Snoqualmie, Washington

9/25-
Day 168 - Our plans have changed a bit. Rather than picking up supplies in Skykomish and getting right back on the trail, we're spending the night in the Bavarian-themed town of Levenworth with "Heros of the week," Chris and Janelle. They hiked the PCT in 98. A couple of days ago we ran across Chris doing trail work and he invited the Vegetables to stay at his house for the night. This evening they've generously shared their kitchen, laundry, shower, etc. with the Vegtables, plus showed us an inspiring slide show from their thru-hike in 98. What a great town stop! Thank you so much Chris and Janelle! - Staggerin' Willie

9/26-
Day 169 - Last week we camped with a Forest Service Trail crew and met Chris who was Tahoma on the AT in 95. He was in Delaware Water Gap the same week as Jones, Wayah and me, and he remembered Krumholz from his entries. He and his crew shared their food and campfire with us and Chris invited us to his house in Levenworth. When we got to Stevens Pass yesterday we went to Skykomish for our maildrops, then hitched back up over the pass and into Levenworth. Chris and his girlfriend Janelle hiked the PCT in 98 after El Nino. They opened their home to us for showers, laundry, and a burrito feast. They showed us their slides form 98 and cooked us square foot waffles in the morning for breakfast. Chris told us of a hot spring nearby, so today, instead of getting back on he trail at Stevens Pass, we took a side trip with him up to Scenic Hot Springs, our seventh hot spring of the trip. This place was great. It has three different temperature pools that volunteers have built up over the years with porches and benches and shade structures. The place gets a lot of use since it's close to the road, but there is plenty of room in the pools for all the naked people. Thank you, Chris for an unexpected side trip. - Squirrelfight

Day 169 - Another change of plans. We had intended to leave town early-ish and hike 9-10 miles down the trail. Instead, Chris took his day off to show us one of the local geothermal wonders: scenic hot springs. This lovely spot, with its multi-level pools of different temperatures, makes 7 (!) hot springs visited by the Vegetables since Campo! After a long, relaxing soak, we used a bit of creative short-cuttery to hike 4 steep miles in, and intersect the PCT at a lake 14 miles from Steven's Pass. It's definitely hard to leave a hot spring and climb a mountain that same day. - Staggerin' Willie

Day 169 After about 24 off the trail we are back, camped tonight at Surprise Lake. Our coming week will be spent traversing the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, yet another gloriously road-free tract of mountains in northern Washington. No other section of PCT aside from the Muir Trail in the High Sierra has compared to this area in remoteness. We had a great day off, spending the night in Leavenworth at the home of our new friends Chris and Jenelle. Chris hiked the AT in '95 (the same year as Jonny, Tanner, and I) so we had a lot of mutual trail friends to catch up on. This morning he took us to aptly named Scenic Hot Springs where we spent a few hours soaking and then hiked into the wilderness. A very rejuvenating 24 hrs. - thanks Chris and Jenelle. - Kaptain Krumholz

9/27-
Day 170 - Out on the trail. It's pretty common to see very few people over the course of a day. Some days I'll only see 2 or 3 other people, or only see other thru-hikers (who are only partly human), or see no one on the trail but encounter some folks and cars at a road crossing. Today, none of the Vegetables saw a single person (except for one another) all day - total quadritude. I can't remember the last time that's happened. - Staggerin' Willie

9/28-
Day 171 - Bit by bit we're re-connecting with all the hikers who caught up to and passed us way back in California. Tonight, we're camped with cyclone (the Dog) and her person, John, who we haven't seen since Big Bear city. When we last saw them, Cyclone was a "wild" dog, emaciated and skittish, who had showed up from out of nowhere in the woods and just started hiking alongside John. Having been spontaneously adopted by Cyclone, John decided to keep walking with her, and see how she worked out as a trail dog. It was great to see them still together 2000 miles later. Cyclone has gained a lot of weight and looks much stronger and healthier, the most well suited dog I've seen on the PCT, and it looks like they'll probably finish the trail together. - Staggerin' Willie

