Oh boy…
It rained all throughout the night, and this morning when I woke up it was raining still. There were 19 miles left to Cascade Locks, and the thought of putting on my wet shoes and socks made me want to crawl back so deep into my sleeping bag I’d never get out. But of course that wouldn’t do… Sigh.
I started breaking down camp and finished with packing up my soaking wet tent and tyvek. They needed to be dried asap, because cleaning while still wet, there’s just no way to properly clean them.
I kept switching from listening to music, to audio-book, to music again, trying to find something to uplift my somber mood. None of it really worked. It was cloudy and raining pretty much the whole of the morning. I wasn’t hungry, and wasn’t thirsty, and just wanted to get into town where I’d have the option to get a warm shower. Telling myself that rain is something I’d better get used to now that we’re getting further up North didn’t help either. I tried to embrace the situation as it was, but hiking long, long hours when feeling cold and wet is just not enjoyable. I passed a sign telling me we are however getting closer and closer to Mount Doom. So that’s something…
I was happy it was a relatively short day. There was a long and very steep descent where the trail would over 4000 feet, almost all the way back to sea-level. With the slippery and rocky terrain it was rough on the knees.
During the second half of the afternoon I came to a clearing, and after almost 6 hours of hiking through the rain, the clouds parted and I was finally basking in sun-light. Yihaaaaaah! It was the best part of the day! I quickly pitched my tent, rolled out my tyvek, and placed my puffy on the ground, all to dry. I was now able to get rid of the most of the soil that had been caked to my tent and tyvek sheet, and was happy to learn that it did not take more than 15 minutes for everything to dry out. It was peculiar to experience how my mood, that had been very dark the majority of the day, shifted completely to the other side of the spectrum in almost an instant.
I gained a little confidence in that observation.
Around 1700 I made it into Cascade Locks, the town next to the border with Washington. I called Double-D, and they told me that they were all camped nearby at a campsite. I quickly devoured a hamburger at the nearby diner and met up with them. Benjamin Button, Arms, Double-D and Gourmet and Croc were there. I took a shower, we went out for dinner, and I got my laundry done.
Tomorrow I will hike over the Bridge of the Gods, crossing the Columbia River into Washington! On the other side of the water lies Stevenson, a town with better resupply options than in Cascade Locks. I will go there to sort out my food situation and packages and then hike on for the first miles into Washington.
The final state. 
Woke up this morning, can’t shake the thunder from last night
You left with no warning and took the summer from my life
I gave you my everything, now my world it don’t seem right
Can we just go back to being us again?
‘Cause when I’m sitting in the bar
All the lovers with umbrellas always pass me by
It’s like I’m living in the dark
And my heart’s turned cold since you left my life
And no matter where I go
Girl, I know if I’m alone, there’ll be no blue sky
I don’t know what I’m doing wrong
‘Cause baby, when you’re gone
All it does is rain, rain, rain down on me
Each drop is pain, pain, pain when you leave
It’s such a shame we fucked it up, you and me
‘Cause baby, when you’re gone
All it does is rain
Rain – The Script
