I haven’t started my PCT hike yet. Come back after March 27th.
In the meantime, here is a photo of the Springer Mountain AT trail register. I saw Grand Pa wearing a long grey beard just as he was finishing the Amicalola Approach Trail. This was the end of his 4th AT thru hike.
Ridge Lake to Snoqualmie
6 miles
The rain and wind started lightly, but in very little time I had water dripping from the roof at the lower end of my tent. I woke up at 1 AM and realized that the foot of my bag was in a puddle of water. I scrunched up toward the upper end of the tent and attempted to stay dry. Water was also leaking through the seam for the rain fly door and water coated the entire inside of the fly. I need to get rid of this Sierra Designs flashlight tent.
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Location:Snoqualmie
Spectacle Lake to Ridge Lake
12 miles
I packed early then rolled out my pad on a rock to relax while enjoying the view of Spectacle Lake and surrounding peaks. A hummingbird was sitting on a pine tree nearby. I was motionless as I attempted to see how long it would rest if undisturbed. In a flash, it was hovering about 10 inches over my chest close to my nose. In order to extend the moment, I remained motionless. It hovered seconds as it drifted closer to my nose. I wondered about the danger of the long sharp beak that was clearly too close. At that moment the hummingbird disappeared.
This section of the hike was supposed to be dry and I only had a liter of water. We questioned a number of hikers passing the other direction and they confirmed that it was dry; however, after reaching the top of the first climb from Spectacle Lake we found a small muddy looking pond right off the trail. We pumped water from this pond. I cameled up by drinking both my bottles and refilled here. About a half mile further down the trail, I hiked off trail to the right for about a quarter of a mile to refill at a better lake. The others hiked on and I soon caught up.
Much of the walking was an ascent across steep open slopes. We reached the ridge top and crossed over to Chikamin Ridge. From this ridge there were views of the valley below that extends miles toward Snoqualmie. I was soon startled by hearing a sharp whistle. It was Marmots whistling. I lagged behind the others and let the Marmots continue to whistle. Eventually, one of them growled at me. I hope it was a Marmot growling and not a Mountain Lion. 🙂
While we continued to hike across an extremely long section of exposed slope just below the top of the ridge clouds thickened and grew gray. Up ahead the trail crossed a section on top of the ridge. I suggested that we keep on moving to avoid a storm while on these slopes. The storm didn’t seem to fully form so we stopped for lunch. After lunch some rain and wind started up and although we were on the ridge it was not intense. I hiked in my rain pants and hooded jacket.
Easily our hardest day of the trip. We started earlier than usual at 6:30 AM. I never have trouble getting ready before others and I had plenty of time for my coffee and oatmeal with blueberries. We started the day with a long switchback climb and ended the day with a hot dusty climb through fireweed and burned forest to Spectacle Lake. We didn’t finish up hiking until after 7 PM. Matt and I hiked ahead at the beginning and the end of the day. We really moved out on the ascents.
Along the way we were treated to the most spectacular views yet of jagged mountain tops draped in snowfields, glaciers, and waterfalls.
Deep Lake to Waptus River Campsite 7 miles Today I hiked some with a southbound PCT thru-hiker named Lucky. Lucky was nursing a sore foot and seemed to slow down a little allowing me to catch up. Lucky is from Modesto so in a way he is hiking home. Good luck Lucky! 🙂 Later in camp we met another PCT thru-hiker (northbound) named OCD. There are 2 OCD’s on the trail. OCD shared his stories around our campfire. Everyone was impressed with OCD’s pack that came in at only 16 pounds fully loaded with food, water, etc. He was using ZPack gear (backpack and 2 person tent). I’ll check out ZPack tents for my planned PCT thru-hike. I had a relaxing day. Into camp early. Washing up, reading my Kindle, picking blueberries for morning oatmeal, and eating lunch. Later, I walked back across the bridge and spent time on top of big rock enjoying the view of the clouds moving in from the West and on and off Bear’s Breasts mountain. Today was mostly downhill or flat with no long difficult climbs. Here is how I compare the PCT and AT.
|
Trail Characteristic |
PCT |
AT |
|
Vertical Rise of Typical Big Climb |
2000 feet |
1000 feet |
|
Distance of Typical Big Climb |
Long with long switchbacks |
Short with short switchbacks and direct vertical |
|
Trail Surface |
Generally smooth and areas of tallus |
Generally rocky and rooty |
Desolation Lake to Deep Lake
12 miles
At Desolation Lake I slept without the rain fly and with the door open to enjoy the stars. In less than a minute I saw 3 satellites pass overhead. With a cold wind at Deep Lake I used the fly for the first time.
Throwing bear lines has become a nightly ritual. The greatest effort was the night at Surprise Lake where we suspended bags across a ravine anchored by small trees that bent over.
The two longest ascents have been up Trapp Pass and today, up and around Cathedral Peak. We also had creek crossings that though usually dangerous, were uneventful this year. I did some laundry at last camp and hung socks to dry during lunch today. I left the socks behind so I am now down to only the socks on my feet. My feet have been doing fine. A couple of people in the group developed hot spots or blisters, but these were treated and became no issue.
