September 19, 2017
Cedar Falls Trailhead (Iron Horse State Park) to Snoqualmie Pass
Pacific Crest Trail Thru-Hike: Day 137

Started walking from just outside the watershed and it downpoured literally all fucking day. Stone met us at a trailhead where we transitioned from a railroad grade Iron Horse biking trail onto forest roads. He brought fried chicken, donuts, beer, and a space heater. Of course, somehow, the rain paused just long enough for us to say hello and have a snack. Once the bone chill cold started to set in from taking a break, we moved out.

The Iron Horse trail was really pretty. All the clouds were crawling over the mountains. As we gained altitude on the Iron Horse trail and then the forest roads, the air temperature dropped. It was freezing cold by the time we made it up to Snoqualmie Pass. Hands were numb, all of us were wetted out, so we went into the convenience store to keep warm and figure out where we’d sleep and recharge.

Stepped into Aardvark’s food truck to Happy Meal, Baby Gap, and Dixie. They were welcoming enough, but our modus operandi was getting intel for where to sleep for cheap and how to get out of our wet clothes as quickly as possible.

Sam and Tofu had mentioned the Alpine Club, and Boathouse was much more motivated than me, Alex, or Vice, so he dipped out to investigate the situation. He called with good news, and we headed up to the club cabin.

Met a wonderful character named Mark, caretaker of the Washington Alpine Club. Learned a lot about his family, who he has a deep affection for. He showed us the gear-drying room in the basement where we hung up our sopping wet tents, wrung the lakes out of our socks and put on every shred of the few dry clothes we had left.

Dixie, Happy Meal, Baby Gap, Shade, Fresh Meat, and Oddball showed up just as we were going to sleep.

Today was a reminder about walking in the cold rain—don’t do it for more than one night in a row unless you’ll have a warm, dry place to air your gear out. You can’t hike with pre-wet camping gear. It’s not safe. Be smarter than that.

Also learned about ‘The Matterhorn’ in Switzerland. It’s beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

Washington beer to remember: Aslan Brewing Batch 15