Today was a great adventure because we got to see some amazing mountains and we ate delicious town food. The morning started out a little rough because we argued the night before and hadn’t really resolved it but soon we figured it out and were starting to think about the possibility of town food. The hiking was very wooded and downhill in the morning and we were going to pass Forest Service Road 23 that supposedly you could get a hitch to Trout Lake. It was a little hard to believe that we could get a ride on a remote Forest Road. Originally Sherpa and I planned on skipping Trout Lake and had plenty of supplies. I was for going in to Trout Lake but Sherpa had talked me out of it.
Now that we were approaching the Forest Service Road however, Sherpa was getting a serious case of hiker hunger and now it was clear that we needed some good luck so that we could get in to Trout Lake and back out so that we could get a full day of hiking in. This was one of the worst case of hiker hunger I witnessed on the trail. I tried to play it cool but I knew mama needed burgers and fast. We arrived at the road just before noon and there was a trash can where a local monastery leaves trail magic. The trash can was empty and we were slightly dejected. Comments in Gut Hook said that people had waited hours for a ride and so we tried our best not to get to excited about our prospects.
We went across the street and started eating our lunch half heartedly while we kept our eyes on the road for a hitching opportunity. Luckily we could hear when cars were coming and a few cars passed by, but in the wrong direction. A few minutes passed and Jackpot and Storm showed up and we asked them if they were planning on going in. They said they were going to wait on Yeti to see if he wanted to go in.
After a few minutes of snacking, putting off the main course of lunch. We saw a truck roll up with a couch in the back, loaded with hikers. Our luck held once again and we greeted Gary, a trail angel that does laps and takes people to and from Trout Lake. Sherpa and I piled in the back of the truck and Gary gave me a Gatorade and Sherpa took a lemonade.
It was so much fun going down the road, on a couch, in the back of a pickup, drinking ice-cold beverages, and seeing amazing views of Mt. Adams in the distance. It was about 15 minutes before we reached Trout Lake and we were pleasantly surprised by what we found there. Gary dropped us at the General Store and we walked about a block over to the restaurant slash, coffee shop slash, ice cream parlor.
They had great outdoor seating and even though it was terribly hot in the sun, the shade was very pleasant. We grabbed a large table and sat at the end and ordered drinks. Sherpa got huckleberry lemonade and I ordered a Pepsi, which I refilled many times till I started feeling shaky.
While we were having lunch another hiker joined us named Pretzel. We chatted with her for a while and then we went to try to get some ice cream. They didn’t have any chocolate ice cream so Sherpa decided not to get any. I ordered an iced mocha and then we decided it was probably time to start thinking about heading back to the trail. Reluctantly we decided to go to the General Store and then begin hitching. On our way back we learned that Gary was making another trip soon and sure enough we found him waiting at the General Store.
We asked him if we could join his trip up and he agreed, so Sherpa and I grabbed the couch seats again. Pretzel was still not there and apparently was getting some food. Gary started getting impatient and I offered to go round everyone up but he said they would come soon. It was very hot and he started to look annoyed and he jumped in the front of the truck and we drove to the restaurant .
Pretzel was there along with a hiker Adam. They got in the truck but said we needed to wait for Turk, who was waiting on food he had ordered. Sherpa and I exchanged glances. We felt bad for Gary who was starting to get annoyed by the hikers and we felt that he was being taken advantage of a little. Though I am sure that no one meant any harm. It was just absent-minded behavior that is common among long distance hikers. It is easy to take people’s generosity for granted when it is so abundant.
Eventually all were accounted for and we made our way up the steep, winding forest road. Along the way, Gary stopped so we could take pictures of Mount Adams. It was one of my favorite hitches thus far. We gave Gary a few dollars to help with his troubles and then piled out of the truck. I grabbed a Mountain Dew out of his cooler and a bunch of other, previously dejected, hikers piled in the truck for the ride down.
After we saddled up and began walking we soon approached the Mount Adams Wilderness and began a hot ascent to the base of Mount Adams. On the way we went through an exposed burned out section that was recovering. I believe that Gary indicated that it had burned several years ago.
When we were nearly at the top of our ascent, we passed a pair of weekend hikers. One of them was suffering from heat exhaustion and was sitting on the trail. We offered help and water and the two said they were fine and just needed to cool down. It was a hot spot to cool down but there was not much we could do to make the situation better so we continued on.
We continued on and reached the top of our climb and walked over many volcanic rocks and pumice. Soon we arrived at Lewis River where we planned to camp and there we met Nimbles, Jackpot, and Storm. They were surprised to see us and a little sad that they didn’t try to go to Trout Lake. We tried our best not to brag and we felt bad because Sherpa had told them that we would bring them something and we had forgotten.
I needed to use the bathroom urgently and Sherpa offered to set up the tent while I was gone. I was so glad that I did because I stumbled across an amazing view of the surrounding area. The smoke created some amazing layers of color and light.
I returned to camp to find that Sherpa had set up the tent. I ate with her and we turned in. I vaguely remember the moon being really bright and being self-conscious about all the noise I was making when turning on my pad in the night. We were all camped so close together and poor Nimbles was cowboy camping right next to us. I hope I didn’t keep him up. Other than tossing and turning a few times during the night, we slept like little hiker babies.