Day 171 Since leaving the Canadian border I've been having an inner debate on whether to leave the trail at Snoqualmie Pass or hike the entire state of Washington. I think that today I finally have decided that my walk will end this week at Snoqualmie Pass. I have many reasons, but primarily my mind has lately turned toward future plans - particularly a lengthy trip to South America that Rachel and I will undertake in November. I can hardly contain my excitement and am eager to start planning and learning more about where I'm going. A lot of northbounders have been warning us about continuous days of hiking in clearcuts south of Snoqualmie Pass as well. So in a way I'd just as well end my walk here at a high point than burn myself out for only another 12 days of walking. This, of course, will be tough news to break to the other Veggies. I guess I imagined that we'd all end together at some relevant spot, but it seems like we'll simply disperse at our own chosen times. - Kaptain Krumholz

9/29-
Day 172 - Our very first full day of rain. - Squirrelfight

Day 172 - After nearly 3 weeks of glorious weather, our luck has run out. Rained all last night and all today and there's no sign that it'll be letting up anytime soon. Everyone was in their tents by 6:00 tonight and it looks to be a long night. - Staggerin' Willie - Staggerin' Willie

9/30-
Day 173 - No photos today. Our cameras were packed deep in the packs in an attempt to keep them dry. Our clothes were soaked through from two days of pouring rain. Our packs were extra heavy with water logged gear. We didn't have a lot of visibility today, but there were some good views of terrain around us and hundreds of waterfalls. The trail itself was a full stream of water for all 18 miles. If you had seen us, you probably would have thought we were crazy to do what we do. It's a good thing there was a hotel at Snoqualmie Pass because it would have been an absolutely miserable night in those wet sleeping bags. - Squirrelfight

Day 173 Well, with the announcement of my imminent departure it seems the Weather Gods have seized their final opportunity to punish me. Boy did we get washed out of those mountains! The rain started two nights ago and has been falling steadily since. I held out for the first 24 hours but last night my campsite finally reached saturation. I awoke around 10 pm to find a deep puddle forming around my tarp, creeping toward my sleeping bag. 'Plan A' was to close my eyes and try to act like it wasn't really happening. Unfortunately this was of limited effectiveness. So I had to climb out of my corner of warm and dry and spend an hour in the storm digging drainage canals and engineering some protection from the soggy onslaught. I was (thankfully) moderately successful, eventually winning a bit of sleep in a dryish bag most of the night. By the crack of dawn though I was quite moist and ready for the 18-mile dash to Snoqualmie Pass. Everything was pretty well saturated by this point and another night in the rain would have been sheer misery. If I had needed any reinforcement for my decision to end the walk, this was it. The forecast for Washington, I have since learned, is for continued rain through May. Today's soggy walk ended well, though, in a warm and dry hotel room. We will review our options tomorrow, but I'm beginning to sense that the other Menacing Vegetables may finish this journey together after all. - Kaptain Krumholz

Day 173 - Six fiends of ours were supposed to hike in to meet us at Spectacle lake last night and join us for a couple of days to Snoqualmie Pass. With the rain all day yesterday we assumed they had stayed in Seattle. When we called them from the hotel today, we realized that they were camped a few miles from us in the downpour last night and had turned back this morning. Like us, they could not believe how hard it rained last night. It sure would have been fun to see them all if we had had better weather. - Squirrelfight

Day 173 - Probably the worst day I've had yet on the PCT. After 46 hours of continuous rain, everything I have is completely soaked - all that water probably adds 15-20 pounds (a wild guess) to my pack weight. This morning I lost the trail. While bushwhacking down the mountain I slipped an fell into a creek. I don't think I was any wetter after falling into the water than I was before. After a waterlogged 20 mile slog, we checked into a motel at Snoqualmie Pass and things started looking up. Next door was a room full of PCTers including Natasha, the last familiar Northbounder I expected to run across, and a warm, dry night was had by all. - Staggerin' Willie

10/1-
Day 174 - October 1, 2000. Five years ago today, Ben, Ezra, Tanner, John Bevans, Will Smoot, Jake Freed, and I climbed Mt Katahdin at the end of our Appalachian Trail thru-hike. Happy Anniversary, guys. - Jonny

Day 174- It’s starting to look like Snoqualmie Pass may be as far as I get on the PCT this year. The thought of getting off of the trail has been bouncing around in my head for a while now, and Snoqualmie seems like a good place for several reasons. As a restorative wilderness experience, as an educational and aesthetic experience, and as a social and cultural experience, I feel like I have got as much out of hiking the PCT as I will get this year. Obviously, there is no way we will complete the trail; it is starting to feel like I would be adding additional days and miles just for the sake of adding additional days and miles. Add in the storms of the past few days and the ravaged, clearcut terrain south of here, and I don’t much feel like continuing on the PCT. - Staggerin' Willie

