Post PCT - Mazama to Seattle
It looks like I've spent four nights at the Ravensong's Roost, yikes! The maximum stay Lion has allowed was two days but with an asterix that if someone wants to stay longer then they can ask, and that's what I did.
Feel like I've spent my time there quite well, I ate over 3 litres of walnut ice-cream, drunk 4.5 litres of soda but also built a shelf for the rocks people paint after the hike (I also painted one) and helped to clear up several new spots for the campsites as the big bubble of hikers will need way more space in few weeks time. I met a couple of people and not people walking on and off in my bubble - Zohan, Sugar, Starburst, Truman the dog, Forest and Stretch. I cycled 13 miles down to Winthrop in the heat of the day to resupply and fix my google pay, only to give up on the way back and catch a hitchhike with Cheryl who loaded my old rusty bike onto the back of her pick up truck. On the day three I got completely wasted on a hash cake that was supposed to be mild given to me by Starburst and I ended up lying in tent enjoying the sounds of nature completely unable to move. But most of all I allowed my body to recover and gave myself time to think about what to do next.
After a conversation with Forest who is in a similar situation to me (his flight back to Germany is not until mid of September) I've decided to hike an Oregon Coast Trail rather than Olympic Park Trail and there's few reasons for that. First of all I won't need any permits to hike the coast trail, it is a fairly new road and since it runs along the coast it won't require any GPS maps or special navigation. It will be very different to PCT with the lack of elevation gains and losses and vastly different scenery - and that's what I think I might enjoy more at the moment. I won't be aiming at thru hiking it either but since it's only 400 miles I might as well give it a go.
In the morning I packed my mobile home into a backpack, waited until Lion wakes up which she did around 8am to say my goodbyes and went on the road to catch a ride to Seattle. I got quite lucky as there was a girl I met in Stehekin called Laura also trying to get to Seattle (it's usually easier for two people to hitchhike). We got three rides in total before getting to our destination all within 15 minutes of waiting, result! First an older couple drove us to Rainy Pass about 10 miles down the road, then another couple coming back from a holiday drove us all the way to Everett just above Seattle and they even stopped along the way and bought us buffalo burgers and fries for lunch! Then Laura's friend picked us up from the Everett bus station and dropped me off in the city centre.
From here I was officially on my own and back into the concrete civilization - first action I took at this point was to fill in my water bottle, haha. Then I had a wander around the Seattle city centre, went next to The Space Needle, Museum of Pop Culture, first ever built Starbucks and finally grave of Bruce Lee (the randomness of all of these attractions amuses me). I didn't book any accomodation as all the hostel spaces were taken and paying 200$ for a night at the hotel was way out of my budget range, especially after paying 55$ for a haircut!
I'm camping tonight at the Volunteer Park in Seattle's city centre not far from Asian Art Museum and few hundred feet from Bruce Lee's final resting place. I'm in a fairly stealthy spot so my biggest concern are squirrels and friends who might opt to go after my food at night but hopefully it will be fine. Tomorrow I'll carry on exploring the city of grunge and attend the concert of Billy Strings in Marymoor Park in the outskirts of it which is the main reason I've come here in the first place! Then another night with squirrels and off to Portland we go!
Ravensong's Roost:
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