When Is The Trail Not A Trail? When It's A Creek!

8/29/13

PCT mile 2603-2620 - 17 miles

Elev 3240-5575

I woke to rain at 5:30, there seemed no way it was going to clear after looking at the sky so we got packed up and ready to go.  Daniel and his friend were underway at 6:30 planning to go 28 miles to Hart's Pass, farther than Peggy and I can hike in one day. We got a late start at about 7:45 and started for Cutthroat Pass just 1 mile ahead. Once up there we could see the trail disappear around a stark mountain peak. Remote and rainy, clouds creeping over the ridges, I felt like we were walking into someplace where we might never be seen again.

Wearing my Poncho/packcover, contemplating our next hurdle.

This is the view I was looking at in the photo above. I was also realizing the rain would be around for awhile, look at those clouds piled up against the peaks!

2 1/2 more miles and we reached Granite Pass, almost devoid of trees, loads of granite rocks littering the landscape as we followed switchbacks down from the peak to cross over to the next mountain.

We were to traverse the side of the peak in the middle (with the cloud on it) where, later in the day,  we would climb over Methow Pass. 

The valleys were filling with clouds before our eyes the mist rising faster than we could imagine, creeping over saddles and at times enveloping us only to clear as it poured over the next peak. The rain never let up, we sought an overhang to take a quick snack break. Water ran down the mountains creating more creeks than the maps had listed and we sloshed through all of them. 

By this time we were each hiking in our own little world, hands cold and cramped.  Coming to Methow Pass the skies really opened up to pour a deluge on us.   Out of that deluge appeared another hiker, Walking Home, a thru hiker from Winthrop near Hart's Pass. He'd started at the Mexican border in April and quite literally was walking home. 

He passed us quickly and we all started the downhill section.  I was wet except for a small square of torso, my hands so numb I had trouble working the clasps of my pack if we stopped for food.

Neither of us ate or drank as we should have today, it was just too much trouble to get to stuff and stand there dripping as we ate.

We had about 8 miles of forested trail to do, dark and dreary.  We came across a creek that had flooded it's banks pushing yellow mud and boulders to obliterate the PCT for about 20 yards.  Standing there studying the scene,  we saw where other hikers had marked the resumption of the trail with a pyramid of rocks.  We picked our way across the mess, at this point not caring whether or not we were wading in water, we were soaked anyway. This is where we started asking each other  "When's the trail not the trail?  When it's a creek!"  

Our 15 mile day would have ended when we went through a long section of brushy hillside trail, but it was only 2:30 and too early to stop. We decided to filter water for a dry camp and tackle the next climb hoping for a better campsite. Our mantra was "Let's get this misery over with."

2 1/2 miles & 981 ft up we came to a site just below Glacier Peak between 5 & 6,000 ft elevation. We knew it could be cold but really wanted to stage ourselves in order to get to Hart's Pass sooner rather than later. 

We pitched our camp, rather, Peggy got her tent up, I got mine up but had to dry puddles from the inside floor and try to dry it somewhat before putting my gear inside.  Meanwhile it rained on and off.  My down bag, damp for the 3rd night, concerned me. I was worried that it could fail to keep loft and warmth if I couldn't dry it soon. 

I'd worn the same wet socks for 3 days because I wanted to keep 1 pair dry for emergency warmth. I tried wrapping my damp shirt around my torso to get it to dry while wearing my down jacket in camp. I was hoping to get some clothing  dry before I had to put it on again tomorrow morning. Dinner was eaten whenever we were able, between rain showers and tent set up. Mine consisted of instant mashed potatoes and a packet of Spam, a surprisingly satisfying meal when all else was failing! 

I'm proud of what we put behind us today, neither of us enjoyed it but we put our heads down and got the job done hiking more miles than anticipated which put us in a good position for getting to Hart's Pass tomorrow.

I hardly took any photos today, it was  just too wet to find anything nice about the hike today. Grumpy.

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head

8/28/13

PCT mile 2592-2603

Elev 3240-6162

I woke at 4:30 am to the sound of rain then at 6 with my alarm, the rain had paused at 6 so we got up and started packing. Of course it started raining again.

