The weather turned for the better and my heel is healed so Linda and I drove to Chinook Pass on Tuesday August 7, 2001. Together we hiked south overlooking Dewey Lake and then looped west past Tipsoo Lake. About a 3 mile loop, without packs. The flowers are still out and the day was warm and pleasant. I then headed north on the PCT leaving at 1:45 PM. I arrived at Sheep Lake at 2:50 resting and restocking water there. There were about 5 people at the rather small lake. Looking at the trail from Chinook Pass I thought I would have to climb the whole ridge before reaching Sheep Lake, but the lake is nestled in the side of the mountain. Then climbed up to Sourdough Gap by 3:38 and on to Hen Skin Lake. I started setting up camp there at 6 PM. Before setting up camp I left my pack there and continued up a side trail and discovered two ponds which are on the map, I now notice. They had small fish in them and a nice meadow surrounding them. I took advantage and cleaned off with a nice warm swim. The day was hot.
I tried the COSTCO dried potato soup. It made a good dinner with lunch meat added. You only need 2/3 cup of the stuff as it does expand when added to water and cooked for 10 minutes. Also enjoyed a cup of cocoa. Two guys, a gal and a dog came through at dusk but kept going to the next lake. They had entered from Crystal Mountain 2 miles away. In the tent under the trees by the lake I took a GPS sample and received data from 7 satellites. The elevation was 5449 feet. I figure the north south position from a GPS is accurate to about 120 feet. I suspect the elevation position is not as accurate. I found the flashlight had turned on in the pack and the batteries were dead. This flashlight seldom gets mistakenly turned on. Installed two new AA batteries. They will last for several trips even if used a lot.
Found I forgot to bring my walking stick but did bring a plastic plate which I never use if I am by myself. Too much diet pop affecting my memory or just rushed a little. Little things like this are bigger up there as one is hefting the pack an walking for 10 hours a day one remembers if only I had... I hiked 2.5 miles with Linda then 6.4 miles to this camp.
August 8 a Wednesday. I woke at 6:12 AM to bright sunshine on the hills. I felt in good shape and had slept well. Felt it was to early to start so read my book for awhile. Did get going and headed back up toward Bear Gap and the PCT, which is about a mile away. Half way there I met a 50 year old guy sitting at the edge of the trail studying his GPS and maps. He had the fancy GPS with the maps built in and also had paper maps. He was walking the ridge from Crystal Mountain and was trying to determine if this trail was the PCT. He removed the mosquito net that was protecting his head, for our visit. He was out for the day. He complained about the parking fees at the trailhead and also the $2 a night they are charging to camp in the Olympics. So he now comes to Mount Rainier area to hike. He knew a lot about the area including the mining that had gone on there. He also showed me a 2 inch cube external antenna with a wire that attaches to his GPS that will plot his travel. He showed me a map that had a trail made from these plots. He needs a computer to plot his path on a map. Really did a nice job!
I arrived at Bear Gap at 8:33 AM. It is already warm and I need only a tee shirt. The GPS elevation indicates 5856 feet. (The book I use is called the Pacific Crest Trail which says the elevation at Bear Gap is 5882 feet.) Later this morning I passed 16 girl scouts with about 5 adults. They looked a little beat. A little later I saw a large helicopter climb into a notch and apparently land about a mile south of me. I was at Crown point by 9:50. At 11:30 I had a sandwich roll with lunch meat and cheese. At 12:30 stopped at a spring 10 yards below the trail. GPS read 46 degrees 57.73 minutes and 121 degrees 27.16 minutes. This was just 100 yards south of trail 1191 and north of Basin Lake trail.
