Another Zero in Stevens Pass

I woke up after a bit of a fitful night’s sleep. I was really anxious about getting back on the trail. I was also really anxious about getting my resupply package.

I got up and headed down to the common room, checking the weather. Yesterday, there were rain showers predicted for the early afternoon today, clearing up later in the day. I wanted to get a couple miles in tonight after my resupply package finally came. However, by this morning the showers were predicted to go at least until 7 pm. The high was also only supposed to only be in the upper 30s. I would have to consider staying another night.

For breakfast the host, Jeff, made pancakes and oatmeal. I absolutely stuffed myself with calories and then went back to doing research about various things on my phone.

Most people who stayed last night were staying tonight as well. After breakfast Jeff made an announcement about the food stores that were left at the lodge. They were pretty low. He suggested if people were headed into Leavenworth, they could pick up supplies for dinner.

After a big discussion, we decided to pool $5 or more per person and a couple of the more gifted culinary hikers would fix a fancy dinner for everyone. The money leftover would go to buying beer for the group. Between that and the weather forecast, I decided to stay another night.

The Leavenworth group left, as well as a group going to Skykomish to pick up their packages. Muffin Man, with whom I hiked Mt. Whitney, lives in Seattle and had driven out for the day to visit people he had hiked with. He drove the Skykomish group to their destination.

I waited around until it was after 1 pm and then announced that I was going to go down to the main resort area to get a panini (they had a little coffee shop open during lunchtime). That created a panini run among the other hikers still at the lodge.

I went down, bought my food, and got a notification that my resupply package had been delivered. It was delivered to the same building as the coffee shop, so I checked with the woman at the front desk. She knew exactly what package I was looking for. With resupply packages you are supposed to write the ETA of the hiker. My Trail Angel had written “ETA: NOW” on the package. That had made a lot of people chuckle.

Before I headed out, I noticed that the resort was selling clothing. I wandered around the racks a couple times. I didn't want to carry extra weight and the clothes were all technical clothing and therefore expensive. I thought about how cold it was and how I might get back on trail and kick myself for not buying an extra layer when I had the chance. I broke down and bought a $80 hooded technical fleece.

I took my package and fleece back to the lodge and unpacked the box/repacked my food bag. I had a lot of food and plenty of snacks. However, I was missing the protein bars and Complete Cookies that I usually eat for breakfast. There is always something missing.

I then checked my equipment/contents of my backpack, organized everything, and took a shower. By the time I had finished, the Leavenworth crew was back with the groceries.

I hung out while several people helped make dinner, led by Rooster. It was an absolute spread. Honestly, it was probably the best meal I have eaten on the trail. There was salad, croissants, rizzotto, and several sauteed vegetable dishes. I don't know how it was made/seasoned but it was gourmet. Every bit was eaten and people were licking their plates. For dessert we had apple crisp with ice cream.

The line for dinner.

My plate didn't look this way for long.

After that a couple of us played a round of Cards Against Humanity, then most people packed up, getting ready to head out the next day.