Day 136 (PNT 41)

Day 146 (PNT 41): 13 miles

Even though I was camping next to a lake/swamp, it was the frost time in a while my tent was dry in the morning. I started hiking down and out of Blanchard State Forest and began the long road walk ahead. The trail is basically a roadwalk from Blanchard State Forest to Olympic National Park. It does go through some community parks and beach areas, but it is mainly just a connector between the cascades and Olympics.

The challenge with that is that there’s nowhere to camp when it’s all private land. Today I had planned on hiking into Anacortes and probably getting a hotel for the night. That didn’t end up happening. Early in the day I called a trail angel named Marc in Edison to see if he might be be able to help with a package issue I had, he mentioned I should stop by and say hi even if I wasn’t gonna stay at his place. It was only a little off trail so i figured why not.

I got there in the early afternoon, and after being there for 5 minutes I decided I was gonna stay there for the night. It was an awesome place, free to stay, and had Coors Light on deck. Why would I leave

Marc hosts a lot of thru hikers that go through the area cause there is no place to camp, so he is a HUGE help. His “Way Cool Barn” where hikers stay is the sigma male of man caves.

I persuaded Chopsticks to come check it out, and he ended up staying there too. It was odd for both of us to do such a short day and stop early, but this place was too good to pass up.

Besides being a great host, Marc was also a way cool guy. He talked about riding his motorcycle all over the country. We bonded over the immersive experience of attending a Rob Zombie concert. And he had funny stories of hosting other hikers. His house also seemed to be a hot spot for locals to stop by. An older woman stopped by and told me a story about seeing Elvis live in the 50’s. It was quite a day, and didn’t go the way I planned at all, in the best of ways.

Song of the day: mirror-Kendrick Lamar