August 11
August 11 Darrington WA 0 trail miles Slept in, walked to Glacier Peak Cafe (instead of Glacier Peak), biscuits and gravy, then to the Mountain Loop Book Store & Coffee for quiet, non-hiking backpackless morning. Walked around town a bit. The Red Tavern was packed at 1:30 on a Tuesday, not a good sign. The […]
August 16
August 16 Hopkins Lake- Manning Park 15 miles 7:45- 1:00 Woke to sunshine, lay in the tent for a while watching a deer about 10 feet from us munching the moss where one of us had pissed– they love the salt. Then we were up and could smell the barn– possible lunch in a restaurant, […]
August 15
August 15 campsite to Hopkins Lake 18.4 miles 8:15 – 3:30 Slept in a bit hoping the sun would come out and dry things– no luck, we used up out karma on the first part of the trail. Very misty, so we packed up wet gear and headed out, making good time on a gentle […]
August 14
August 14 campsite to campsite 15.7 miles 5:45 – 1:15 It was a James Taylor Day — Fire and Rain Very early morning started to rain. I was cowboying, and Toasted Toad (a thru-hiker) was packed up and headed out. The Rangers were closing trails because of fire threat as we move north, so we […]
August 13
August 13 campsite to campsite near Glacier Pass. 11.2 miles 9:45-1:30 Slept in and hiked short day to position ourselves to cross a long stretch with little water– long days tomorrow and the next. Still in smoke as we left, but it slowly disappated over the miles. Uneventful day, passed some Canada bound folks–short […]
August 12
August 12 Rainy Pass to campsite 9.8 miles (after 72 mile hitchhike). 1:15-4:30 Slow start out of motel, picked up biscuits at IGA and went to intersection to hitch. We needed to go up 530 to Rockport, then take 20 to Rainey Gap. First ride was nice guy but only about 11 miles and left […]
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 […]