Weeklong Backpacking: Day 6

Steven, Ian, Austin and I were all speeding down the one mile of down hill, hoping our fifteen minute headstart would give us enough time to rest at the end of the bridge. My knees and ankles hurt, both being punished by the trail and its rocks. When we heard the rushing water of the Hoh River we raced to the bottom and ran across the bridge. This was where we were supposed to stop. After ten minutes Ryan and Colin caught up with us, and in half an hour a leader came saying he could wait for us. I buddied with Steven, and we went after the others.

Steven and I hiked the same way that we did going up the mountain, even though the rest of the journey would be flat. The miles seemed to go by faster, and soon we could take fast and long steps. We sped past hikers taking breaks and charged until we got to the Olympus Guard Station, where we were to have lunch. Steven and I were the first there, and the benches they had seemed like the had come from heaven. We took of our packs, sat down, and waited. Four other scouts joined us, but we waited for an hour until the two last scouts came. To pass the time while they were not there, we played games like hide and seek. Once the last two came, we were all ready to eat. We broke out the best lunch of the trip: Hummus and matzos. The crumbs made it very messy, but it tasted like the best lunch in the world. On our next camping trip, I am going to demand we bring those.

There are a few things that can ruin a perfect hiking day. One of those things is torrential downpour. The Hoh Rainforest was living up to its name as everybody put on rain jackets and pack covers. The hiking became more miserable, and everybody was seperated. I found Austin taking a break in a quick break in the rain, and by the time we got to an emergency shelter where others were stopping, the rain had stopped and we were less than a mile from the campsite. We waited for the slow hikers, and then pushed forward, making it to the campsite to found the group site taken by two people. We were supposed to have this spot, and we paid for it. They didn't want to move, so we found two individual spots and hoped that the ranger didn't come. This was the last campsite, and tommorow we only needed to do five miles to get to our cars. Some wanted to leave that day, but were outvoted because it would take too long to drive home and we would get home around 1:00 am. We built a campfire and some dried their socks and boots. Ian's boots were too close, and soon his boots were getting charred. He grabbed them and threw them into the sand, then buried them. The whole process was hilarious. By the time we got to bed, we were all dreaming of tommorow and what being home would be like.