I don’t do so well in extreme temps. During winter we ski, and I get so cold. We usually come off the mountain and I jump in a hot tub, just to chase the chill out. When it’s as hot as my breath, I get a little sluggish, and exhausted.With the fires this year in Washington, today was a scorcher, and muggy.
8/9 So we packed up our gear at 5:30 in the morning, heading towards the trail. Crossing the bridge(@ cascade locks) was somewhat surreal; the footing underneath you is grated metal, and there isn’t room for foot traffic. So basically cars are coming towards you while your kind of off-balance. Then we started hiking out and up. Moods were great, we were excited!
A couple of miles in and the heat hit us. However we were almost to lake Gillette, and the cool inviting water. We hopped in the lake and cooled off. On our way out there was a hiker taking a nap. He was a through hiker and had been down stumbling around the water earlier.
After heading down the trail a little more, the heat became unbearable. We were drenched head to toe with sweat. Hiking through a very exposed area, I began feeling dizzy, and nauseas. Worrying about heat stroke we slowly made headway.
Everyone was suffering on the trail this day. Men had the sweat dripping off their beards. Everyone looked like they had wet themselves. We ran into the napping man again, he was frustrated about his hiking performance. I told him “it’s like 100° today” and he had an epiphany. The trail messes with your mind.
After a long; hot, frustrating day, Floyd and I made camp near our water source. We had hoped to make it farther. However tomorrow is a new day, and the adventure continues!
