September 23, 2017
Mile 2444 to Stevens Pass (Mile 2461.7)
Pacific Crest Trail Thru-Hike: Day 141

Sam surprised Vice, Boathouse and Alex by SOBO-ing down the trail with a pie. He was so excited to do it. I was so excited for him to do it. I didn’t get to see it happen because I’m a slower hiker. I just walked up to the four of them, sitting at the top of the ski lifts, cleaning out the last bits of pie from the tin. This is where it’s important to know that I hate pie. I missed out on nothing. The joy on their faces from eating an entire pie and being together again was so rich.

We went over Piper's Pass, snow-covered and steep on the descent. Met Ken, who was planning on droing trail magic for Dixie, luckily Vice and Boathouse told him that Dixie turned around (so he wouldn't be walking the trail wondering why she never showed up). Well, then WE got the trail magic instead! Ken gave us fried chicken, Fremont beer, a ride to Leavenworth, to Safeway and the outfitters. He shopped alongside to learn about resupply and asked GREAT questions.

We ended up at the Mountaineers Lodge with couches and a fireplace, it smells sooooo good. The five of us played pictionary and heads up. Fresh meat showed up and I'm warming up to him. My first impression was that he was kind of a sandbagger, but he made a clever sarcastic joke and knows quite a bit about pitching tarps.

The views today were unreal. I got great pictures! From an iPhone camera!

Since we couldn't meet Stone for trail magic, he hid the beer behind a stump. Sam and Alex went hunting for it with only two pictures of the hiding spot to guide their way. They found it, brought it to the Lodge and we drank all of it. We're gettin' the band back together!