At 6 PM I found a sign saying springs on the west side of the trail. Whew! I had not had water for several hours. Was saving a little. I had missed a torn down cabin and several other water trickles described in the book. I was really getting tiered and thirsty. A blister started forming on the back of my right heal. I keep playing with foot pads, one or two socks and using the special sweat wicking socks. Probably the best for my feet in my boots is no foot pad with a medium light sock. This camp is just east of Arch Rock. I believe I was sitting on a the only remaining corner of a cabin that was torn down because this is a wilderness area. Just after I took off my pack here come a middle aged guy an his wife down a trail at the back of camp. Turns out the trail climbs up to Arch Rock and is only 1/4 mile long. We visited for 10 minutes. He told me about the different water sources around then they continued on north down the PCT. I had half a macaroni and cheese dinner with the remaining lunch meat added. I also had a glass of milk (yuk) and a cup of cocoa (yea). I listen to the last half of an Odyssey radio drama which was enjoyable. Took a GPS position 47 02.18, 121 23.78. Hiked 13 miles today. This campsite is in big trees. It is 8:21 so will have a drink, raise the pack 10 feet off the ground again, read for a while and hit the sack. What a life!
August 9 a Thursday. I slept very well again but am worried some about my sore feet. Realized I brought way too much food. Listen some to KOMO radio and heard that Seattle is going to get to 87 degrees today and 88 degrees tomorrow. It is now 7:45 and I better rise and shine. A guy just walked into camp. He is from Washington DC He works in environmental research and they help small countries develop wind and solar power generation and the sort. He is hiking the PCT 250 miles a year. He listed off the different water sources to the north. Government Meadows 5 miles north of Government Meadows one east side of trail after a camp Just north of Sheets Pass 8 miles to weather station (Sign on trail Agua)
While we were breakfasting together a through hiker stopped without dropping his pack and talked for 3 minutes. His name was Paul and he wanted to know were there was water and if we had seen the other through hikers heading north. Paul left Mexico this spring and had made it this far. The environmentalist had seen three guys with the trail name of the 3 amigos hiking with a gal and an older man trailing. They were all 15 miles north. Paul knew them all and seemed eager to catch up.
I broke camp at 9:35 AM after granola which gave me an extra container for water. An hour down the trail I passed the middle age couple who had told me about the trail to Arch Rock. At 11:20 AM passed Rods Gap and am walking so hard I do not seem to get hungry. I am thinking why not toss the extra weight of gorp and lunch meat as I do not really need them. At noon I reached Government Meadows where there is a beautiful cabin for all to use for free. Hiked 7 miles today. Feet sore. The cabin has windows and a wood heating stove, a splitting maul, along with a loft for sleeping and a couple of benches. A nice door and brooms. The cabin is accessible by a four wheel road. There was no one else around and I read the couple week old log book and see Paul Clark the through hiker was here at 10 AM. He wrote he wanted to hike 24 hours straight to make it to Snoqualmie Pass! I found a good sized pool way out in the meadow which was private so took a cleansing swim. Even washed my hair with soap. It is very hot out. The mosquitoes are irritating but not terrible. The meadows are very nice. I can see a lot of elk sign. In 1853 a wagon train headed by David Longmire rested in these meadows. They were the first wagon train to cross the Cascades east of Puget Sound. Naches Pass in half mile to the east. At 4 PM two thirsty 25 year old guys came in from the north to stay at the cabin also. Chris (or Stew) and Jad(?). Chris had hiked 20 miles that day with a 50 pound pack. Jad hikes about 10 miles a day. Chris is from Michigan and this is his first real hike. He started in Canada and is heading south. It turns out both had been good wrestlers so we swapped old stories. We talked all evening through individual dinners until 9:30 when we all headed to the large loft and slept immediately after Jad slapped a mouse who ran across his face. Just before bed we saw one lone elk out in the field. I see about one deer per day. I forgot to put the battery back in the radio so did not listen to the radio during the night. I heard antlers rattle once during the night and assume it was an elk or two. Probably would have slept better in the tent, but slept just fine.
