Will Shave Head for Donations...

I will shave my head if we reach $5k for Alzheimer's Australia. $10k would be great... but $5k is pretty good too. 

What a difference a few days can make! We have headed south from Stevens Pass toward Snoqualmie. The snow has decided to politely crawl back into the shadows and fill the creeks, streams and rivers and leave us to hike. Simply hike. We have not had to pull the map, gps or Guthook app out (which we finally purchased) every 200m to figure out which way to go; the path is clearly visible and, but for the odd patch, free from snow.

It was Neil's 39th birthday on Friday 13th so it seem appropriate for us to be attacked by mozzies to the point of wanting to rip our skin off as we walked passed lakes of hatching soldiers ready to pierce our clothing and skin. We found a camp site with a breeze and no water in sight in an effort to hide from their relentless effort. It was to be considered a success. Neil poured boiling water into the bag and we celebrated 20 minutes later with lasagna. Happy Birthday Peter Pan!  Until yesterday we had not used our mp3 players to listen to books, music, Spanish (Neil) and French (me). I think the last 2 weeks had been so intense and involved so much consultation that we simply didn't have time or desire or headspace to be anywhere but present. However as the path now readily shows its face there is a lot of time to now fill with thoughts and ideas and not thinking of dying. I am learning French again, listening to a book about sugar and why it is evil and listening to old Triple J Hottest 100 songs. I have not yet heard a female artist!  Since I am a lazy reader and like to talk more about liking reading than actually reading, we sent my e-reader back to Garrett's mum in Texas so I don't have to carry the 200 grams (or read). So Neil is currently reading me The Magician by Raymond E Feast. It's become a nightly ritual and then we get to recap on the walk the following morning (mainly as I fall asleep about 2 pages in).  The walk has changed a lot this week. The sun burns bright, the snow is barely there and we can start to get the miles in. *** Now in Snoqualmie Pass at the Summit Inn. The Chevron worker next door told Neil in Spanish that he wouldn't pay to stay there... but the price of a shower and washing machines knows no limits.  As we are checking in another hiker says "did you hear about the Aussie who fell 40 feet down Cutthroat Pass?" I burst out laughing, "Yes, me." Its funny how news travels up and down the trail. The lightning strike, the giardia, the cutthroat fall, the missing, the dead... while true, you can usually add 10%. My garmin nicely mapped my 2 falls! We needed to hitch to Snoqualmie town to get new shoes (as my zero drop hike shoes have turned my Achilles tendon into an angry Scotsman) and post extra weight back to Texas (again). I didn't expect to end up at a gun and ammo shop called Bigg Dogg (I think). At first I found it amusing when our man said 'oh I just need to make one more stop to the gun store to by a gun for my kid's birthday'. I went with it. It was a novelty. My palms sweated a little and I put that down to the weather and the lack of a/c in the shop. I looked at the guns...'learned' that 'assault rifles' are not a thing that can be legally purchased/sold (???) but that a green tipped bullet could 'go through' 15 people (???).  It's now after midnight and we have had an awesome dinner at Aardvark Truck and chatted with locals and had a lovely evening. I've been lying awake for the past hour trying to sleep. The image of the guns keeps coming back. My heart rate increased; a simultaneous feeling that my muscles slowly helix in discomfort. Why does the everyday man need a gun or 2 or more?  Stay safe. J x