Good morning, this is Joy. Ron and Kendra had an unexpected stop last night into the small town of Skykomish, as they missed the window to pick up a package in Stevens Pass. Steven Pass is a ski resort with a coffee shop and the coffee shop holds packages for thru-hikers, but are only open from 10am-2pm each day. So, they hitched a ride from Stevens Pass the 16 miles to Skykomish and were able to eat at a restaurant and sleep in a hostel.
Ron said it was challenge getting a ride into town. They tried for over an hour before a man and his young son finally picked them up. It was in the 7pm timeframe so maybe less traffic??? I don’t know. Either way, they have to find a ride out of Skykomish today, so hopefully it won’t be so difficult for them.
The last few days have been a very difficult section for them. They had a few days of rain and didn’t get a lot of sleep, which didn’t help. I don’t expect any of their remaining days to get any easier for them, unfortunately. Their backpacks will be heavy until the end, with more food to carry. I do see snow (hopefully, just snowflakes) in the future weather forecasts, and they will certainly hit cold temps — high of 40 and low of 28 — ouch!!! (Kendra hates the cold!) Their resupply box that they will pick up today does have warmer shirts for both of them and some ‘body’ warmers (which are just bigger hand warmers, per Kendra’s request lol.)
Once they get back on the trail today, they have 107 miles to their next stop, Stehekin, WA. They have 3 resupply boxes waiting at the post office there (heavy-heavy). This will require an 11 mile hitch/bus into town. With the bus schedule, the hikers are going to have to hit the window at the right time, to get into this town. Oh, and when the Post Office is open!! More logistics! So, we will see how this goes for them. This is their last resupply box and last town they will come to. At this point, there will be no cell phone service the 5 days to the end and the 2 days to turn around and hike out. So,,,, they will have to really conserve their electronic batteries, especially the Garmin, as we will have to rely on that for any communication.
The good news is that Ron and Kendra have 188 miles left until the border, so hopefully this excitement will carry them to the end! (I’m estimating 10 more days until they reach that point, but we will see.)
Happy Sunday everyone — and Thank You for following along on this blog and for your past and future prayers for the hikers!! I’m looking forward to getting these two home safely!!.