PCT mile 2663-2654 -18 miles
Elev 6541-6201
In addition to wearing everything I owned last night I breathed through a wadded up bandana because the air was so cold.
At 5:30 when I awoke I knew that the tent would be wet inside from condensation because it had been so cold. I used the micro fiber towel to wipe both inside and out before packing up.
We were hiking at 7:00. I wore my down jacket but only for 10 minutes until I warmed up on the climb to Jim's Pass where early morning sun was warming the air.
The trees behind me are tamarack trees.
Down into the next valley we stopped in the sun by a small stream and were joined by a couple who camped there last night. They were hiking into the Pasayten River to fish for the day. I showed him my Topo Map app and Halfmile's waypoints loaded on my iPhone so he could get an idea of how the system works, he was very interested in the apps for his own treks into the backcountry.
We knew that we would be approaching the reported slide area and potential alternate route today so we were surprised when we got to the Holman Pass Trail junction not to find any info about the alternate. Last year when hiking Oregon, the fire on Mt Jefferson prompted all sorts of signs for the alternate trail around the fire. Washington is much more remote so that may be one reason no one had posted maps.
We decided we would continue to follow the PCT and take our chances as others were doing, reports were that it was very doable. We climbed up and up to a high meadow just below the pass to take our lunch, each grabbing a liter of water from the spring nearby.
Upon reaching the pass we got a glimpse of the next valley, broken rock peaks, rock scree everywhere, downed trees lying where avalanche had left them, grey and bone dry.
Looking down and right from the top of the pass you can see some of the switchbacks we would be taking on our way through this area.
Looking left to where we are going over Woody Pass, that is Powder Mountain (far left in shadow) whose flanks are scored by the slides that can't be seen from this angle.
We began switchbacks down the rocky slope on the exposed hillside, stepping over places where mudslides had piled up in the trail. As we got across about half the long traverse we began to cross slides gradually getting wider and deeper. Until we reached the biggest one. You had to climb down into it at a sharp angle and once in it, it was probably 6-8 ft over our heads, you had to get a foot hold and scramble out of it. The sides were sort of moist and the mud held together but some sloughing of dirt and rock was very possible. The faster you got out the better.
Which is why this is the only photo I got, once I got out of it!
Peggy decided she didn't have the flexibility to climb up the steep sides so she thought going down the mountain slope more toward the bottom would help her get in and out better. What ended up happening once she'd slid down the bank into the gully, was, the soil was loose and crumbly, big rocks less stable and couldn't be trusted as handholds. She could find no way out that wasn't dangerous. I could only stand up on trail and watch as she struggled to get up the bank back on firm ground. It was hard, scary work but she managed to throw herself up, catch her leg over the edge and crawl up the bank. Then she had to climb yards up the rocky slope to where the trail was. Words can't begin to describe how challenging the slides were, it took all Peggy's concentration and effort to get through it. I was so proud of her and the hard, hard work it took to get through this section. We had been fretting about getting around this steep slide for days and now it was done. We both took a minute for tears, bleeding off tension and fear, then pulling it together said, "Let's get off this mountain." We had 2 more gullies to face, each less challenging but still unnerving that we had to climb into and back out again. Then we zigzagged up to Woody Pass where Peggy faced her nemesis in a moment of introspection.
Peggy is down trail from me on the switchback, the slide area in shadow.
The next few miles we chose to hike to put ourselves in position to get to Canada the next day, one day earlier than planned. Although Peggy was exhausted from the anxiety of negotiating the slides we both dug deep and found enough energy to get to our camp. We still had quite a lot of exposed, rocky trail to hike. We came around this mountainside and across the boulder field,
into new valleys and lake basins.
The trail curved beside The Devil's Staircase and a drop away close to the narrow trail that made me dizzy if I looked too closely. (It's the shaded rock in the middle that's called the Devil's Staircase)
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