I wake after almost 10 hours in my sleeping bag. In my mid-30’s, I’ve noticed I need a ton of sleep to recover from the first day of backpacking. It’s 5:30AM and I stretch inside my warm sleeping bag. I twist the knob on my NeoAir sleeping pad and listen as the cozy warmth escapes into the damp, cold morning air.
The stress and worry from yesterday washed away by a good night’s rest, I’m feeling good and ready to hike deeper into the backcountry.
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Mele and I wake up in the van at 5:30 am. It’s chilly and damp and I didn’t sleep well – not normal for me. Usually I sleep great in the van on my comfy little futon mattress. Last night our exodus from the Seattle metro area went as good as one could expect. I caught the 4:30PM ferry from Whidbey Island and met up with Mele, my hiking partner, at 5:30PM in the Safeway parking lot in Everett. We said our goodbyes to Jason, Mele’s husband and my former coworker. She mentions something to him about hiking a glacier, and we scoot off.
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