August 17, 2016

Bushcamp (mile 2464.1) to Lake Sally Ann (mile 2491.1)

Miles: 27

Our total miles: 2084.8

Hiker fatigue has set in. Andy deflated his air pad and promptly fell back asleep on the cold ground. Now both of us have trouble getting going in the morning.

While packing up we shared a bag of 18 Rabbits granola to both lighten our load and lift our spirits. 

We were hiking by 7 into the already warm morning air. Sunlight turned the tops of the trees a golden color. We hiked past many streams, slowly gaining elevation.

Andy’s knee has been bothering him for the last few days. Laurie thinks it comes from tight IT bands and the fact that we have totally neglected to stretch. 

Laurie took the tent poles to slightly lighten his pack in hopes that it would lessen his knee pain. The agreement was that she would carry them up the hills and he down the hills.

As we started hiking Laurie experienced a weird pain in her right hip and thigh. With a little stretching this too improved, but Andy took back the poles.

Our bodies have held up amazingly well but things are starting to hurt. Upon standing up we initially limp as our bodies work through the stiffness that immediately sets in upon ceasing to move. 

The trail took us up and down all day. In total we gained 7300 feet and lost 5700 feet over 27 miles. Every climb was rewarded with magnificent views of Glacier Peak and the North Cascades. We stared at green mountains and meadows as we walked. This part of Washington is truly spectacular in good weather. 

Around 4 pm we got water from a small creek. Laurie was feeling sluggish and pulled out some Swedish fish in hopes of a boost of energy from the sugar. 

Unfortunately the opposite happened and she felt even slower. It was 9 more miles to our ideal campsite at Lake Sally Ann. But we had other options if we didn’t want to push as hard. 

We agreed not to make a plan and see how far we could get by 7 pm.

At 6 pm we were at the creek and 4.4 miles from the lake. We were a little hesitant to make that our goal given our previous experience with lack of camping and popularity of lakes as destinations. 

However the mileage was right on target so we decided to take our chances.

We climbed 1600 feet over those 4.4 miles. Laurie sang “the ants go marching 1 by 1 hoorah…” over and over in her head. The rhythm of her trekking poles matched the beat of the song. 

As we neared the lake we stopped in awe of the alpen glow on the distant peaks. The sky turned a light pink and the distant green meadows looked to be carpeted in grass. 

While settling into camp around 5 or 6 pm is nice, hiking during the golden hour is quite a treat, especially when up high along ridges.

We walked the last few tenths of a mile smiling. Today was physically exhausting but the views made it all worthwhile. We were proud of ourselves for covering so many miles despite the steep terrain. We walked more today than we did for most of Oregon which had a lot less elevation gain and loss.

Rolling into camp around 8 pm made Laurie feel like a “real” thru hiker. Andy doesn’t care about things like that. He is just happy to be out here in good weather.

Lucky for us there was only one other couple at the lake and we found a great spot near some trees.

We ate dinner and mapped out potential tentsites for the next 4 days. We plan to be in Stehekin on Sunday and want to maximize our time – both along the pretty stretches of trail and in town.

Tonight we are grateful for plentiful campsites next to a lake and for blue skies in Washington.

August 16, 2016

Glacier Lake (mile 2447.7) to bushcamp (mile 2464.1)

Miles: 16.4

Our total miles: 2057.8

You can probably guess what happened this morning, but we will tell you anyway. Laurie turned off the alarm and kept sleeping. Andy sleeps with ear plugs and was dead to the world. When Andy shook Laurie awake at 5:45 he didn’t even bother asking if the alarm had gone off.

Andy started packing up while Laurie slowly opened her eyes. We packed up our things while chatting with Janet – our tentsite neighbor, until we left. 

We climbed the steep use trail back to the PCT and were heading north again around 6:45am.

The trail meandered through large boulder fields and soft forests. We crossed some streams and began to climb steeply up toward an unnamed pass.

The switchbacks were tight and narrow, partially occluded by overgrown bushes. It was hard to imagine horses negotiating those turns. Overgrown bushes hid rocks and roots, leading both of us to stumble over them on numerous occasions.

We crested the top of the climb drenched in sweat and gazed down at Trap Lake. It would have been amazing to have a zip line down into the cool waters of the turquoise lake.

