Washington

8/8

Today I crossed over the Columbia River from Oregon and into Washington. 

The Bridge of the Gods is how I got across and it was a narrow two lane bridge with no pedestrian path. Kind of sketchy. 

I spent the previous night in a motel in Cascade Locks and Drama picked me and Muirbird up(who I called early bird in a previous post) and he took us to the full sail brewery in Hood River.

I got a burger and a beer float with vanilla ice cream. I probably wouldn't get the float again. The burger, however, was delicious.

It was a long climb out of cascade locks, and while people have been saying how difficult the climb will be for some time now I just didn't find it too difficult. Washington is very similar to the Sierras in terms of it's elevation profile, but it is at a much lower elevation. When I hiked the Sierras a few months ago all of those climbs and descents caused so much anxiety, but with that experience under my belt I now know I can conquer a lot of the things that used to intimidate me with general ease. It's going to be a state filled to the brim with hard work, but to achieve my goal of finishing before September comes I only need to average 22.5 miles per day. That takes a lot of pressure off. Now I just hope I'm here early enough to largely avoid the rains.

-Luke