10/2-
Day 175 - It looks as if our hike is nearly over. When we began in April we did not know where or when we would finish. In the last few days and weeks we've discussed different possible ending scenarios. For a while I was thinking of hiking on alone into Oregon, maybe even completing the trail if the weather held up. Them the rain came and some opportunities arose through friends in Seattle and San Francisco. We all talked about hiking from where we were, Snoqualmie Pass, out to Goldmyer Hot Springs and then calling it a day. Today I walked the twelve miles out to Goldmyer with Maria and we decided that this is the place to end our hike. She and I have done our 2000 miles we had hoped to walk this year. Her feet hurt. We are out of money. We have a place to stay for a month in San Francisco if we leave now. And what better way to end our hike than to spend these days relaxing, contemplating, and soaking with Ben and Ezra in the most beautiful hot spring we have seen yet. - Squirrelfight

Day 175—The adventure continues! True, we have left the PCT, but instead of fleeing to town with tails between our legs, we have decided to make one last excursion into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, to visit legendary Goldmyer Hot Springs. Nestled among huge fir and cedar trees in a mossy rainforest valley, this remote spring is a pretty magical place, and a great place to end the trek. - Staggerin' Willie

Day 175 - Most dangerous moment of my trip so far was today: Straddling a fallen tree, hanging upside down, with my pack on over a river. With Maria's help I managed to get out of it with just a pair of wet boots (and some sore arms and legs). - Squirrelfight

Day 175 The other day Tanner told Jonny that we needed to "choose a destination, hike there, and finish the walk." This was pretty sage advice seeing as how getting washed out of the mountains is an unfortunate way to end this adventure. So today we strapped on the packs and hiked to one of my all-time favorite places - Goldmeyer Hot Springs. And from here, it appears the Menacing Vegetables will put an appropriate end to a life altering adventure. Goldmeyer Hot Springs is privately owned and located on a parcel of old-growth forest. The spring itself is set in a steep hillside among giant Douglas Firs and Western Red Cedars. The water emerges from a 25-foot deep tunnel shaped cave, waist deep and 109 degrees. From there it spills into two lower pools, each a few degrees cooler than the pool above. From the pools one looks into a lush, moss-covered forest and out to a plunging springside waterfall. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. We will spend a few days here in paradise enjoying the rejuvenating waters and having and end of the walk pow-wow. - Kaptain Krumholz

10/3-
Day 176 - In order to transition out of the woods and into the work force we worked off our stay at the hot springs. Normally it is a $12 charge per person per day. The four of s spent the afternoon building up a campsite with the caretakers, Jerry and Natalie, so it would not flood when it rains. A job we could relate to. It took nearly 100 buckets of gravel and duff, but they were easy to carry with the power wheelbarrow. And we got to follow up the manual labor with a good, long soak. - Squirrelfight

Day 176—As soon as I woke up this morning, I knew we would have to stay here until we ran out of food—I just can’t imagine leaving any sooner than I have to. The spring here is amazing: a mine shaft tunnel reaching deep inside the mountain, filled from ankle to chest deep with clear, 110 degree water, which then spills over a dam into two cooler pools below, right next to a raging waterfall. A perfect spot for relaxation, but because we have no money to pay the $12 daily use fee, we have to work off our stay. Today, we’re digging gravel out of the riverbank and using it to build up a campsite that turns into a puddle during hard rains. Hard work, but at least we get to use the fun “power wheelbarrow.” I wish we had one of those to carry our packs on the PCT! - Staggerin' Willie

10/4-
Day 177 - We truthfully expected to be millionaires by now, but the numbers have betrayed us. Odds of winning $1,000,000 from Snickers: 1:1,642,350 Snickers bars eaten this trip: 1,642,350 Prizes won: $0 We can't go on. We are flat broke and disgusted by the thought of another "satisfying" Snickers bar. - Statistician

Day 177—Lots of great folks out here at Goldmyer springs. While there aren’t too many visitors from “civilization” this week, we have made friends with Natalie and Jerry, the resident caretakers, and with neighbors Kristina and Lenny, the only other people living here in the valley. They are all very fun and welcoming people, and after only a few days, I feel almost as if we have a little community out here. Today was especially blissful; I had planned on going on a bit of a day-hike or something, but instead spent the entire day soaking, reading books, and hanging out in the warm caretaker cabin with new friends. Today, I feel as if I could stay here forever. - Staggerin' Willie

