What a start of the day. The sun just began to rise behind Mount Adams when we got high enough to overlook the sourroundings. Haze and smoke in all the valleys, the sun couloring everything and the mountains sticking out (and the moment when you wish you had a proper camera 😔).

 

And then we came around a corner and had the first view of Mt. Rainier. What a stunning and beautiful mountain. Made us want to climb it even more.

 

The water again was georgous. Running down the volcanic slopes of Mt. Adams. One spring came just out of a pile of lava rocks.

The scenery was beautiful. Probably one of the single most spectacular days on the trail. We had them all in one spot: Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens & Mt. Rainier. All together makes a happy hiker 😊

We hiked on and off with our old hiking buddy Martyn and his hiking partner Ellen. Great to have some familiar and nice company in this bubble.

I also found an old known one again in the mountains. I had seen some a few weeks ago in the outskirts of the High Sierra. A very familiar flower from the Alpes: Gentian (Enzian)!

1.5 more days to my new camera. I am excited. I am ok with what I was able to capture with my iPhone. I had to take it out of thr case every time for shots and then carefully put it back in without too much dirt. No zoom. No aperture. Some of these shots today could have been amazing ones – I know. But the outlook is great.

Kaylee and I also have a secret plan for the next days. Let’s hope it works out! 🤞

A last little climb to the campspot we had agreed to stop with Martyn and Ellen tonight. A hiker who heard about our plan to go to the spot apparently had the same plan. So she passed us and tried to get there before us to save a spot. What can I say. We made her sweat on the way up. She was drenched after we made her run infront of us for an hour. The right penalty 🙊

Great views in the Goat Rock area and an early finish after an easy day today.