Into Steven's Pass

8/17/13

PCT mile 2467.5 - 2476   8.5 miles

Elev 4424-4074

At 10pm last night a group of people came into camp yelling "We're Here!"

banging around right by our tents. Peggy asked if they needed help and told them we were sleeping but it didn't seem to matter to them at all.  Then another woman stumbled in talking louder about how she fell in a creek and had to leave her pack there.  Finally they set up tents and went to bed after talking loudly about all the plans to get the pack in the morning. We just shake our heads at the inconsiderate behavior of some. Excuses were made to us that morning as we set off.  

We had a big climb that morning right away and then nice trail about 8 miles to  the ski lifts at Steven's Pass.

See the chair lift above the trail? 

We passed a lady picking huckleberries as we made our way to the parking lot and off the trail.  We saw the same lady minutes later at her car and I went over to talk to her. She'd dropped her husband & son off at the trail to hike north to Stehekin and then spent time to pick berries. I asked if she was going to Skykomish and could we get a ride,  so we ended up driving down with her. 

Thank you Kathy, we enjoyed talking with you and appreciate your willingness to take 2 stinky hikers into your car!

We ended up having lunch at The Cascadia Inn and staying there the night.

We waited for our room to be cleaned and journaled, plugged in and recharged my electronics, rested feet and longed to lay down. Later around 2:30 we got into the room where everything from the packs came out & got cleaned.  We had dinner at the Inn then set out our dirty clothes for laundry service which was delivered late at night outside our door.  Meanwhile,  as we slept,  6 trains must have come past our Inn whistles blowing each time!!

300 Mile Mark

8/16/13

PCT mile 2453.5 - 2467.5 - 15 miles

Elev 4400-4424

We slept in til 6:15 and were on the trail in clear skies by 8:15 having to wipe down my tent with a microfiber towel so I don't have to carry water weight. Everything was wet, so we put on cold wet clothes, socks&  shoes. Brrr, it was bracing and then we warmed up walking. We knew within the next 1.5 miles we'd pass our 300 mile mark so we planned a small snack celebration.

We waited until we found a sunny spot to stop and wrote it in the sand on the trail. Later a hiker named told us we'd overshot it by a mile or two but who cared as long as we were in the sun?

As we climbed out of the valley and over the pass we could look back and view  the back side of Cathedral Peak and count the last two valleys we'd hiked through including that tricky crossing, we could even see more of the snowfield that fed the river.

That pyramid shaped mountain is Cathedral Peak.

We crossed some pretty creeks as we came out to Deception Lakes, two aqua blue lakes with lots of campers. These are popular trails and we pass many section hikers who love it that we're hiking all of Washington.  You can see their minds turning over possibilities for themselves. I hope we inspire some to try a long adventure for themselves. 

This is one of the smaller Deception Lakes.

We passed through a boulder field some the size of trucks or small houses.

As we continued to climb up this one long mountainside we could look across the wide valley to the peaks on the other side and see high blue lakes just below sharp rugged peaks, it's so starkly beautiful.

There's a deep blue lake in the bowl below that peak.

We were passed by a thru hiker named Uphill who wanted to chat but couldn't stop so he asked us to hike with him. I couldn't keep up so told him to go on, we'd see him at the top where he was going to lay out his gear to dry.  He was wearing tiny shorts, the only dry clothes he had!  We got to the top and there he was everything out to dry, chatting with a hiking couple from Bellingham who we ended up talking to later on.  They offered to host us after we get to Canada on our way home,  a very nice offer but we have our own trail angel named Robin who will meet us at the border as we hike over.

We ended up at this spot above the lakes drying our stuff from the rain last night. This is Glacier Lake, what a great color!  We stayed about an hour and everything dried out. We had a snack and moved on. All the lakes in this basin are this glorious color, backed by white granite with sandy soil that's actually ground up granite rock from glacial activity.  It reminds me of the soil Robin and I had at our house in Juneau, Alaska when we lived near Mendenhall Glacier.

This was our path to Glacier Lake through the granite rocks.

