What OM didn't tell you is what you can't do on that train.

If you fly, you may have to check your pocket knife and trekking poles, but they'll still let you on with your parachute as long as it fits in the overhead. Then, halfway to Seattle (or Portland), you can do a D.B. Cooperesque hijacking, have them open the door (those 727s are gone, so no aft stairs) over Mt. Rainier and see if you can land somewhere in the vicinity of the Longmire Wilderness Information Center so you can pick up your provisioning cache and get an early start on the Wonderland Trail the next morning.

(Note: one possible hitch is finding a seat on a Northwest Orient flight PDX to SEA.)
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- kevon

(avatar: raptor, Lake Dillon)