The next day was July 4th. I went to REI to get some gear I was unable to buy in Europe and spent an awful lot of time in that store just seeing what they offer. I also bought a first part of resupplies/food.
That evening there was a big firework announced to celebrate this day. I had gone back to the hotel in the meantime. So I rented an Uber bike to get to Lake Union. The firework was nice and lasted for approx 25 minutes. Once finished, I got the same bike back to the hotel and went to bed.
The next day I was picked up by Ken, whom I was connected with via the Tall People Association. He drove me to his house, to which I had ordered some other gear and spare shoes. I was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of gear that was piling up on my bed. How the heck should I carry all of that in my backpack? After a lot of planning I found a system of which I thought might work. That evening we went out for dinner at a fine sea food restaurant.
After a restless night (because today was the day were I was flying to Redding, CA) I packed my backpack for flying, prepared some boxes and at 2 p.m. we went out for lunch and to the airport afterwards. Thanks a lot again to Ken for being so helpful and being my first trail angel 🙂
At the airport I checked in my backpack and met Jeanette at the gate. We got in touch over Facebook because we were on the same flight and we’re looking to a trail angel who might bring us to the trail. We chatted a bit prior boarding.
The flight to Redding was only about 1h 45m long. At arrival you could feel the difference in temperature between Seattle and here. It was much warmer and dryer. Both our backpacks had made it to Redding, what a relief 🤘
At the airport we were picked up by our friendly and kind trail angel Tim, who drove us to our hotel. It was already 8 p.m. by the time we got there.
Our stay was a Casino Hotel. I ate dinner and went to bed. While preparing for bed I realized that my hip pocket was missing. In it was, amongst other things, my passport. I was very convinced that I had left it in Tim’s car. What a blessing that he would pick us up tomorrow morning.
I didn’t sleep well. The next day was the day I had spent so much planning and thinking on over the last years. After a final, final preparation of my backpack I had a quick breakfast and then we were picked up by Tim. And I got my pocket back with my passport. Yeah.
It was a one hour drive from our hotel to the trailhead where we wanted to start our hike. We stopped by a small patrol station with a shop, because Jeanette and I needed both fuel for our camping stoves. Unfortunately, we could get any there.
After another 5 minutes drive we came to the trailhead, got your backpacks out of the car, said goodbye to Tim and thanked him for his generous help.
At around 8:30 a.m. we started our hike…..
Pancakes for Lunch 
Departure SEA 
Arrival RDD 