10/5-
Day 178 - A perfect ending. After drying our rain soaked gear at the hotel we hiked our final side trip out past crystal clear Snow Lake to Goldmyer hot spring. The three days there were just what we needed. We did a lot of soaking and got to talk about the last 177 days instead of just rushing back to the city. We also met some really cool people who helped us make the end of our hike a success. The caretakers, Jerry and Natalie, let us work off our stay and were fun and interesting people to work with and be around. They said that a few people hike in from Snoqualmie Pass each month on the trail that we walked in on. There was another trail, though, that they recommended for our return to the pass. This trail is only used by a couple people each year as it is no longer maintained or shown on maps. The Cascade Crest Trail was built by the CCC in the 1930s and abandoned by 1970 according to Jerry. He told us that the trail was covered in places by blown down trees but by walking up hill we could catch the trail in the next switchback. An unmapped, abandoned trail with bushwhacking in remote wilderness of course appealed to us and seemed to be the appropriate was for the Vegetables to leave the Hot Springs. Joe had said he could pick us up on Thursday and bring us to Seattle, but we had no way of calling him from the woods. Then on Wednesday we met a guy named Scott who said he could call Joe for us that night. Later that day we met Devon, who had dreamed of one day hiking the PCT. We talked with her most of the evening and she offered to drive us to Seattle from the hot springs. We were all looking forward to one last day of hiking, so had to decline her generous offer. She was able to do us a huge favor, though, by taking our packs up to Sonora Pass so we didn't have to carry them on our bushwhack adventure. Thank you Devon! This morning we took one last soak and Ben and Ezra did an alcohol state building demo for Jerry, Natalie, and their neighbor Christina. We forded the frigid waters of the middle fork Soqualmie River and left our packs by Devon's truck. Forded back to the caretaker's cabin and Jerry, Natalie, and Christina escorted us to the Cascade Crest trail across the Burntboot River. They walked with us for half a mile up the abandoned trail before bidding us farewell. The trail was great fun. Someone had marked the tricky areas with pink ribbons which made trail finding quite easy. It was exciting to be in such a beautiful forest that few people will ever see. The best part was finding two metal blazes from the 1930s that said Pacific Crest Trail System. This trail used to be the PCT! As we climbed above the forest we came to a section of huckleberry bushes that would have been nearly impassible if not for the handiwork of a recent hiker who came through with clippers. So as it turned out, this abandoned trail had been maintained just enough to make for a nice walk. Rock slide had knocked out some of the final switchbacks up to the pass but what a great last climb up to Red Pass. As we reached the Pass, topping the last ascent of our trip, we got our best view so far of Mt. Ranier. A perfect ending. We walked about three miles back to the official PCT where we found a present. A hiker who had done a large PCT section this year had left a bag of apples hanging from a tree. The not attached said, "PCT hikers, congratulations for making it this far." We had already hiked the last two miles of the trail earlier this week but it was in the rain and now we got to see the views we had missed. We could see Red Pass which had more meaning to us now that we had just climbed over it. We didn't know if Joe had gotten our message, but he pulled into the parking lot just as we arrived. Perfect. We were surprised to meet two thru-hikers at Snoqualmie Pass and were able to help them out. They were about to check into a hotel for the night because they needed to mail out a package and the post office had already closed. They wanted to keep hiking, so we took the package to Seattle and mailed it for them. It was only an hour to the city and Joe brought us to Gorditos for the biggest burritos we have ever seen. And that is that. The journey continues, but the hike is over. We sure had a good time. - Jonny

