Here are some photos and memories from his trip in his own words prompted by a question as to whether they saw any bears or had to carry a gun for protection.
No, we didn't see any bears, but we saw their poop on the trail (along with racoon poop, deer poop, elk poop, and lots and lots of horse poop). And we saw bear tracks and cat tracks (small, probably lynx or bobcat) within yards of our tents on the third morning. The tracks weren't there the night before, and it had rained hard in the night.
On the last night, high on Rainier, Chad says he heard something "pad" through our campsite, something that was definitely not a small critter. Since several hikers and the park ranger had made a point to alert us that a mama bear and her cubs, and a great big papa bear, had been frequenting the meadow for several days, I'm happy to let Chad think it was whatever he thinks it was. But the rest of us were fast asleep and heard nothing, and nothing is what I think it was. Or it could have been one of the elk that we saw up on the hill, which we heard bugling all evening. Or it could have been a camper from another site, trying to find the pit toilet in the dark. Best view from any toilet you've ever sat on, by the way.
We did not carry firearms, although we considered it. We didn't even carry bear spray (pepper spray), although we bought some and then left it at home to save weight and because a frequent hunter in our group assured us we wouldn't need it. But then on that last night, the park ranger was carrying HIS bear spray, so there you go.
We did not see any weirdos, unless you count thru-hikers. But they were all perfectly friendly, and pretty busy making their 20-30 miles a day. They were all happy to chat about their experiences on the trail, and encouraging to us for doing a trip as long as two weeks. These people spend 5 straight months hiking!
Like on the Appalachian Trail, they spend the summer hiking from south to north, Mexico to Canada. And they take on "trail names" for the length of their trek. We met Ridgewalker and Accent (she spoke with an accent), Irish (he was Irish), and Overdose, and Milk Jug (because he carried his water in a milk jug).
We took on trail names, too, just to get in the spirit, and the thru-hikers thought that was cool. Mike was Turtle, because he was slow but persistent. Ken was Epic, for reasons that can't be described here. Chad from Tampa was Six, because as we were hiking on his first day from 4000 feet up to 6000 feet, Tim asked him "What's the elevation of Tampa, 12?" and Chad replied "Six". I was Pusher, as in Gorp Pusher, because in an effort to reduce the weight of my pack, I insisted everyone eat plenty of gorp trail mix every time we rested.
Here are a few more pix I hope you'll enjoy!
Tim's henna ink "tattoo" (it's painted on, no needles, fades completely in about 2 weeks), as we gazed for the first time on Mt. Adams, a 12,000 foot peak we could hike the shoulder of at about 6,000 feet a few days hence.
Ken's huckleberries. We ate lots and lots of these during the first week. Very tasty!
Supper on Day 9. It was about 30 degrees, had just finished snowing/sleeting lightly. Note that our excellent meal consists of peanut butter, whole wheat pita, apple, and large chunks of summer sausage and pepper jack cheed. Yum! We ate hot meals most of the time.
Mount Adams again, several days after passing it, looking back at it from this lovely alpine meadow, where we got water from a spring.
And our first view of Mt. Rainier that same day, just a few minutes later. Looks cold, doesn't it! Elevation about 7,000 feet!
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