Day 83: 39.2 | 2362.5

Got moving by by six and and my plan for the day was to let my feet air out a few times for the day. By nine a saw a few SOBOs on their phone, that only means one thing. I figured this was a good time to let my feet break while also updating my blog and catching up on all the social media bullshit. 

A man walked by me and said if I saw his dog to give him to a SOBO. Apparently, the dog ran off on him in the morning. A few hours later I ran into a SOBO walking with the dog. He said he was going to keep the dog because the owner abandoned him after less than an hour of searching. And apparently the owner was acting really weird to other hikers before I saw him. He told them to “shoot the dog” if they found him. I wonder if that SOBO kept the dog or returned him
I took a bunch of long breaks for the day to air out my fee in hopes that these weird raw spots go away. I was surprised a still managed to limp almost forty miles. I found a somewhat flat spot on an old unused road a little after 9PM so I stayed there

Day 82: 30.8 | 2323.3

Slept in until 7AM which felt great. Got to the store before they opened at 8. Sonic was there with a section hiker. When they opened I of course pig out and also grabbed some coffee. I normally avoid caffeine because it dehydrates you but I don’t care anymore. I resupplied and bought more snacks for mid day than I usually do. That’s always when I starve so I want more, it’s worth the weight. Spent about $60 total at the store. 
Got back on the trail by 10 and I just wanted to hit at least 30, which I did. However, after about 3PM these damn raw spots or whatever they are on my feet started killing me again. My right heel didn’t even touch the ground for the last few hours. It was miserable. This of course really slowed me down. Just taking off my socks and putting on my long johns is extremely painful. I’m really hoping this goes away, terrible timing with me being so close to finished. I really don’t want to slow down but I might have to. 

Day 81: 38.3 | 2292.5

Slept in until 6:30, it felt great. I knew I wouldn’t be able to make the store before it closed so figured I might as well get some extra sleep. 

Today was the opposite of yesterday, sunny and warm, no clouds. It was perfect because today I hiked through one of the notoriously beautiful sections of Washington. A section that is completely exposed. I had some amazing views and got some sweet pictures. At one point I could see Mt Adams, Mt Helens and Mt Rainer in one spot. I also got to hike the Knifes Edge, it wasn’t nearly as difficult as the one after summiting Katahdin but still fun. 
Finished the day a little after 9PM. I went a little further to find a tent spot so I’ll have to hike back to the road tomorrow morning. Pretty loud here with the cars but I should be able to sleep. I got the weird raw spots on my foot again. I don’t know how this happens. Kind of glad the trail is almost over so I can nurse my feet.
The store doesn’t open until 8AM so I’m going to try and sleep in. 

Day 80: 41.7 | 2254.2

Today was the first day on the PCT where I had to hike in rain. Makes sense that it would be Washington too. The sky was clear up until 2PM when the rain came. It got cold and wet really quick, I forgot how much that sucked. 

By 6PM it actually got warmer and I could see the blue sky start to come back, I was so happy. Setting up camp in the rain would have been pure misery. I ended the day around 8:40. Sonic is probably a few miles ahead of me. I really hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow because I’ll be pretty exposed for most of the day. 

Day 79: 42.6 | 2212.5

Did not expect to do a forty today, pleasantly surprised to say the least. Had one big 8-9 mile climb in the morning but that was the hardest part of the day. Also didn’t take as many breaks as I normally do. The day went by kind of fast which was nice. This was probably the easiest forty I’ve done. My body actually felt good at the end of the day. No aches and pains. 

I only downside was that I was starving for most of the day. I’m usually not this hungry on trail. I ate a little more than I normally do before mid day so the second half of the day I had to limit myself. I tried not to look at my watch since I eat every two hours. 
Ended the day a little before 9 which was nice. Sonic was already setting up her tent when I got there. Turns out she forgot her stakes at the last camp site which really sucks. I’m always worried about losing my stakes. Hopefully, they sell stakes where we’re planning to resupplying. 
I ate four packets of oatmeal tonight. Lint told me in Ashland that they rehydrate extremely fast and he was right. I guess he would know after triple crowning three times. It’s a nice change up from eating mashed potatoes, wish I would have discovered this sooner.

Day 78: 25.8 | 2169.9

Fell asleep a little after midnight. The bed was very soft, some kind of memory foam I think. Check out was early at 10AM so I got up a little after 8 and went to go get some breakfast at Bridgeside. Had an omelet, hash browns and pancakes. Went back to the room and took another shower and packed up. 

I end up going back to Bridgeside with Sonic and her family, I didn’t eat anything though because I was full. After that we went to the grocery store. It seems like I have bad luck getting into town when the PO is closed so Sonics mom is helping me out by sending out a box to Stevens Pass so I don’t have to hitch anymore, this will save me a ton of time now. She even wanted to pay for my resupply food but that would have been too much. She wouldn’t even accept money for the shipment. Sonics family really hooked me up the past 24 hours. 
I walked over Bridge of the Gods and in doing so entered my third and final state, Washington. I remember getting into Oregon like it was yesterday. Sonic and I headed out a little after noon. We had a long ass climb right from the start. My pack was the heaviest it will be for the rest of the trip with five days of food and three liters of water. We were well rested so we went up the climb pretty quickly. We met a SOBO and talked to him for a while. We exchanged information on the trail, got some good Intel. This is the great thing about seeing SOBOs now is swapping information. 
We did one last climb that was about 5.5 miles and ended the day at 9PM. I only thought we had around 20 miles done so I was surprised to find out we almost did 26. That’s not bad leaving at noon and doing two long climbs.