Mile 2,464.7 - 2,476.3

Despite a totally clear night, our tent fly was soaked this morning. Between condensation from breathing and the small meadow we camped in, things were wet. Not a problem, today the sun shone bright and strong with temperatures reaching 80 degrees. I don't want to jinx us, but the long range weather forecast looks pretty good except for Tuesday, which shows rain showers. Other than that it looks warm and sunny. Of course that can change, so we are not holding our breath.

We had only 12 miles to hike to Steven's Pass. Those 12 miles had two major ups and downs. When we did arrive at Steven's Pass, our favorite trail angel "Coppertone" was there making his famous root beer floats for all hikers. We sat in his chairs while he made us floats. Another hiker named Buttercup came right behind us. We haven't seen him since California. Buttercup was meeting his wife Kristy here and offered us a ride into the town of Skykohmish, if he could fit us. Their car was packed, but some how they moved everything around to squeeze us in. That was very nice of them, but we did feel bad putting them through so much trouble.

We were all going to Skykohmish for the night so at least we weren't inconviencing them that way. Buttercup is insisting he take us back to the trail tomorrow morning, even though he is taking a few days off with his wife. Again he wouldn't listen to us saying that we would hitch a ride back to the trail. So at 6:30am he is driving us back to the trail. Thank you Buttercup and Kristy.

We like the very small town of Skykomish. The whole town may be only two blocks long, but it has real charm. As you enter town you cross a wide, shallow river on a large bridge with a sidewalk. Skykohmish is the type of town where you can walk to everything. The Post Office, the motel, the cafe, the gas station, and the market. That's just what we like about these small PCT towns. Attached to our motel is a nice restaurant with good food. We had both a late lunch and dinner there. That's another reason we like these small towns, real food.

Only a handful of hikers stay here in Skykohmish. Most go to the Dinsmore's, trail angels who host hundreds of PCT hikers every year. We decided to skip that party scene and stay in the quiet little town of Skykohmish. Maybe not that quiet, the train runs just feet away for our motel.

Morning light shines on Balance and Y-Knot as we descended from the ridge.

It's starting to look more and more rugged, like the North Cascades.

Cloudless skies.

Stevens Pass Ski Area.

Trail Angel "Coppertone" working his magic once again. We said our sad goodbyes, as he is not going any farther north.

Balance walking to our resupply market, which is just a gas station in Skykomish.