Half way through Washington

The Bridge of the Gods.  We cross the Columbia  River into the state of Washington.  Though you can't see her, Utah is right behind Vicky here.  Look for the tail.  It symbolizes fear and trepidation as Utah stares down at the river below her through steel mesh.

And we climb.  And then climb.  Climb.  And, oh yes, climb.

I still need help with flower IDs

Is that something to eat Mommy?  We all believe that our dog's nose has some sort of magical power.

The Columbia River from the PCT.

 This is the look from Vicky that Jay dreads.

 This is the look that Jay thinks about giving his mother when she gives him the look that he dreads.

Towards Panther Creek -- a Forest Service campsite, with kids!

a fire and Marshmallows.  This is Vicky showing off her technique of burning -- uh, we mean "toasting" marshmallows to their imminent death.

Mary -- a wonderful trail Angel who took Vicky to Carson, WA to get resupplies.  

 Yes, hello big mountain.

Have you hugged your kid today?  Or: Have you hugged your kid today with a solar powering device on your back?

 Hell yeah.

Where are we?

 "I want Alpo," says Utah as she decides to sit for this beautiful portrait.

 Here Jay and Kevin celebrate entering Indian Heaven Wilderness.

 Hello, frog.

Nothing like a good tree hole for camp.

 Ye olde PCT sign.  We saw many of these on the trail.

Big ass mountain in the background.  Where the hell are we?  

We found a weather balloon on top of Sawtooth Mountain.  Jay hiked the electronics package out and mailed it at Trout Lake.  

Ahhhh Wilderness -- Mt. Adams, that is.

Mount Adams

 Will we ever get there?

Jay checks out a Glacier on the side of Mt Adams

The William O. Douglas Wilderness. A hike to contemplate our civil and reproductive rights.

 Yeeeehah.

 This was much scarier than it looks here.  It's a gigantic bowl of snow that had 500 foot drops to hell.  We wore micro-spikes and carried ice axes (or their equivalent) through this area.  And though agnostic and atheist, we prayed.

 You can't see Mt. Rainier in the background here (look at the next photo for a sense of the view), we camped here to have the BEST views of the entire trail so far.  And we met a dude named Swami while camping here.

 Swami, a crazy-ass Australian (we mean that in the good sense of the term) who hikes all over the world and is now doing the "Triple Crown" hike -- PCT, CDT, and AT -- in one year.  Wow!!!  He was one of the kindest and coolest people we met on this hike.  As you can tell from here, our dog loved him.  We loved the conversation with him that lasted until 11pm and that included views of Mt. Rainier and stars above.

 Swami and coffee and oatmeal.  Yes, sir.

 Kevin with a hero of his and a GPS hanging from his neck.

 So after Mt. Rainier and William O. Douglas Wilderness, we entered "Fog City" -- literally.  Otherwise known as Norse Peak Wilderness.

 Norse Peak Wilderness as we experienced it.  Trees in fog and then peaks in... fog.

 Kevin happy that he made it through Norse Peak Wilderness.

 Urich Cabin.  Some people say that when you travel far from your home you get away, but then others say that when you travel far, you wind up reproducing your home terrain.  The latter applies in this case.  Here we met impish rednecks drinking huge quantities of Jim Beam and Vodka (look at the far left of this picture for the bottle) and looking cross-eyed.  Just like the front porches of frat houses in Athens, Ohio.  We thankfully didn't camp here.  Utah is looking for a way out.