Winter is approaching

[These posts will be a bit shorter than usual as I am once again forced to use my phone. And, also, I'm pretty tired (and am leaving early in the morning)]

9/13: (10.4 miles) This morning I had breakfast at the Country Inn and after a shower and a final packing of supplies, I got a ride back to the trail. At the trailhead there was a nice couple waiting for a hiker friend of theirs with treats and goodies (which they invited me and some other hikers to take part in). Chocolate bars, ice cream, fruit! I started hiking and camped on the side of Mt. Adams. It got quite cold this night!

9/14: (21.6 miles) Got going late this morning as it was REALLY cold. I left camp around 9:45. Soon after starting it began to snow. Very light, harmless snow but around 11am it was cold enough (and snowing hard enough) to start coating everything. I quickly put on rain pants and headed out. As I dropped in elevation, snow turned to rain and eventually the rain stopped altogether. But it continued to be freezing cold all day long. I camped around dusk at a spot that had much less water than I would like (but still enough).

9/15: (21.6 miles) Again, going late because of the cold. No snow at all today, just freezing cold all day. Today was plenty of uphill. Had to go over Cispus Pass (not too hard. Just lots of work uphill). Also, Goats Rocks and something called the Knife's Edge. Yeah. VERY freaky. Walking over lots of loose rocks and snow on steep uphills/downhills where the path is about one foot wide and either side is a steep drop off. And did I mention the freezing wind? Yeah, the freezing wind. (See the picture below for "freaky factor"). After all that I rushed down the rest of the hill to get to my planned camping spot (next to a lake).

9/16: (12.3 miles) Nice morning. Got up at 7 and couldn't see my breath so that was a good sign. Got going by 8:30! Today is town day so I was eager to get there. In fact, so eager that I only took one break in the 12.3 miles of hiking today. I got to the highway right at 1pm and got picked up within the half hour and taken down to Packwood, WA. Paid $65 for a hotel room and I've been chilling in here since. Gotta head out early tomorrow!