We hiked down, using our poles to support the majority of the weight of each step. The trail was a deep rut, somewhat like what we assume the AT looks like. At least from the description we’ve heard from other hikers. 

The trail crossed some nice meadows and we walked past a few lakes before climbing again. Small bushes filled with purple berries lined the trail. Laurie stopped to pick and sample. 

These looked and tasted like the blueberries she was used to. But after so many hikers telling us different things, we don’t know what is a huckleberry and what is a blueberry. Really though, it doesn’t matter – they are both delicious and so far haven’t killed us 🙂

We hiked up and down about 500 feet two more times before topping out at the top of a ski lift at Stevens Pass. 

We stopped to make some phone calls before walking down to the ski resort.

Andy chatted with a 90 something year old man who was out hiking and “altitude training” for his marathon the following week. He mentioned he usually wins his age group and recently does better than the 80 year olds as well. It makes both of us happy to see people still out enjoying nature late in their lives.

The hike down to Stevens Pass wasn’t spectacular or wilderness-like at all. Construction and highway noise made it feel like an urban hike. 

And since we were in an urban environment Laurie chatted on the phone most of the way down. 

When we finally reached Stevens Pass Laurie called her godmother while Andy picked up our boxes. 

We then started all our town chores- charging electronics, throwing away grabage, creating a tentative plan for the next section to determine how much food to bring, and eating.

For us, food is not usually the first thing we do in town. We call our family, shower and then go about filling our stomachs.

Sometimes this doesn’t end well because we get hangry but this afternoon we were ok.

We ordered sandwiches and asked for as many veggies as possible. Laurie had never eaten a sandwich with olives but today it tasted delicious.

We chatted with other hikers as we attempted to sort our food. Laurie tried to give away trail mix but everyone politely declined. 

Three road cyclists came through and gladly took some of our extra food. They were amazed when we told them where we had come from and they asked to take a picture with us. 

We donated a lot of food to the hiker box, more than we ever had. So much in fact that another hiker thought our donation pile was the hiker box. We tried really hard to have variety in each box but after 5 months, things become a lot less palatable.

Laurie did laundry in the bathroom. She was happy to find soap, although using the automatic dispenser was a bit tedious. 

Just before the lodge closed Laurie had a big cup of ice cream. She is getting tired of our trail food and always seems to look forward to ice cream in town. 

Ice cream and a fuzzy beverage.

At 4:30 the lodge closed and we continued to charge outside. We edited, added pictures and uploaded our blog posts. We had originally hoped to hike out around 5 pm but didn’t actually leave until a little after 7 pm.

We crossed over the pedestrian bridge over the highway at Stevens Pass and walked past a construction site to the trail head. The first mile was flat. It was like walking on a paved path. It was wide in some sections, then narrow because of overgrown brush but flat!

We enjoyed feeling our legs move themselves effortlessly.

Since we left so late and were in the trees it got dark around 8 pm. We hadn’t made it as far as we would have liked but so be it. We found a tentsite between 2 creeks and set up camp. 

We will sleep well on the soft earth to the sound of running water.

Tonight we are grateful for easy access to outlets and soap in bathrooms.

August 15, 2016

Bushcamp (mile 2421.9) to Glacier Lake (mile 2447.7)

Miles: 25.8

Our total mileage: 2041.4

Andy opened his eyes, sat up halfway and noted the orange and pink colors in the sky and silhouette of the mountains. It was too light to be 5:15am. He checked his phone – 5:29. He glanced over at Laurie who was sound asleep. 

He stroked her cheek and asked if the alarm had gone off. She had no recollection but must have turned it off and fallen back asleep.

We had a long day ahead of us and wanted an early start. We were tired of getting to camp just after others and losing out on our planned tentsites.

So although we were already a little behind schedule we moved quickly and stepped on the trail at 6:15 am.

We switchbacked down 1500 feet to the Waptus River. The trail was over grown in some places and well maintained in others. We occasionally stubbed our toe or tripped over roots as we walked.

This was all forgiven because we ate lots of thimble berries along the way. Seedy but delicious! 

The Waptus River was perfectly clear and powerfully cascaded over the rocky river bed. Upon crossing the wooden bridge we noticed some very nice campsites above the river. When we pass nice campsites or beautiful lakes we try to make a mental note for “next time.” 

