July 25

It was only about 5 miles to the Urich Shelter cabin near Government Meadow that we hiked to this morning. There, our 4 friends Reach, Warmup Mile, Snow Gypsy and Nathan decided to take a zero and and hike out early in the morning because of the novelty of the place. It is a really cool cabin and worth 4-wheeling, backpacking or snowmobiling to. Poptart (or possibly Sugar Side Down) and I decided to part ways with the crew and head for town I resupply. The four of them ran out of food two sections ago and on the last day two guys shared a packet of ramen for their dinner. That experience is still fresh in their minds and they each are carrying enough food to feed an army for this section.

Poptart and I had a lunch together 10 miles from camp, and then I packed up early, and said goodbye to him. I've decided to push a little harder for White Pass being that then I will arrive on a Saturday afternoon and could possibly find a willing soul to take me in and get some worship in Sunday morning. If not, I can get an early start on the "Goat Rocks" section that is both stunningly beautiful, and very challenging. The whole point of my mileage ramping up is to get to Crescent Lake in time for convention in Saginaw, OR and hiking to Crater Lake with mom. In order to get the whole convention I need to average 140 miles a week for the next 3 weeks. I think it's very doable, but I will be deserving of the rest. It's kind of nice to be solo hiking again, although I'll admit it feels a little strange. I have a feeling Poptart will catch me, and I hope he does he's a good hiking partner.

One more note. I met Detour and Linear today. They camped next to me just as I finished typing this for the night. We had some good conversation before I called it a night.