Wow, last night was cold! I ended up sleeping with two pairs of socks, and my hiking pants over my long johns. And my tent’s inside was all covered in frost in the morning.

For the second time on the trail, I made hot oatmeal for breakfast, and we took our time packing up. My fingers and feet were still numb when we headed out, and only after about 20 minutes they felt good again. After we got to the sunny side of the ridge, it was all very nice and pleasant. Most of today’s trail wasn’t too hard, except for one tough climb with many switchbacks in the middle of the day. From there it was easier ridge walking all the way into Hart’s Pass.

We got here and met Rock Ocean. He is hanging around to make one final shuttle to Seattle, but chances are that he’ll leave tomorrow, so it won’t help Lighthouse. We also met Pod - a triple crowner from way back, who got around here to hike this section.

They both started a fire, which helped when the cold started coming in after the sun came down. But so far it doesn’t seem as cold as yesterday, so I hope tomorrow morning will be better. Especially since we plan on waking up an hour earlier, at 5:30.

I thought about a special challenge for the last day - hiking with no knowledge of the time or checking out the trail apps and maps. I removed all the clocks from my phone. I will just walk on the trail as long as I can, and try not to take too many breaks until I reach the border. Lighthouse agreed to give it a shot as well.

A wide valley
A wide valley
Definitely getting closer (eh)
Definitely getting closer (eh)
The sun was setting right behind that tree
The sun was setting right behind that tree
Almost at Hart's Pass
Almost at Hart's Pass