I ran out to get the food bags we'd hung and saw that a squirrel had chewed holes in my food bag. Investigating further I saw that the powdered milk package was chewed open, some packaging on another item AND it chewed a nice bite out of part of my chocolate cookie I was saving for today- that Stinker!   So I cleaned it up and ate the rest of my cookie right then- Grrrr.  We used the small dry area under the  tree by my tent to stuff our packs.  I packed my tent away wet and we got going in the rain.  The uphill brushy trail left us wet from mid thigh down,  rain was washing down the train so I slopped and sloshed with every step and soon was muddy almost up to my knees.   Because I get hot when walking uphill I keep my rain parka open,  either I'm wet from rain or I'm wet inside my rain poncho because the condensation builds up inside.  I hate camping in the rain!

On this rainy day I didn't find much to get excited about and found I hardly took any photos, it was too dark for my camera to get much detail anyway. 

It took us awhile to hike to Hwy 20 where we walked out to a rest area, hiking trailhead and toilets.  We ate lunch under the tiny overhang of a Forest Service informational sign. 

There was a hiking couple waiting for his parents who were to have met them an hour ago with their passports for Canada and their last resupply box of food.  We asked him about the trail north where we were all going,  he told us that Rainy Pass was still 1.7 miles up the road by road walk and we decided to go back to the intersection of trail and hike up to the official Rainy Pass (instead of a rest area).  Back on the trail we came to a broken log over the river, we would have to wade across. Since we'd just gotten a bit dry we decided to road walk the 1.7 miles to the actual pass.  So, back to the rest area where we saw the couple and his parents who'd just driven up. I asked some details from him and we took off at a fast pace road walking along the shoulder of Hwy 20 to Rainy Pass.  Road walking can be unpleasant with traffic zooming close, tossing rain at you. We hurried and tried to keep as far away from traffic as we could. 

 The sun came out shortly and as we reached the Rainy Pass Campground sign it was a beautiful, warm day. Taking advantage of the window of good weather we opened our packs, pitched tents and hung stuff all over the sign and nearby tree branches to dry.  A few hikers came by looking for the trail north or south that we were able to direct.  About 1 hour later stuff was dry and the clouds were returning so we packed up, crossed Hwy 20 and found the PCT trail heading north. 

We passed a number of day hikers coming down off the trail who were interested in what we were doing, offered lots of encouragement and told us of a few spots where we could find campsites.  There were 2 miles to go to water and 2 more to our proposed camp. 

 We would have liked to go farther but the next known water was 6 miles away and availability of tent sites for 2 was unknown. It felt unwise to be above tree line in a possible storm plus we're approaching 6100' elevation and it can be colder up high. All these were things to think about when deciding to stop or move on.

At 3:00 we arrived at our campsite, scouted around and found much nicer sites tucked down in the trees that weren't visible from the trail. A tiny stream ran down by our camp where I found gentians not quite blooming.  The sun was patchy with clouds pouring over the peaks scudding fast across the sky toward the northeast.  All our wet clothing was laid our to hopefully dry and while Peggy took a nap I poked around and found a huge flat topped boulder to climb on to get a view of the cloud show.

Two hikers came in looking for campsites, one a thru hiker and the other a 44 y/o man from Portland, Oregon who was really interesting to chat with.  He makes his own gear so I asked him a lot of questions, inspecting gear and discussing going stoveless, eating cold food. In S California, where wildfires destroy forest every year, some stretches of trail ban all stoves. Many hikers find not cooking a real option, no stove = lighter packs and a measure of freedom from conventional camping. They add water to a regular meal at noon (some use an old plastic peanut butter jar with screw on lid) and it sloshes in the pack's side pocket for hours until the noodles, rice, beans etc are edible at dinner time.

My own food pack still seemed heavy, I've been distracted by rain etc. and haven't been eating the extra food I packed from Stehekin. I'll do better tomorrow.

There was an alert at the trailhead about bold mountain goats following people trying to get close, it told you to wave your arms, toss rocks and yell loudly to get them to back away. Their horns are sharp and they can be dangerous. They may be looking for salt on sweaty hikers, Yikes!

Our camp for the night.

30% Chance Of Rain

8/27/13

PCT mile 2580 (Stehekin)-2592-12 miles

Elev 1587-3240

There is a weather report of 30% chance of rain for the next 3 days but we can't stay here for days waiting for clear weather, we decided 30% will have to be good enough.

