Surface
Surface The Pacific Crest Trail in the Northern Cascades of Washington has a surface that, when not scree, is soft, springy soil composed of fresh and decaying needles, cones, and wood from the giant trees that dominate this world. Dig down a few inches and you will find grey sand– fine particles of granite, […]
August 10
August 10 campsite to Darrington 17 trail miles 6:45-12:15 (then a lot of hitchhiking) “Thumbs out” Up early. Last night a wonderful older couple from Arizona whom we had bumped into earlier came in to our small site. They had hiked the AT to celebrate his retirement, and now were finishing the PCT. Almost […]
August 9
August 9 Campsite to campsite 20.8 miles 7:00-5:00 Switchbacks! This was a killer day. Started early with 3 mile climb, some flat up over 6000 feet, then a really long climb down — all switchbacks (it was like going through airport security in Atlanta). Had lunch on bridge at bottom with Ladybug and Crow, […]
August 8
August 8 Sally Anne Lake to campsite by stream 17.79 miles 7:30-4:00 Marmots, Ground Hogs, and Grouse It just keeps getting better. Day started with long traverses, we could see the trail ahead for miles across broad valleys. Once more, lots of blueberries. Kept getting closer to Glacier Peak, and saw many other ice […]
August 7
August 7 Pear Lake to Sally Anne Lake 11 miles (not counting detour) 7:30-2:45 Lost and found, Maximum Blueberries This was a day for the ages. Slept by Pear Lake. When we had come in on a side trail, there were lots of people camped in a single flat spot, so we walked to […]
August 6
August 6 Stevens Pass to Pear lake 18.6 miles. 9:15-5:15 Pine-cone blossoms, and blueberries Slept in at Cascadia Hotel, then headed over to the deli for breakfast–biscuits and gravy–but just as we got our meal, a nice couple in a pickup truck pulled out, we asked for ride and had good conversation […]
August 5
August 5 Trap Lake to Stevens Pass (to skykomish) 11.3 miles 6:45- 11:45 Bitter cold night, wind whipping off the lake drove both of us into the tent by 7:30– very small tent, but was necessary. Visited by deer, didn’t see them but recognized their step and snuffle. Up early for the run to […]
August 4
August 4 Deep lake to Trap Lake 18.3 miles 7:15-4:15 In the middle of the night I heard the rustle of a large animal. We haven’t been hanging bear bags, just using supposedly bear-proof bags and hanging them on the side of tree 100 feet from camp. I was cowboying it and heard distinctly […]
August 3
August 3 Lemah Creek to Deep Lake 21 Miles 7:00-4:00 So we had joked about hiking 7 miles day 1, 14 Day 2, so 21 day three, which actually turned out to be what we did. Started the morning planning 16, but after a very long but beautiful climb where we could see glaciers […]
August 2
August 2 Gravel Lakes to Lemah Creek 13.5 miles 7:30-2:30 Fairly hard day– still don’t have hiker legs. Got up early, but didn’t hike until 7:30. Had breakfast with Kate, then she headed back to the pass, and we spent a big portion of the morning climbing, with lots of rocky traverses across scree from […]