The day began on a gravel road. It was mindless walking and around 630am I met another person hiking the Pacific Northwest Trail. Then the route turned off the nice gravel road and ended. Bushwhacking began. It was through a burn zone and I was quickly covered in black along with cuts all over my legs. I came out ok the other side and was looking at Swan Lake. I was exhausted fighting through the underbrush, so I made some coffee, stripped naked and dove in the lake. That’s when the unthinkable happened. My glasses fell from my face and were somewhere in the water. I looked for 30 minutes and by nothing short of a miracle I found them. I put my clothes on and not 5 minutes of hiking later walked by a campground with at least 50 spots, most of them filled. I wonder if any of them had seen the naked plunge. The day grew hot and sucked my energy at the same time the route gained elevation, all the way over 6,000 feet. The weather has been pretty consistently in the low 90s and it is difficult to decide if water sources will be reliable, meaning I am often carry a couple extra pounds of water. On top of the hot weather, smoke is blowing in from Canadian fires, making everything look hazy and a little drearier than it should. Maybe the winds will change, but overall I am just crossing my fingers that no fires will block my path.
Miles 38
Total route miles 2865
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