August 10 Friday. Broke camp after warm mush at 6:50. There is not much water ahead so I am trying to make good time in the cool of the morning. At 8 AM passed Windy Gap, there is no wind. I am in shorts and T-shirt. At 8:51 I reached water. I had not used any yet. I really drink a bunch of liquid at each water spring or creek. About a quart. This water was a spring and they had made a 12 inch pool right were the water comes out of the hill. I drank lots and lots. Some for now and some for later. The GPS position is 47 07.90 and 121 23.34. At 11:07 I reached Green Pass and per the sign was 5100 feet. At 11:48 came to Bear Creek trail #943. Took a sunbreak while watching a jet fighter fly low and fast up through the valley and over the ridge next to me. While here I met my first hiker of the day, Tom Rogers from Brownsville! I will eventually look at his web site "friends.backcountry.net/rogers". His trail name is Hobbit. He is a retired Naval officer. He hikes with a 22 pound pack before food and water and has done the lower half of the PCT. This year he started in Canada and is heading south. He says in about 15 days you get a pace on the trail and the trail becomes home. He hiked 101 days last year.
12:47 Reached Granite Creek Trail. 12:50 Reached Blowout Mountain. Later met two young hunters looking for bear. Very hot out. 4:30 PM Reached Tacoma Pass but thought I should have been there long before. Finally arrived at Sheets Pass camp at 5:36 tiered and hungry. I just had a little water left. The water at camp is just a trickle but is cold. Found out lots of PCT travelers are not filtering water. Seemed like in years passed everyone was filtering water. I am still filtering since I am caring a filter. My feet are real tiered with another blister above the moleskin of my right heel. After large amounts of water I finished a chunk of cheese that was starting to go bad. Using my tent for mosquito protection, I rested awhile before dinner. Made rest of macaroni dinner adding dried vegetables and dried meat. Added about 7 chunks of meat and after rehydration found it was way to much. Had to toss some of the meat. When I think about how big each piece was before dehydration I realize no way could I eat that much. Two more hikers came through tonight. Both stopped to get water. They did not see each other. The last one started from Chinook pass yesterday and got 9 miles that first day. He has no tent and just a sleeping bag liner. Said he got cold last night. No dah. His pack is 22 pounds. He wants to sleep away from the creek and mosquitoes. I have been drinking lots of water this evening. Now at nine PM I am really hot. Feels good to be in tent resting. Hiked 20 miles today.
August 11 Saturday. Woke up hot again. 27.5 miles to Snoqualmie Pass. Broke camp at 8:19 after a cream-of-wheat breakfast, getting water, drinking lots of water and applying mole skin to my heel. Feeling good and energetic which is nice after yesterdays effort. It is 9 miles to the next water. Start of climbing the hill in the sun. I had even carried my small pot of water for several of the first miles today, which I drank first. Hopefully this will extend my non thirsty portion of today's hike.
Kept a steady not too fast pace today. In the heat of the afternoon I saw the sign saying "Agua" so headed up 1/4 mile to the weather station. They have a faucet on the caretakers house they make available to PCT hikers. Filled up on water and rested 10 minutes. The three people at the weather station were the only ones I have seen today. This is the boring portion of the hike. Lots of no lake hiking and about half the time you are in logged of land making for hot hiking. What remains in the logged off areas is almost meadow like so is still pretty. Actually never ran low on water today. Reached Stirrup Lake at 4:44 PM. The lake is half mile from PCT. Obviously not heavily used. I had the lake to myself and went swimming to wash up. The water was warm. The lake is not very deep but the water clean. As I rest in at the water edge it is so warm I continue to sweat. Enjoyed instant rice with added veggi's and one piece of meat. After dinner had cocoa which has been customary on this hike for some reason. Made crystal light for the night. After dinner is cooked I let it cool while I set up mosquito portion of tent and hang pack in tree with food. Crawled into tent at 8:20 PM to get relief from mosquitoes and the flies although they are not real bad. Just nice to be away from. The evenings have all been real warm until about midnight. Can not even crawl into sleeping bag until then. I surprised myself in how far I got today. I could have stopped at lizard lake but the lake didn't look very nice. There is a logging road way up on the side of the hill here but there has not been a vehicle on it since I have been here. I walked off the edge of my map which covers the southern portion of the PCT. Hiked 15 miles today. Just 13.6 miles to Snoqualmie Pass. Set alarm for midnight to watch the expected meteor shower. Woke up 4 minutes early and went out to the edge of the lake and observed a garter snake trying to swallow a slug. He had it about half way into its mouth. Then I laid on a log and watched the sky with no moon and observed 4 shooting stars in 20 minutes. All the meteorites were going in the same direction. It is very clear and calm tonight. Then walked back to the snake and noticed a large bulge in the middle of the snake. There are no bugs out at this time of night.
