This afternoon we caught a ride down to Packwood, the nearest town at two miles or so west of here, with a woman from Yakima who had just dropped her fiance off at the trailhead for a weeklong hiking trip.
Arriving at the little grocery store, we decided we could use some fresh food -- carrots, cheese, candy bars -- and within five minutes a bearded guy comes around the corner of one of the aisles.
"Wolf?" he asks.
Huh?
"Bionic Dave," he extends his hand.
Ahhh, yes. we met in CA at the Andersons. He and his partner, "Strawberry", have been a few days in front of us since then. We have been reading their register entries. Strawberry has had enough of WA and her rains and is planning on leaving the trail at Cascade Locks. Dave tells us that there are a bunch of hikers in town, been holed up at the inn for days waiting for the clouds to clear out and some decent weather to move in for Goat Rocks.
A little while later, after we've polished off our block of cheddar, seriously wounded the loaf of bread, and noshed down two big, juicy carrots, we ran into a group of said hikers in the parking lot by the inn. Warner Springs Monty, Peace & Love Matt, Splash, Bubbles, a couple we don't know yet. They all joke that they feel like they live in quaint little Packwood now. Some of them have been there for three days. Tomorrow, everyone hopes, will be the day . . . we hope so too.
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Back at the Pass, we've got to eat some of this food that we acquired from the hikers box at the inn in Packwood today. It's amazing, how much people throw away -- people who you might think would be just as hungry and calorie deficient as we are.
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It's morning and we've just had our oatmeal. It's gotten its appeal back at last. Now, a cup of coffee and it's up the mountain we go!
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