I took down the tent, and packed up everything including 2 liters of water in the bladder. Boy, that pack is heavy! I went to Bridgeport Family Restaurant and had a hearty breakfast, then put the pack back on and crossed the Bridge of the Gods. Not a fun experience. There is no sidewalk, so cars and trucks are whizzing by too closely. In addition the road bed is a metal grating, so you see the river 50 feet or more beneath you.
Once in Washington the trail leaves the road fairly quickly but follows it not too far away, so you hear the traffic, and the trains.
I saw a bench next to a fire station (at Fort Rains), and sat down to take a breather, not even 2 miles! I started to have doubts as to whether it was wise to continue. But I set my goal to spend the night on the trail. The next tent sites were at Gillette Lake, and it obviously had water.
So I walked on, and the trail went north away from the Columbia river through pine forests, and other open forests through a wonderland carpet of ferns.
But this soon stopped, and the trail crossed a section that had been clear-cut with not a tree in sight. I walked under the power lines from Bonneville hinting I was close to the lake.
There were a handful of hikers taking dips in the lake (some day hikers too). Finding a camp site was easy, and I set up the tent. However the number of used TP floating about indicates that many do not practice the leave no trace behind ethics, and made it less pleasant.
I was glad to no longer carry the pack as every step had become painful in my hip joints with my legs shaking from the strain whenever I stopped. Except for a few snacks, I was not really hungry. I sat on the small gravel beach, and contemplated what to do while watching the fire planes coming from the north (Mt Rainier fire?), and turning east to Cascade Locks to refill their water tank. I left the decision to tomorrow when rested.
At night, I got up to go pee, and managed to soil myself, but once I got myself cleaned up, I had a good night sleep.