August 12 Sunday. 6:45 out of sack. 7:45 broke camp after granola. Was back onto PCT and at a logging road north of Stirrup Lake by about 8:00. By 9:22 entered Cedar River Water Shed. At 9:43 AM was at Yakama Pass the elevation was 3575 feet and Twilight Lake was there. GPS received 8 satellites and read 3608 feet elevation 47 20.16, 121 26.06. The flies and mosquitoes are noticeable. Two day hiker - runners ran past caring only water bottles. Two more runners came past then at Mirror Lake the final 2 past. They were all running just under 20 miles and the groups of two were separated by about 20 minutes. At 10:30 reached Mirror lake. GPS 47 20.78, 121 26.15, elevation 4166 feet. There are several large families camping here. Real nice lake. Had a roll and cheese for lunch at 11:47. Out of the 50 people spread out in the many campsites at this lake 25 are in the water for hours at a time. The group across the lake are jumping off the rocks into the lake and having a great time. I have jumped in several times trying to keep clean and then to keep cool. First clouds of hike came in at 3:30 but were scattered. At 4:00 everyone but myself are gone. 4:50 I am waiting for potato soup to cool. A couple arrived at 4:45 then left at 5:30. At 8:30 PM saw and heard thunder clouds in the south. Tent is 15 feet from water edge and 15 feet high which gives me a good view of lake. Rested most of the day and read a lot. Good Sunday break. Hiked 5 miles today.
August 13 Monday. 6:30 AM had oatmeal for breakfast. The weather is calm, mostly clear and warm. Left camp at 7:20 and reached a point looking down on Interstate 90 at 9:48 AM. Reached Lodge Lake at 10:20 and rested some. Then reached the minimart at Snoqualmie Pass at 11:20. GPS at Snoqualmie Pass 47 25.45, 121 24.74 with 6 satellites. Hiked 9 miles today. Found out the next bus arrives at 2:30 PM. Called Linda to let her know I was out and heading home. Bought a liter of Pepsi and headed off into the woods a little to eat my last roll with cheese and read. The bus cost $9 which got me to Seattle. Everyone seemed to want to talk in the bus. They were all pleasant. Caught the free bus in the bus tunnel and rode downtown getting off at Pioneer Square. Walked to the ferry and caught Kitsap Transit Bus for $1 and rode to Poulsbo. Called Linda from the Dairy Queen at about 6 PM.
Was sure nice to have the protection of mosquitoes and flies in the tent. I could still hear them but was safe. I had mosquito lotion but never used it. My feet are in good shape other than the blister on my right heel. Read only 184 pages of this 815 page paperback. Too much time swatting bugs I guess. When I am hiking I feel like I am sauntering down the trail. I did not rest much, climbed the hills with not more than 20 second standing breathers to catch my breath and control sweating some. I really did not drink often, but when I did drink, I would have a good long drink. A very pleasant hike. Not the big ups and downs, not as many lakes or creeks but still very nice. Hiked 70 miles on this hike. My pack weighed 36 pounds on my return.
Next hike. Carry less food. Use lighter shirt and sweatshirt. Leave plate home.
Jim