This morning when we woke up, we didn’t have much of a plan for getting back to trail. About half a dozen hikers were looking to get from Packwood to Snoqualmie, a significant skip but also avoiding a fire closure within the next section. A lot of us were also concerned about making it to the terminus before the snow ended our season.

I went to the Mountain Goat coffee shop with two others for a morning snack and coffee. While I was there, other groups of hikers came and went and we all discussed plans for trail. One of the people working there overheard us talking and offered to drive up to Snoqualmie Pass from Packwood in exchange for just a bit of gas money.

A couple of hours later, 6 of us piled into a Toyota Hilux (aka Tacoma) and headed out to Snoqualmie. The trip was 3 hours driving around the east side of the Cascades mountain range, through Yakima and the desert in Eastern Washington.

By the time we got to Snoqualmie, we were all pretty sore from being cramped up in the car, and we made a trip to Dru Bru brewery for a late lunch/early dinner.

After hanging out at the brewery and eating a huge plate of chicken strips, everyone headed out to trail. There isn’t much cheap accommodation in Snoqualmie, so my best option was to start walking uphill to find a tent site.