Hitch 3:
Tents, water filter, stove
Zucchini, onion, kale
Pasta, cheese, tortillas
Check
Pack
Monster truck
Conservation starts here
Swimming clothes
Check
Because it would be the hottest
And second hottest
And third hottest
Days of the year
So we would swim
And hike
And be eaten alive by mosquitoes
And see places so beautiful
We would have to just stop and stare for a while
Hitch 3.
6 miles up the Snoqualmie River
Past the best swim spot ever
We pitched camp at the headwaters
And did 4 more miles to Snoqualmie Lake
Too many mosquitoes to stay up late
Who said 8:30 was too early for bed?
The next day
Would be warm
As we bushwhacked to Nordrum Lake
Losing the trail only once
Or maybe twice
Or three times even
But making it
Stopping by a stream
Water sliding over the slick stones
Tumbling in to a perfect water hole
As we ate tortillas
And realized our water pump was broken
Worst case scenario
But we had another one
And iodine tablets
And bleach
One of the hottest days of the year
6 more miles out
But that wouldn’t stop us
A jump in the best swimming hole ever
And 1 mile up
Straight up
To Marten lake
Met a man with a dog named Trout
Fishing for trout
Ate salmonberries
Then a milkshake
And burger
And drove back to Snoqualmie pass
A day early
Because
Well
We hike
Therefore we are.
The next day
Even hotter than the one before
Three groups went out
Three lakes
Alaska
Melawkwa
Joe
A long day
With a quick swim
Of course
And pizza for dinner.
Then off to Skykomish for a few days
Deception creek
Was deceptively steep
And we got in to camp late
Made a fire
And contemplated how the world was going to end
Virus
World war
Overpopulation
Zombies
Happy thoughts
Important ones
But no matter
There are sites to be surveyed
And lakes to jump in.
We split up the next day
Elliot and Sarah
Deception Pass to Marmot Lake and Lake Clarice
So many flowers
Red blue yellow orange
And waterfalls
And 39 stream crossings
And bears
Maybe
19 miles
Pip and Garrett
Ptarmigian Lake and Fisher lake
So much bushwhacking
So many miles
Baby ptarmigians all around
Mac and cheese with canned salmon and zucchini
Never tasted so good
At 9 pm
But by 9 am we were back on the road
2 miles straight up
Again
Deceptive
Deception Lake
So many mosquitoes
You couldn’t even hold the Juno
To take a picture
So many welts
So many sites
Glacier Peak in the distance
The PCT leading to Canada
So many flowers
Marmot Lake and Lake Clarice
Inventoried the day before
Visible
In the distance
Boy do we cover a lot of ground.
As we talk to the other crew on the radio
Hoping to find them for dinner
We walk past Glacier Lake
Where we are supposed to camp
To Surprise Lake
And pita pizzas for dinner
With brussel sprouts
Yep
You heard right
Fine dining
We find the other crew
And more mosquitoes
Another early night
We still train for the Olympics in the morning
Every morning
Sit ups and push ups
Michael Phelps has nothing on us
Surprise creek
4.5 miles downhill
All together again
And we are back to the highway
Milkshakes anyone?
Hitch 3.
-Sarah Whitaker
