washington pass

i picked the wrong day to get through the cascades. it's about a 60 mile stretch back to any civilization, so i camped at diablo lake to get as close as possible. it started raining the night before when i thought i might make dinner. i had to stay in the tent and eat jerky and vegetables instead. the fire i'd already started soon died.

it sort of worked out as the camp was not very occupied (and no fee -- yay). in the early hours, a bear was knocking stuff around in the campgrounds 50 yards on either side of me. i'd put everything but the bike in the metal bear box except the jerky. so when i heard the bear i put my stinky clothes over the bag of jerky. gross i know, but it worked i suppose.

i slept extremely well as there was no noise except the bear and it was pitch dark. seriously, there was absolutely no light. not true the night before. here is a blurb i wrote about that experience:

i've seen the zombie apocolypse

it turns out to be a campground full of meth addicts. they stay up until midnight, sleep for two hours, then suddenly find themselve helpless unless they are chopping wood and burning an amazing amount of it, preparing their fishing boats, talking about the stupidest things -- the list goes on.

there are warning signs. for instance, if you arrive at a campground and there's a dude sitting way off to the side staring who knows where while a fire blazes with too many logs, then there's going to be some meth zombies that night. plus they have way more gear than a "normal" camper would ever dream or be able to pack modestly in their vehicles.

maybe zombie isn't the correct word. they're more like a cross between harmless vampires and zombies who need something (constructive?) to do in the wee hours. i'll give them this: they don't seem to be thieves or otherwise very harmful. just noisy and busy.