Up at 6:45 we were breakfasting at 7:15 and paying the tab at 7:45, Peggy raced to the computer to be sure Robin had gotten our email telling him when to meet us at the Canada/US border.  He'd answered us and would be there!   Peggy raced back, grabbed her pack and we boarded the bus at 8 am sharp. A quick rifling through her pack, she couldn't find her wallet, so the bus driver let her race to the hotel room and double check that she hadn't left it behind. Back on the bus franticly searching,  it was found. Whew!   Having a set schedule is nerve- wracking but we made it! 

The driver stops at the bakery on the way out to High Bridge every morning and since we were the only 2 not staying at the bakery we got to go to the head of the line!  A fresh slice of quiche for my lunch today, a 4pack of fresh bagels and a chocolate chip cookie for me.  A hoagie sandwich for Peggy's lunch,  a bag of sourdough rolls and a chocolate chip cookie for her as well.  Our packs are uncomfortably heavy so we've chosen a shorter first couple of days out especially in light of the fact that we climb almost up to 7,000 ft elevation from Stehekin which is at 1587 ft.  12 miles puts us inside North Cascades Nat'l Park so we have to camp in designated spots and use precautions for habituated bears. (Hmmm, now why did I bring quiche with bacon and cheese in it?)

Once we located the trail north we started climbing out of the valley, feet protesting, and made our way upward past a Coon Lake.

In about 2 miles we met and stopped to talk to a young 30s hiker named Cricket, that was her real name! A real sweet girl, she was so encouraged that we were doing all the state in one hike, she couldn't get over it! 

We chatted for a long while and when I found out she wasn't going into Stehekin because of cash issues I gave her 1/2 my quiche so she could at least taste the great bakery specials. We all sat in the trail and enjoyed ourselves. 

Something in the woods was crashing around just out of sight so I got up to shoo it away.  I'm sure it was a deer but it was unnerving anyway.

After we left Cricket we met a large family group hiking out with a ranger in the rear watching over the young mom who had gone for the camp trip but had forgotten her medications for heart problems and diabetes. She was struggling and had dropped her pack a mile back but a medic was meeting the ranger at the trailhead to help her. Her husband was carrying their infant daughter maybe 6 mo. old. 

Lots of people are on the trail this close to the town, horses and riders, hikers and casual campers.

At the first designated campsite, Bridge Creek, we had our lunch from Stehekin and felt the first raindrops. Hiking once more we came to some really pretty rivers. Casual hikers have fallen away and now it's just us out here.

There's a bridge to the right where the trail goes.

This river has a bridge over it that Peggy took, I hopped over on rocks and we stopped for filtering water.

Here's Peggy on the swinging bridge.

We met a group of 3 young people collecting seeds for Forest Service reforestation projects. They had collected snow berries (not edible) and Saskatoon berries (edible). They skipped across the rocks like only the young can do, sigh.

We had 4 more miles to our camp that ended up being some forest with brushy hillsides around and down to the camp. It was 1/8th mile down a steep track to the copse of trees and river.  The ranger had warned us of possible bear activity in these designated areas so we were to use the wire to hang our food and scented items. 

My tent is set up here and you may be able to see the food hung on the bear wire beyond my tent. 

As soon as we got the tents up it started raining. There was a small spot under a tree by my tent that didn't get rain so we staged our food for dinner there  then went to bed after hanging our food bags. 

We've decided if we wake tomorrow and it's raining we'll wait to see if it stops and then get up. 

Also of concern is a washout toward the end of this next section that has an alternate trail posted.  We can take the alternate or we can talk to other hikers we meet,  pump them for info then make our own decision.

It's raining now.

A Zero Day in Stehekin

8/26/13

PCT mile - Stehekin - no hiking!

I forgot to mention that last night for dinner we were joined by Pigpen, who I mentioned earlier, and another thru hiker named Tare Bare who we would see later in Manning Park Canada. Both professional men and good conversationalists although we all looked ragged and homeless, Peggy and I are showered and laundered and feel so much better! 

I slept until 9 am, Peggy had been up, eaten her pastry and checked at the post office for our packages.  I got up, hobbling on feet that felt beaten, snarked down my cinnamon roll and got dressed. There were chores to do!  First was drying out my tent & both our ground sheets in an out of the way place. When I got back the Post had opened and Peggy had our resupply boxes.  We repacked our food, noted what we needed to buy and went to the store for supplies. Not much was there but I bought some things that would supplement the food I'd already packed. Made reservations for dinner again, got a permit to camp in the North Cascades Park the night we leave here, found the computer that is available to guests and contacted family via email since there is no cell service here. 

