I had a rough night. We kept hearing an animal gnawing in the walls. It was probably just a mouse, but I was scared. One time, it sounded so close that we jumped out of bed and searched the room with a headlamp.
We ate biscuits and gravy and fruit salad for breakfast. We each took a peach back to the cabin. They were so juicy that we ate them over the sink. After relaxing about an hour, we returned to the lodge to pack lunch for our hike. I made a sandwich of hummus, lettuce, and sunflower butter. I was surprised Opal Creek offered plastic sandwich bags considering they promote conservationism and sustainability. I added some carrot sticks and two clementines to my lunch.
We had decided to hike to Whetstone Mountain in a counter-clockwise loop. After a short detour to Ruth Mine, we crossed a creek and hiked uphill. Plants were still wet from last night’s rain. The trail was so overgrown that we had to push through the wet brush, thus soaking our clothes and shoes. It was an arduous climb and every time I thought we were near the summit, the trail just continued to rise. Around six miles, we finally saw a sign for the lookout. We pushed upward to reach the summit in three hours. Unfortunately, it was so foggy that we couldn’t see much, but it was still rewarding to have reached the summit at 4,969 feet.
After eating lunch, we returned to the lookout sign and headed right towards the trailhead. I hoped the trail would be less overgrown, but it was actually worse. We were wet and cold, but there was nothing to do but continue. Relieved to reach the trailhead, we walked about three easy miles back to our cabin. On the way, I was overjoyed to see Hercules on the trail. We gave him a few pets before he walked away to greet another family.
After 13.67 miles, we finally reached our cabin. The trail was pretty boring (except for the nine newts and lots of slugs) and the summit was underwhelming, but we felt proud of our accomplishment. John started a fire to dry our clothes and we each took a warm (no hot water) shower. I started a 547-piece puzzle (three pieces were missing) and John read while we anxiously awaited dinner.
Like the summit of Whetstone Mountain, dinner was pretty disappointing. There was mediocre pizza and salad. John enjoyed the chocolate banana cake, but I didn’t try it. We returned to the cabin where I finished the puzzle and John finished his book.