Day 90: Riding The Waves.

August 8th, 2021

Mile Marker: 1925.1

Miles Hiked Today: 30

We woke up this morning to what we called a “soft 5” because 5 am wake up times are getting old. We were however ready for the day since we only had 11ish miles to get to Shelter Cove Resort where we could get some breakfast and resupply on food.

We zoomed through the rather cold morning and after a mile or so we came to the camp ground we had heard about through other hikers. Whitefish Camp. We were told that the couple who is there does trail magic and are incredibly nice.

Since we were there early, they were not yet awake but we were stunned by their awesome setup.

We saw a thru hiker awake getting her belongings together and she was able to tell us a little bit more about them.

She told us they met 4 years ago after both their spouses had passed away. Now they live in Oregon during the summers and in New Mexico in the winters. (Not a bad way to do it!) She said they were super nice and then pointed us to the Keurig sitting out front with coffee mugs and asked if we wanted some coffee.

There was no way I was turning that down. We popped a squat at the picnic table, made coffee, and enjoyed the hot cup of Joe as it warmed us up.

After a while we decided it was time to go if we wanted to make it to breakfast in time. We were zoomy zoom through the relatively flat trail and for the second half walked next to this crystal clear river.

The trail was covered in lush green and dew and when the sun was hitting it just right, steam was starting to come off of it.

It felt like a magical place and made me ecstatic for Washington.

We also hit 1900 miles, Yippee!!

Around 10:15 we made it to Shelter Cove and I was not expecting something so well kept and nice. Plus the huge lake just made it that much better.

We ordered some pancakes and split a breakfast burrito, both having big eyes and appetites. Finishing it all took some effort but well worth the full belly.

We did a quick resupply for 2.5 days and then went and sat by the lake and charged up some of our electronics at the PCT hang out spot.

We then got a beer and played some yard games. Both of us not looking forward to hiking out. It was such a great location!

Finally around 2 pm we decided that we should leave since we had 20 more miles to hike.

We started our hike and realized that we were going to be distracted frequently. We both finally got cell service a mile in and stopped for a bit. Then 4 more miles in we came across a lake and I had to get in. I was feeling grimy from the lack of water sources to dip in.

After we got out we decided to get serious on the hiking and started listened to “The Martian” audio book. I was fully and totally immersed in this book and a couple hours later suddenly had to boom boom. When I took the headphone out and stopped, it took me a second to remember where I was and what I was doing. Oh yeah, I’m hiking right now.

It was kind of nice to be hiking miles without even realizing it. Eventually we stopped again for some dinner and then had 8 more miles to camp.

I finished my dinner and quickly set out on my own down the trail.

My thoughts had suddenly taken a turn for the worse. Exhaustion will bring out those thoughts. Those nasty, eat at you ones. Like I said, if it seems like I am on an emotional roller coaster, the answer to this is 100 percent yes.

Thoughts.

How do they get out of control? Why do they get out of control? How do we stop them? Why are some of them negative, especially towards ourselves? Why do we perceive ourselves differently than others?

I recently had a conversation with my therapist over the phone and told her about how I like to see where my thoughts go and if something keeps reoccurring, I know it’s something I need to take care of.

Sometimes though, it feels like I can’t stop the thoughts, that everything that is swirling around is truth. Even when I try to combat them with positive statements, the negative ones just keep popping up. The ones that tell me I’m not good enough, not smart enough, not important enough.

All I wanted to do was scream into the forest. Sometimes I just want to be out of my head.

I kept hiking hard and fast, trying to keep the tears from coming.

I knew I probably should have just sat down and cried, but this time I didn’t want to. I wanted these thoughts to be pushed out of my brain by pushing my physical body hard enough.

And that’s just what I did. I hiked hard, breathed hard, and when I got to our camp site 8 miles later I had felt some what better.

I was shocked to also see that there was no one in our camping area. We were at a gorgeous lake and there wasn’t a sole in sight. We were definitely in between bubbles.

I spent the last minutes of sunlight out on a log in the lake watching the stars come to life.

I took deep breaths and reminded myself that I am special.

That I am unique and that I am loved.

Oh so loved.

Iz and Oz