You get the picture, chores and eating were primary concerns and took a lot of our time.  When on the bus to dinner we had great conversations with guests, people who were interesting to talk to and many interested in our adventure. We were set to leave on the 8 am bus tomorrow to High Bridge Ranger Station where the trail headed north.

Sorry no photos, my phone was requiring me to delete programs in order to have  enough room for photos for the last 7 day section.

A Race To Stehekin For The 3:00 Bus

8/25/13

PCT mile 2564-2580 (Stehekin) -16 miles

Elev 5383-1587

 

It was cold last night! When I woke in the night and looked outside there were stars all over the sky with a bright half moon.  I didn't think it would rain. 

The tent had condensation inside and out that I had to deal with plus I forgot to set my alarm.  We'd wanted to get an early start, we needed to catch the 3:00 bus into Stehekin this afternoon. RATS!

We were hiking at 7:10 after scrambling to get up and out.

Our first sight after getting off the mountainside was a small bridge that was pretty useless but I thought it made a vivid picture of how hard winter is on the trail itself.  Keeping the PCT in good shape takes effort from many volunteers.

 

The morning light washed out the photo but this is a log bridge that worked perfectly. The part in the foreground are the tree roots and way at the end in the blue is Peggy having crossed safely.

Coming down off the mountains we ran into brush as high as our heads, some wet with dew. 

For much of the morning we hiked beside the beautiful, aqua colored Agnes River that eventually enters a gorge then runs parallel to the Stehekin River before joining it. 

We raced today, only stopping for quick breaks but we never seemed to make better than 2 mi/hr. Argh!

 We passed the 2 older guys and only saw them in Stehekin later that evening as they were eating dinner getting ready to leave on the boat and sail down Lake Chelan to the real world.  Their hike was finished. 

We knew we were nearing the end when we began the switchbacks down to the forest floor and came out on the bridge over the Agnes River.

The post says North Cascades National Park which is where we'll be hiking after this. 

This little plant is all over the forest in many of our different sections. We've missed the small white flower stage but kept seeing the bright blue pearl on a long stem.  It's called Queen's Cup or Clintonia Uniflora part of the lily family that produces this  lustrous, deep blue fruit. I loved seeing them and snapped the photo in the mad rush to get to Stehekin.

This is the Stehekin River that we had to cross on a bridge to get to the High Bridge Ranger Station. We waited at a picnic table for the 3:00 bus which arrived on the dot.  We boarded for a $6 fee/person and rode through the Stehekin community which stretches out along the river to Lake Chelan.   One arrives at Stehekin by boat at a landing where you can stay in a small hotel, at a cabin, or in your tent  to enjoy hiking, dining, fishing, bike rides, camping,  a superb bakery and much more.    I, unfortunately, didn't take photos of Stehekin but can tell you I want to go back and spend time in that most unique place. I really enjoyed the beauty, right on Lake Chelan and the idea of being free to fish or raft the river, take SHORT hikes :-)

and visit their huge garden or bee keeping and cheese making enterprises (and more) is compelling. If you're looking for a great get away Stehekin may be something to research for yourself.

We were able to locate a room in their hotel for 2 nights, make a dinner reservation, shower and do laundry (Thanks to Peggy!) before dinner at 7. At 8pm we attended a ranger talk about native Americans and their use of local plants which Peggy and I both enjoyed. 

Then it was clean sheets and the promise of a bakery cinnamon roll for breakfast (we'd purchased pastries on our drive to The Landing!!) that lulled us to sleep. 

A Look At Our Future

8/24/13

PCT mile 2550 - 2564   - 14 miles

Elev 2325-5383

One more overnight and a day of hiking will bring us to our resupply town unreachable except by foot or by boat. We are so ready to rest, I'm needing more food than I had planned, we are tired girls. 

My feet were wet all day yesterday and disintegrated any tape I put on wear spots so this morning I've decided to leave the tape off and see how I do.

Last night Peggy took glacial water out and let it sit all night to settle the silt. She then poured off what looked ok to drink and treated that with her Aqua Mira tablets. We both have 1/2 liter for the morning until we reach a good water source. I can't use my filter on this water.

The noise of the water made us miss our alarm so Peggy woke me this morning at 6, we were hiking by 7:15. 

We took one last look at the Suiattle River.

