blue lakes glacier peak wilderness = crude post beware

this is why it's worth owning a backcountry oven. homemade pizza dough with pesto & cheese in less than a half hour.

sweet sierra designs beverage slings

our trip was one bust after another.
1) sunday 2 pm... 123 thai was closed
2) we sped to kingston ferry terminal hungry. ferry had a 2 plus hour wait.
3) we sped to winslow ferry, backed up for an hour
4) we crossed at 4pm
5) drove to arlington REI to get topo maps for blue lakes...required 3 maps
6) annoyed with mass amounts of traffic, we buy a six pack and start drinking as soon as
we turn off onto 531 heading towards Darrington. still have not eaten
7) pull onto forest road as the sun is setting, no one on the roads...good sign.
8) backed up traffic jam on forest road with horse trailers...WTF!
9) get set back due to major search and rescue teams, horses, dogs, helicopters, etc.
10) make it to sauk river camp/trailhead for White Pass & Blue Lakes. it's packed with horses, cars, dead beat hillbilly camps.
11) we pitch the tent and finally cook while getting masacred by mosquitoes.
12) in tent by 10 pm, fed, drinking bourbon & playing cards
13) wake to daphne barking at 2 horses galloping next to our tent, 3 am.
14) daphne continues to growl until we rise at 6 am, at grazing horses and asses.
15) quick cup of coffee, quick take a shit, quick pack up, quick on the trail for 12 miles by 7am.
16) trail starts nice, open, and we cross the river on some pretty narrow trees
17) next 4 miles are the most grueling hiking i have ever done on a barely maintained trail partially up a drainage stuffed with large rocks, thistle and loose dirt. blood suckers are the worst i have ever experienced...even coming from the midwest.
18) we are drenched in sweet, swollen with bites and cursing each step...we are not even half way.
19) it begins to rain.
20) i'm fucking pissed.
21) we call our losses and dream about a beer
22) we turn around, but on the slide down daphne gets stung by a bee
23) we encounter a 3 person trail maintance team who informs us that the skeets are horrendous at Pilot Ridge (what was our half way destinantion) they have emptied 4 cans off % 100 deet in 3 days.
24) on our descend we pass more people than on a busy day in the Olympics
25) we promise to never go backpacking in August and to order a service dog vest for Daphne asap....
26) Olympic National Park here we come.
27) Darrington, eat a bottle cap outta my ass
28) by 1 pm we are back in the car with a giant french press and animal cookies, destination Anacortes
29) rockfish, downpouring rain, pints, fish & chips & golf.
30) campsites all around Deception Pass = full of inbreds.
31) i've determined that i was bitten 100 times by inbred blood mosquitoes in darrington, i buy more beer
32) we drink our way to the ferry terminal, laughing and having a blast, it's still pouring
33) we make the 7:30 ferry
34) pass out on crossing
35) home by 8:30
36) manhattans & reflect on our $ 100 camp trip with little camping, lots of discomfort and many new memories