Just after Spade creek, another nice creek seven tenths of a mile north of Waptus Creek, we caught up with Colleen and Diane. They had had another late night and were trying to get an early start to allow for a more leisurely day.

We hiked together, chatting about our previous day. Laurie introduced them to huckleberries and soon after we were all stopped, picking and devouring the delicious berries.

The trail started to climb but luckily we were still in the shade. We switchbacked up and up, walking across dry stream beds in the sun and back into the shade of the trees. 

This continued for another 7.5 miles. In total we climbed 2500 feet. Andy noticed some large ripe huckleberries and after trying one he proclaimed they were the best he had had. A statement like that required further investigtion. 

Soon we were both sans packs with Talentis in hand. We picked until we had 1.5 Talentis worth and a plan to have oatmeal and huckleberries at the top of the hill.

As we were picking we heard a loud noise. It sounded like stomping, but from a creature larger and heavier than a human. We heard 4 steps, then nothing. We stopped and stared at one another. 

We started talking loudly and looked in the direction that the noise had come from. We were in a delicious berry patch after all and wouldn’t have been surprised if we had a bear visitor. But we saw nothing and never heard the noise again.

We stuffed the Talentis inside Laurie’s pack and hiked on. The switchbacks continued and we were drenched in sweat by the time we got to Deep Lake. The lake looked magnificent – teal glowing against the talus and green meadows. 

Laurie resisted the urge to swim as we still had a pass to climb. We hopped across the lake outlet on a series of rocks and logs and continued up.

It was around noon when we finally reached the junction to Peggy Pond. We found a shady spot and sat down in the middle of the trail. 

We had warm oatmeal with fresh huckleberries as we stared down at Deep Lake and the mountains and waterfalls across from us. It was an awesome spot for a break.

Laurie took off her shirt and set it in the sun to dry. When she put it back on 45 minutes later it was stiff from the salty sweat. It quickly softened against her body as we hiked down another 2000 feet.

We are in Washington and this is what the trail is known for – big ups and downs all.day.long.

We met a lot of people who were hiking from Stevens Pass to Snoqualmie Pass. This seems to be the most popular section in the state, probably because it is beautiful and close to Seattle. One section hiker said he was taking a pole and wanted to know who we were voting for – Clinton or Trump. We get asked all types of questions!

The trail switchbacked down through the trees. We passed many small creeks offering opportunities to wet our hats and allow cold water to drop down our backs. We walked past broad green thimbleberry leaves and prickly small salmon berry plants. We ate as we walked, munching on the local cuisine.

We turned a corner and saw a large creek careening down a gully. The creek bed was rocky and much wider than the creek itself at this time of year. 

The maps indicated that this can be a difficult ford, particularly in the early season. Luckily we are not in the early season but the sound of the water still made Laurie’s heart rate quicken. Apparently she still has some fear associated with creek crossings.

Many people had passed us and none of them had mentioned a tough crossing, nor did their feet look wet.

As we got closer it was obvious where to cross. Logs had been clustered together to form a bridge over part of the creek and we were able to rock hop the rest.

We walked on, past Deception Lake and up toward Piper Pass. It was late in the afternoon and the sun was intense. 

Laurie felt great and powered up the hill. Andy was dragging but stayed less than a switchback behind. We got to the top before 6 pm and descended the final 2 miles to camp.

We switchbacked through a boulder field and down toward Glacier Lake. We were reluctant to camp at the lake in fear of too many people. Our concerns were valid once again. People were camped at our planned spot when we turned the corner at 7 pm. 

No real surprise to be honest. It’s close to Stevens Pass and a destination, two things a thru hiker should avoid when getting to camp late. 

Having said that, we were still hopeful and took the use trail to the campsites anyway. 

We managed to squeeze into a slanted spot very close to another woman’s tent at Glacier Lake. Thanks for sharing your spot with us Janet! 

Laurie asked where she was headed and when she learned we were thru hikers her eyes lit up. Seeing people’s reactions helps us see and remember the significance of what we are doing. Day to day it feels just like a backpacking trip. 

We think of this entire 2650 mile journey as a string of short 4-5 day backpacking trips. The best part is that at the end of a backpacking trip we get to go on another one!

We ate dinner sitting on a rock watching fish jump on the lake. Now we lay in the tent staring up at the stars past the tops of tall trees.

Tonight we are grateful for our trekking poles and manageable fords.