Mile 2445.8: a good shitty campspot and gentler Cascades.

When we got to Delate Creek, there was not much camping. The downside of hiking with other hikers is competing for tentspots, I suppose. Micro and I backtracked to a little shelf under a huge tree that she had seen in the midst of switchbacks, and we set up the tent there. It looked terrible: bumpy and small. It also had giant ants.

I woke up in the middle of the night with my sleeping pad completely flat. Then I realized that I was more comfortable in that moment than I ever had been before on the trail. The soft, thick layer of duff was gently spooning me. I slept like a baby.

When we passed the campspot with all the other hikers, we heard about their horror-story of a night. The place was infested with mice, Maybelline woke up to one on her face. It sounded awful. Nonstop was told, "Kill it! Kill it!" by Maybelline, but the rest of camp, when polled, was undecided. He looked at the mouse, and the mouse looked at him, and he went soft.

The day was uneventful. The rain of the night abated to a drizzle, then just fog, and brief sunshine, followed by more rain. The trail took us up and down countless switchbacks for a 2,200' climb and descent and more climbing. I night-hiked into Deep Lake with Nonstop and Maybelline, who was feeling sick after drinking too much coffee.

- Typoed on my iPhone