This is Glacier Lake through the trees from the PCT.  We'd spent all our time drying stuff so we couldn't stop and linger like we wanted.

To get out of this basin we had to do a huge climb over many granite rock fields along this wall and over the saddle. We were captivated by these clouds over the peak.  

Many switchbacks later we crossed over the saddle and looked down on another aqua gem called Trap Lake. It was later afternoon and we hoped to make 15 miles today but the climbs were killing. 

The late sun washed out the detail but you can see switchbacks on our trail below the summit as we made our way past Trap Lake. See the PCT stretched out along the mountainside?

We both would have loved to stay here but didn't want the climb back out and it would have made our last day really long and hard.  It's so sad not to be able to linger in the most beautiful places. 

We stopped at Hope Lake, a small little pond, because we couldn't go any further.  We were 3/4 of a mile shy of our goal but we were done. Tomorrow we have 8 miles to Steven's Pass and our resupply/ rest.

Me? Go Over That River?

8/15/13

PCT mile 2438-2453.5  15.5 mi

Elev.3027-@4424

I woke up to a sagging tent , rained most of the night. I packed most of my stuff in the tent trying not to touch the condensation. My sleeping bag got a bit wet on the bottom but I stuffed everything away and we got on the trail in clear skies. We crossed some streams with nice log bridges and eventually the trail turned brushy with switchbacks as we ascended for 7 miles. I was wet from thighs down from rain-wet brush. We passed 2 men, one an older gentleman thru hiker trail name Tortugo ( turtle ) He'd taken some falls and his knees hurt, Peggy gave him Alleve. We decided Alleve could sponsor our hike since it's keeping us going! 

This is the dew drenched trail.

We came into a valley filled with high and low bush huckleberries that we, of course,  stopped to pick. It was so hard not to get waylaid by berries that I put parameters on my berry picking -  If I picked a handful then I couldn't pick more until I'd walked 50 steps and then only if the berries were at my shoulder level!!   Pretty pathetic but only because I can't say no to a full berry bush!  

We filtered water from Deep Creek before ascending the peak surrounding the lake. 

We stopped for a break but cut it short when we saw dark clouds gathering. I wanted to make it over the peak and into the trees before the storm.

A view of Deep Lake from the climb up Cathedral Peak.

We hiked just below the top of Cathedral Peak  and around to high meadows where we took 30 minutes or so to try to dry our gear before it rained again.

As rain sputtered we scooped everything up and into our packs, put our pack covers on and headed down the mountainside into yet another valley and a river ford that we knew might be tricky.

We crossed fields of boulders like this that fell from the granite mountain peaks.

Soon it was raining in earnest and I was wet, my parka makes me too hot so I just mostly used it to cover my pack. 

We heard the river before we saw it. The trail turned a corner and there it was as we looked down.

You can see the PCT mid photo on the right side, once we cross the river that's where we have to get back on the trail.

This is snow melt off a big snowfield far up in the mountain, it shoots down a steep slot at a steep angle over large boulders that are slippery. At first we eyeballed it from various angles and then I tried to step on boulders. I slipped and fell, hitting my right hip, right foot going in, right cheek hitting my hiking pole (instead of a boulder) so that was when I knew the safest way across was wading in.  As I was making my way in knee deep water I heard Peggy, she'd fallen too.  She was down on a rock trying to get up but the slick rocks were hard to stand on.  We each had to find the best way across for ourselves.

Once we reached the trail on the other side we filtered water not knowing what was ahead. All the while it was raining and now we were both wet from the waist down at least. We still had to find a camp spot so we ended up hiking 1.5 more wet miles to a clearing where we had the tents up in a flash. Tossed in the items from our packs and dove inside.  All the wet clothes went into a pile and I got into my damp down bag with my down jacket and wool hat on too. My feet wouldn't warm up but I used the time to journal and keep busy. Around 6:30pm I decided to get water heated for dinner except I never cook in the tent, so I eased the Jetboil to the outside of the fly, reached out and got it going just on the outside away from the tent fabric.  I had hot water for instant mashed potatoes in a few minutes and was eating in another minute.  Like a flush I felt heat rush from my head into my feet, I was warm and stayed warm all night. I'd just needed fuel to get warm.  Sometime during the night it stopped raining and the skies cleared.  We'd survived but I had a nasty black and blue bruise on my hip.

