring down rain. Boo! We sucked it up and began our wet trudge to Timberline Lodge. After Ramona Falls, we began to notice day hikers, lots of day hikers. Where there is day hikers, there is civilization! We began our harebrained scheme to get off the trail and out of the rain. We followed the day hikers' trail to a parking lot, and from there we hitchhiked. Donna, lovely Donna, gave us a ride to the highway. She dropped us off near a ranger station and the Zigzag Cafe. We ate lunch at the cafe, where we met an enthusiastic and helpful park ranger. He offered us a ride, showers, and access to a washer & dryer. However, we would have to wait till the end of his work day. We decided to try our luck again at hitching a ride. Two minutes of noncommittally trying to hitch a ride in the rain, Austin picked us up. Hooray!!! We were saved again. He took us all the way to Timberline Lodge. At the lodge, we are enjoying all the luxuries of the 21st century, including showers, grownup beverages, towels, chairs, electricity, internet access, soap, and shampoo. Hip, hip, hooray. We escaped the rain today.
Merit Badges:
- hitchhiking, and not getting murdered
- crossing a river using a very scary rope and slippery log (it got the adrenaline going)
- going to the bathroom with our packs on
- realizing that "water proof" is really just water resistant when hiking looks more like swimming on a trail
This is all part of the adventure. No failure for coming off the mountain! You are explorers. Look at all you are getting to explore. (Mostly your own selves….)
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