See the high banks of ash and some devastation from past floods that necessitated the new bridge being built.

It seemed to take forever to get past the river today and we took a wrong turn for 1/4 mi.  It just didn't feel right so when I checked my GPS and found we were off trail we traipsed back and made the correction.

Climbing slowly from the low elevation of the river through lovely forest with the occasional big Douglas Fir, we caught a last glimpse of Glacier Peak.

  After awhile we rounded a corner in the forest, double checking our GPS for the exact spot in the first 5 miles of hiking today to celebrate our 400 mile mark!

Hooray!

We took a break, laid out wet socks to dry and snacked. 

Along came a distance hiker named Pigpen who had started near Ashland, Oregon and was going to the Canada border. I suspect he hadn't spoken to anyone for awhile but once he stumbled around for his first words he had lots to say. A real interesting man who'd been an electrical engineer but was now a confirmed wanderer with no home address. He's been wandering the world's hiking trails for 9 years. 

Then came the 2 older men we've been leapfrogging with for days who stopped to chat, they told us they admired us for undertaking Washington.

We continued up the trail with the sky looking like it might rain. Stopping at a river for water the 2 men passed us again.  It was really looking like rain so we pushed on.  

Peggy has been taking photos of mushrooms along the way, some are really bizarre looking   We saw probably one of the weirdest on this trail, a white round growth close to the ground with red syrupy-looking drops coming out of the top like blood droplets! I didn't take a photo but Peggy did, we later looked it up in a book and found it was poisonous (of course) and was called Strawberries and Cream!

We crossed lots of streams today of varying width, here's one bridge over water that we used.

We are pushing to get to Suiattle Pass but there are blueberries and huckleberries clustered along the edges of the trail as it climbs higher and higher.

We picked handfuls, eating as many as we could then putting some into a big leaf in the middle of the trail to encourage the 2 older guys that are struggling behind us to make it up the hill.  There was a young hiker coming south, we asked him not to step on the berries when he came to them.  We found out later that the young guy met the 2 men & told them we'd left them a present, we got a thank you from them days later in Stehekin!

Rounding an uphill part of the trail we saw an amazing view of surrounding peaks that surprised and encouraged us.

I couldn't wait to see more!

Reaching the pass it was time to take stock of what was before us, big clouds and blue patches of sky and a valley that stretched before us ending in Stehekin down there somewhere... our last resupply town!

Hiking down from the pass we came upon a boulder field and wanted to rest and enjoy the view.  A voice said "Sit, there's lots of room."  There were 2 40 something men out weekend hiking, really excited to be in this beautiful place too.  They were fun to talk to and completely wowed that we were hiking all of Washington at one time. We enjoyed listening to these men talk about their trip and what fun they were having out here.

Moving on downhill we ended up going over and around mountainsides into new valleys.

Going deeper into this boulder field I found a huge rock to have fun with.

I'm pushing it apart with all the bicep strength I've built up on this hike!

More huge boulders that amazed me with their size. The trail goes through these two.

More views at where we're going tomorrow, it looks rugged.  Yikes!

Pasqueflowers are in all the high alpine mountains.

We climbed another mountain and dropped into the area we'd planned to camp. It's in a tiny meadow below the trail just under the tall peaks and snowfield of this mountain. It's sure to be a cold, damp place to camp but the only camp marked on the maps for 2 tents -so we're stopping. 

Looking up to the peak from our tents; the peaks and snowfield.

There was a small, little stream where I filtered water for us.  

The sky was clear and stars bright in one part of the sky, the other had a dark cloud looking heavy with rain.  It's a toss up whether or not it will rain tonight.

Walking Among The Old Ones

8/23/13

PCT mile 2536-2550  -  14 miles

Elev 4520-2325

Yesterday was our 1 month on the trail milepost!

Rain woke me in the night last night.. I hadn't pitched my vestibule on the tent so there was potential that wind would blow rain in on me.  Quickly,  I was outside with my tiny LED searching for a rock to anchor my line for the vestibule.  That done I got back to bed.  It rained enough to create condensation in my tent so in the morning I had to just roll it all up wet, inside and out. I really hate that.  Rain makes everything heavy plus there's the worry that at some point I have to stop and try to dry out my stuff.  So...I was grumpy and short tempered.

With our Packas on (it's like a poncho for us plus a pack cover) we took off up the switchbacks at 6:45.