Day 178 Our final day - and what a perfect way to end! We had a very sweet sendoff from our new friends - Goldmeyer caretakers Gerry and Natalie, and their neighbor Christine - who helped us to find our unbeaten path. Our days walk was back to Snoqualmie Pass along an abandoned CCC trail that hadn't been maintained in 30 years. And to top it off our other new friend, Devon, drove our packs to the pass for us. So we were footloose and free for the day. We had a wonderful day's walk on former PCT tread and when it ended our hero Joe was there at the trailhead to bring us back to civilization (i.e. burritos). All this incredible help today has really brought into focus how much good I've been given by people along the way. We have been the recipients of so much generosity these past months, I don't know if I'll ever be able to return it all. Many folks, friends and strangers alike, have helped us out in hundreds of ways. I'd never be able to list everyone. But I do want to send special thanks to a few trail angels who are truly incredible. First of all, this walk could not have happened without the help of my parents, who made sure there was a well-stocked box waiting for me at every post office along the trail. Also, a good many folks along the trail opened their homes to the Menacing Vegetables and many others as well. These people provide a critical slice of comfort, which is often in short supply on the trail. Many thanks to Pat and Paul at Kamp Anza; Helen and Don of the Pink Motel; Donna and Jeff in Agua Dulce; Mark in Arcata; Kevin, Martha and Aaron in Seattle; and Chris and Jenelle in Leavenworth. And finally, Tanner and Melanie deserve an enormous standing ovation for the creation and upkeep of this website. Having an audience and a connection to our families and friends has enriched this walk way beyond my expectations. There are hundreds more to thank - for hitchhikes, apples, words of kindness - it all made this walk a true life-altering adventure. Thank-you all and happy trails. - Kaptain Krumholz

Day 178—One of the best days, and, sadly, the last day, of the Menacing Vegetables PCT hike. Today, the universe was on our side and everything went perfectly. After a touching sendoff from the whole Goldmyer crew, we hiked the last 9 miles to the pass on an old CCC trail from the 30’s that hadn’t been maintained in decades. Despite lots of brush and downed trees, we were able to follow the trail easily, thanks to the good work of a mystery “guerilla maintainer” with hand clippers and pink ribbons. The trail was originally part of the old Cascade Crest trail, and we were amazed to discover ancient, rusted PCT blazes nailed to a couple of trees—we were actually hiking the original Pacific Crest Trail! We were able to hike with day packs, thanks to “hero of the week” Devon (thank you Devon!!), who we met yesterday at Goldmyer, and who agreed to drive our packs to Snoqualmie. The day was sunny and clear, we had incredible views of Rainier, and I was both sad that our trail was coming to an end, and thrilled at our good fortune to be ending the hike on such a day. Thanks to everyone who has read along this far—hope you enjoyed it-- and especial thanks to Tanner for doing such a good job on this site. Goodbye. - Staggerin' Willie

This week's ask Squirrelfight-
Your Friend Dan of Winooski, VT writes:
Dear Squirrelfight,
"Now that you are done with your hike, what are you going to do for the rest of your life?"

Dear Dan,
I'm sorry, but I don't go by "Squirrelfight" anymore. Please call me Jonny. Thanks for writing.

Final Stats using Jonny's numbers
178 Days (April 11 - October 5)
1609.3 PCT miles walked
357.9 Miles of side trips and alternate routes
1967.2 Total miles walked
9.04 PCT miles per day average
11.05 total MPD average
12.75 MPD not including days off (27 days)
13.15 MPD not including zero mile days (10)
14.58 MPD not including town days (24)
5.87 average on town days
12 20+ mile days
5 100+ mile weeks (and 1 99.6 mile week)
994.5 PCT miles saved for later
148 # of thru-hikers that we know of who began the PCT this year
102 # who may have finished
12 # who we know we didn't meet.

It has been one week since we've been off the trail and three weeks since I made an laptop entry. I simply didn't feel compelled to write. This doesn't mean the scenery and experiences were not more than notewrothy. I just have difficulty putting such wonderful things into the same descriptive words. Plus I'm certain our web viewers are on for the pics, not our daily accounts of snacking,humming and talking to ourselves along the trail. I will say one thing about our hike the last several weeks- I took it for granted. Washington, every mile of it, was filled with splendor and peacefulness. I had been in the woods for so long, it had become such a comfortable environment that I forgot it wouldn't be my home forever. And so now as I sit in Seattle drinking coffee in a comfortable home I can't help but cry. It's the little things I'll always miss the most; sitting on soft duff while eating my snack, sticking my nalgene strait in a spring or stream for the yummiest water,watching the birds and butterflies flutter away as you walked down the trail, sharing dinner and jokes with my friends. The list is endless. I'll just say that no societal modern convienences(or food desires) ever outwayed the desire to be on the trail. I can only hope and pray that Jonny and I have the opportunity to find our trail again. Peace and Love - Pickle : )

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