I woke up with the campsite all to myself this morning. I had seen no hikers on the trail since I left the PCT and it really felt like I was in the wilderness. I left camp and hiked down Deception Creek, crossing Sawyer Creek on the way. I reached the trailhead around 1 pm after 5.7 miles, 9.2 km. I easily got a ride to Leavenworth from some locals, who even waited for me to collect a package from Stevens Pass on the way. I got into Leavenworth which is completely Bavarian themed around 2:30 pm, and shortly after arriving, I met Pie Guy and Lunatic at Icicle Brewing in town. Soon afterwards, we joined up with Fanta, Daddy Longlegs, Aladdin, Harry and Izzy.

When I started walking this morning, the forest was cool and damp. There was thick mist rolling up the valley and dew dripping from the moss alongside the trail. I wasn’t sure whether to expect rain, but put my jacket on anyway and covered my pack.

Compared to the heavily tracked PCT route, this trail felt totally untouched. The ground was covered in a thick layer of leaf litter which cushioned my steps, it felt like walking on brand new carpet. As I walked, I spotted all kinds of interesting fungi growing from the forest floor. There were groups of mushrooms, some were bright red and small as a pencil head, others were larger and lighter tan coloured. I also saw tight clusters of orange coral fungi and white fungi growing from fallen logs like frozen waterfalls.

There was a lot of old dead wood here, I saw more fungi growing along the trail and could tell that this was a very healthy and diverse part of forest. I walked through the forest for several hours, descending alongside Deception Creek. There was a small section with some big blowdowns, some of which were really tricky to climb over.

When I got to the trailhead, I was quickly offered a ride into Leavenworth, where I found a German style beer hall and steins on the menu. Before long, I was hanging out with a big group of hikers and checking out what Leavenworth had in store.