Eye to Eye With A Glacier

8/14/13

PCT mile 2424-2438 - 14 miles

Elev 3211-3027

My feet are still sore upon waking but we're on the trail by 6:50. We know we have a 6.5 mile uphill to do right away, a 2700 ft elevation gain.  We started out in wet brush through Lemah Meadow and up one of the surrounding mountain sides.  Hiking into the forested hillside by switchbacks, we looked across the valley we camped in to the mountain on the other side and we could gauge our progress by watching the hanging glacier  which is far above us get closer and closer.

The snow far above is the glacier we watched.

The glacier is now almost eye level.

We've reached the top and up to alpine meadows looking directly across at the glacier and snowfields on the other side. We ambled through this meadow to the other side and down into a neighboring valley where we found our water source, a small creek winding through a meadow.  It was overcast & we thought maybe smoke from a fire in eastern Washington might be making it hazy. This was a tiny cirque lake dug out by glacial activity that we passed too.

Here's the water source and meadow with our packs. 

 We had a snack break here, wandered around and spooked hundreds of frogs into the water. We also found our first gentians, hardly opened but still with a hint of the deep blue color that makes them so beautiful.

Other flowers that lined this meadow that I'm calling penstemon a until I know otherwise.

Lots of people are on the trail, section hikers and a few thrus.  We saw Aaron who we saw in the last section.  He'd had a family activity in Seattle and was back on the trail passing us yet again! Long legs striding into the distance.  

After break we started the 7 mile downhill, losing all that we had gained this morning. 

Down through brushy trail we came to this opening where we could see Waptus Lake spread out below.  We plan on camping at Waptus Creek and want to get there before too many campers take the campsites. 

We got a nice spot above the creek where we hoped the breeze would keep the bugs at bay... didn't happen.

Peggy did manage to get a picture of a tiny pika, they look like a small gerbil sized rabbit, tiny ears, mouse like features. They give a high pitched squeak as they call alarms across the rocky hillsides. 

Our tent site for the night. 

At 7:30pm we felt the wind pick up and soon a few raindrops. We had time to tighten the ropes on our tents,( I put up the vestibule of my tent which I normally don't do)  take in laundry that we had drying and tuck in before it started raining.

Touching The Sky

8/13/13

PCT mile 2412-2424 - 12 miles

Elev 5200-3211

When I awoke at 5:30 & peered out my tent screen all I could see was fog and my tent was lined with condensation. We were in a cloud, cold and damp. We were camped too far away from each other to talk so I got out and went over to find Peggy getting up too. We were hiking by 7 and immediately were in the sunshine!  We had been in the saddle where the cloud settled while the rest of the world was in sun. What a difference 100 yards made! 

My tent site the evening before.

Joe Lake lay beneath where we'd camped and the valley below that was covered with clouds. 

2 miles uphill took us onto rocky slopes & up to steep alpine meadows,  higher than we dreamed the trail would go.  Lots of people are hiking south from Steven's Pass to Snoqualmie as a popular section and 5 day hike. 

It's so steep and nerve wracking that Peggy has gone ahead because I like to stop and look around. Spectacular is such a small word to describe what I see so I'll just post some photos in a row & you decide for yourself.

Mt Rainier in the distance.

Peggy with her blue pack tiny in the middle right of the rock field.

We passed  below these rabbit ears and stood at the saddle looking out at the clouds below us then curved around the bowl , which is in shadow, to stand here looking back at it all.

The trail disappears around a corner under a lip of rock, see the valley far below.

A marmot below me whistles loudly, curious about everything. Here's an example of a marmot hole by the trail, they're everywhere especially in the rocky hillsides.

It takes forever to get miles done because of the rock strewn trail, we pick our way through, no one wants to take a tumble on this trail. Feet are sore, legs get wobbly but finally we come out over Spectacle Lakes, WOW!

