After our excellent time exploring Olympic National Park, we left the peninsula but hung around for a few more days in Washington state. By chance, the Bigfoot 200 race had started nearby, and coincidentally I'm signed up to attempt it (!) next August.
Since we could fit it in, we offered to sweep a couple sections of the course. That worked out great, as the weekend sweep slots were covered but they needed help for the final couple days. I was psyched to see the course up-close and find out a little bit about what I'm getting myself into.
I did one section with Alex, including a lovely viewing spot looking out at Mount Adams:
A non-selfie version:
We found one runner asleep on the trail and accompanied him to the next aid station. Then more walking and talking and picking up ribbons. Alex took another picture of me and Mount Adams for good measure:
Looking north over green forests, with Mount Rainier off in the distance:
John swept the next section overnight with another volunteer, while I got a shower and some sleep. Then Robyn appeared (yay Robyn!) to trek with me from John's ending spot all the way to the finish line.
We were rambling (both the walking and the talking kind) when I stopped short. Robyn was behind me and didn't see why I had come to a sudden halt but immediately guessed - snake on the trail! Next thing I know, my pack is moving backwards with me attached to it. Thank you Robyn for putting some distance between me and the slithery thing.
Trying to coax the snake off the path:
Looks harmless - right?
We eventually caught up to Tony and Robby, chatting with them occasionally to see how they were doing and otherwise giving them some space. It seemed like they were moving well enough to make it to the finish line before the final cutoff.
So we had a bit of time to hang out at the top of a hill with another great view:
And the highlight - a stunning look at Mount Rainier:
We were super lucky to be there - I can only hope to be feeling 10% as good in this spot a year from now:
With our collection of sweep stuff at the final aid station:
Tony and Robby did great, eventually finishing the race together. Robyn and John and I got to the high school in time to watch them make the lap around the track to the finish line. Well done guys!
From there we started south, and it turns out there is a Dambo troll near Portland. Ole Bolle found a house to peer into!
With Robyn for scale - and these are just the coolest installations:
The scene from inside the house:
We are quite enamored with the trolls and hope to see more in future years!
Next stop was Bend, where we camped in a pine forest and then popped over to Newberry National Volcanic Monument to wander around the cinder cone:
John welcomes us to his domain amid the lava rocks:
A lone tree somehow grows:
Crater Lake! Always a fascinating place to visit. I'll never tire of staring at this scenery:
People were jumping in the water and swimming, while we were content to snap a few photos:
Another favorite of ours is Lava Beds National Monument, with its network of lava tubes. Robyn isn't fond of caves but she was game to venture into a larger one:
She even took the stairs down to the dark area, and I'm not sure what this is a picture of except it's proof that she was there:
Admiring pictographs at the entrance of another cave:
And finally, to Truckee where we met up with Dani and Cody and then went to a music festival in Reno. Here's proof that I will (very occasionally) go out for an evening show, as long as it's with friends:
Breakfast together in Truckee (and I know we're at the right elevation in the summer when we're wearing this many clothes). It was great to see Cody and Dani for a couple days!
Then it was time to get our backpacking gear sorted for another trekking adventure... coming soon to a blog post near you.
Photo credits include John, Robyn, and Alex
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