There was lots of brush even though the trail crews had been out brushing this section.   I resigned myself to being wet today from mid thigh to my socks.

There are also logs over the trail so some fancy footwork was required and Peggy had to take off her pack on one challenging log to shove it under and then follow after. We finally made it to the top and noodled around up there until the trail went to the other side and moved down into alpine meadows and we saw the another side of Glacier Peak. 

The following are a series of photos of the alpine meadows, rocks, streams from the glaciers and flowers blooming in their short summer season. It was still drizzling and cloudy.

Lupine.

These basins are big, wide, sweeping places. 

Thick carpets of bright green moss are places for tiny flowers to bloom.

YellowMonkey Flowers and I don't know the tiny pink one.

I've been calling this a penstemon but I think it's Lewis' Monkeyflower.

Looking back on the trek through the rocks,  we came over the saddle (the dip on the top of this photo) and switch backed down through the rocks.

 Even though it stopped raining it was still overcast with slight clearing. At a wide spot in the meadow we set up our tents and dried our wet stuff.  It took about 1/2 hr. and we were ready to move on.  I worry when my tent & bag are damp, that it will be hard to stay warm at night if I can't get my stuff dry. So now I have no worries!

Mist was rising up through the valleys to creep over the ridges above,  we hoped it wouldn't rain again too much. Two folks hiking south passed us otherwise we were the only ones out here.

A fat marmot stopped in the trail 15 feet in front of us munching flowers and greenery. 

He wasn't concerned with our presence at all so I made appropriate marmot noises and he ran off. 

Walking along on the grassy slopes, the trail almost covered with grasses hanging over,  I stepped in a big marmot hole, twisted my left ankle and fell on my side. I heard a crunching sound and thought  "Noooo!"  I stood up, carefully tested the ankle and walked it out slowly. (it wouldn't bother me again until the last section and then only because the trail was like a ditch sloping in and making me walk on the inside of my foot).

Once down into the forest it was quiet and shady, no more rain fell but things were moist.  We has some big trees that we had to get over such as this one that Peggy decided to shove her pack under. I climbed up and around but sometimes that's more work!

 We knew we would be walking the new 5 mile addition of trail that opened last year leading up to the new bridge over the Suiattle River.  It has taken years to rebuild this section of trail after storms had taken out the old bridge. For a long time hikers had posted photos of crossing this swift, cold, glacial river on a big old log. Most sat down and scooted across it but some walked across, amazingly. 

We were looking forward to seeing the new trail, bridge and the section that went through old grove trees.

We had 8.5 miles to the river where we planned to camp but when blueberries  present themselves you have to honor their effort and enjoy them. 

So we picked!   

Then we hiked through thimbleberry, salmon berry, willow, anything that could choke the trail we waded through, on into the forest.  This forest is different than others, a quiet is here, maybe it's the deep mat of needles and tiny hemlock cones that we're walking on. Deep moss on each side of the trail and we see some sunlight filtering through, maybe we've ditched the rain after all!

Soon I see really huge trees; Douglas Fir, Red Cedar here and there. It's deeply quiet when we stopped for 2nd lunch to rest among the trees.

Moving on we have 6 miles of fairly even forest trail to walk on, we both are craning our necks looking up. 

We came to the trail junction where the new trail joins and it's just amazing to imagine all the work that went into remaking this trail so far from civilization.

At this point we only have 3.5 miles to the bridge but we're both anticipating "The Grove" which showcases old growth Douglas Fir, Red Cedar, Hemlock and, we're told Sitka Spruce.

As we crossed a small bridge we were suddenly there in the grove. 

I loved touching them, this is a huge Douglas Fir.

I took this looking up from the trunk so you can get some idea of how tall these were, the branches are far up the tree and the bark deeply grooved.

Straight ahead are huge Red Cedars, their bases are so big they remind me of elephant legs, bigger around at the base where they root into the ground.  

This is a magnificent place, I feel as though I'm in the presence of The Ancients.  We never did see a Sitka Spruce.

Hiking 1.5 miles further we came to the new Suiattle Bridge, it was a work of magnitude as you can see.

Steel beams must have been airlifted in, I'd love to read the story of this bridge project.

We camped below the bridge by this glacial river and had a good night's sleep because you couldn't hear anything but the river!

This day was special, walking through the old grove was a highlight for me. Another beautiful place!