Thursday, September 06, 2018 – 15 miles

While packing up my gear this morning, I discovered the shredded remnants of a Snickers wrapper on the ground. I had placed it in a pocket on my pack strap and forgotten about it. Luckily, the backpack was in my vestibule overnight, so the mouse didn’t chew any holes in my tent.

I stopped for breakfast at Janus Lake, where I met Croissant. He mentioned that he had witnessed one of the falls off the Kendall Katwalk this year. He and his friend were taking a break when his friend lost his balance and fell down the mountainside, breaking his ankle before coming to a stop on a small ledge. He said afterwards that in the moment his ankle snapped, he felt sure that he was going to die. Croissant pressed the SOS button on his SPOT and rescuers evacuated the injured man to a hospital in Seattle. He was Australian, so I hope he had travel insurance!

Lots of steep ups and downs today. It feels just like the last leg. My dud ankle began hurting in the afternoon – hopefully it won’t become an issue. As I mentioned previously, my travel insurance runs out on the 20th, so I have a rushed feeling counterproductive to health or enjoyment.

I had been considering camping in an established site near a few seasonal streams, but while eTrails mentions two tent sites, I could only locate one plausible site and it was directly next to the trail and a few metres from the stream. I hiked on and camped at a dry site bordering a meadow.