Chinook to Snoqualmie

Libby for Bouncer again. By special request.

We left off at Midway with Bouncer ready to get into Goat Rocks Wilderness.  The crossing of the knife-edge crest went smoothly and Bouncer made it to White Pass a day ahead of our scheduled meeting so he kept on going and made it to Chinook Pass.  The weather had started to change and it was very cold.  The fall colors were very vivid and there were lots of elk hunters in the area.  One group of horsemen coming out with their trophy.
We met Bouncer coming out in the dark- always a relief to see him again.  We drove to a lower elevation to camp so that we could be warmer.  The next day we went into Yakima for boots anticipating possible snow. Bouncer had a companion on his hike on Saturday and we were planning to meet up again on Monday at Tacoma Pass which is accessed from the Snoquolmie Pass area and involves a 12 mile drive up gravel roads.  Thankfully, there were signs to Tacoma Pass and the road was in good shape.
We spent our free day on the Cle Elum River and were very interested to see the wild salmon that had gathered in the river to spawn- they had journeyed up the Columbia past Portland, the Tri-cities, into the Yakima River where they spent the summer and then into the Cle Elum river for their last hurrah.
We waited at Tacoma Pass and saw Gonzo go past.  We also rescued an injured section hiker who needed a ride back to his truck.  He had hurt his leg and was in quite a bit of pain.
Bouncer came down the ridge hoping we had waited for him- so he was very happy to see us.  We gave him his resupply and cooked a nice steak dinner for him - and then we left to do our last farmer's market and have our retirement party.

Bouncer made it into Snoquolmie Pass and was hiking out of there on the way to Steven's Pass by that Wednesday- October 10th.  The weather still holding but rain expected on Friday.