We're sad we don't go directly to the lakes because we would really enjoy a swim.  We have our lunch here overlooking the beauty then descend and pass the side trail to the lakes. Down  we descend to the valley floor through an old burn where it's hot and brushy but the big stands of fireweed make it pretty.

We arrived at a river whose bridge was washed out but a log was laying across and we could either wade cross in our shoes or use the log. We both decided to use the log but it was hard to get up the river bank with packs on. Grabbing brush branches and scrabbling we made it one by one.  Only one more mile to our water source where we call it a day. Today we only hiked 12 miles.  So frustrating! We need to reconcile ourselves to the difficult trail and not expect more than we can do. This is supposed to be somewhat enjoyable after all !!

We ended up camping by the Lemah River near Lemah Meadows. We were hot, foot sore, weak legged so we just set up tents and rested before getting water and doing chores.

Here's the kitchen with my water boiling for dinner. 

We talked to a gentleman from B. C. who had hiked part of the Arizona Trail, part of the Appalachian Trail and now this part of the PCT to Mt Hood,  all this summer!  He was interesting to talk to and invited us to their camp to chat but as the minutes went by, I got more and more tired & all I wanted to do was get off my feet and turn in. Speaking of feet--  I worked on mine using my knife to try to shave calluses that are giving me pain. Peggy gave me some of her KT tape that is wonderful stuff. I taped up both feet after working on them and hope this helps. Drank extra water tonight to hydrate more and went to bed.

The Lost Hat Caper and The Kat Walk

8/12/13

PCT mile 2402-2412

Elev. 3000-@5200

Up at 5:30 am and on the road by shortly after 6 Alan & Maggie took us up to Snoqualmie Pass to the trailhead. As we drove we looked into the bag Maggie had packed for us this morning.  Warm quiche slices, toasted bagels and cream cheese, chunks of ripe cantaloupe and a warm washcloth to clean up. I'm telling you it was the nicest most relaxing stay, to be so taken care of!  

This is Alan & Maggie our hosts for 2 days, you provided all that we needed and much more. Thank You!

The start of the trail was a nice fir needle thick carpet and an easy but steady climb for maybe 1-2 miles when we saw this sign. 

Then this one

Alpine Lakes Wilderness, we've stepped into one of the most wild, beautiful places I've seen.  We are not to know the rugged challenges we'll be faced with as we innocently step beyond this sign! 

We came to a resting spot 4.5 miles up in the clouds and Peggy realized she'd left her hat somewhere down the trail.  There's many reasons to have a hat;  sun, shade, a mosquito net holder.  We were close enough to go back and get it, so down she went without the backpack. For 1.5 hours everyone that passed gave me an update on whether they'd seen the hat. After about 1.5 hours Peggy was back, we rested and started hiking again.  The top of the pass was like stepping into another world. The Kendall Kat Walk was blasted out of the rock wall up at peak height with a drop off on one side.

The peaks in the back ground are where we will be going soon. 

This was my lunch break spot just over  the Kat Walk. Hiking further it was just astounding where the trail went and us with it!  The going was rough and rocky, traversing sides of steep mountains, amazed at how high the towering peaks were and then finding out the trail goes way up there.  

Because Peggy had gone an extra 6 miles today we didn't make our planned mileage, but really, we find we can't make the planned mileage anyway because the going is so hard. Concentrating on where your feet go so you don't stumble off the side of the mountain takes energy and we tire quickly. 

That's our trail snaking across the mountain!

The long view out to Snoqualmie Pass where we started this morning.

We ended up stopping after 10 miles of this amazing trail in the saddle above Joe Lake.

This is the view of Joe Lake as we were coming to it. You can see the slash of trail just above the snow on the shoreline, that's the PCT. We are tired, hungry and cold in the shade and frustrated at the low mileage today.  Lots of people on the trail today, many hiking this section from Snoqualmie Pass to Steven's Pass. My new shoes have a few tender spots that I've taped with duct tape. My menu was cheese tortellini with dehydrated spaghetti sauce for dinner. I'm in my tent by 6:30 it's cold up here and we are camped about 50 feet apart so we can't even talk. A hard first day out.