7/4-7/7
77 miles fast pack-Section J-Snoqualmie Pass to Stevens
Pass- whew, we made it and it was tougher than I expected. Leaving Friday afternoon from Steven's I'd hoped to hike well into the night, but stopped early when we ran into snow and ice, about 16 miles in. The first 16 miles were indeed scenic, but much much better was to come.
The next morning I had some difficulty getting back on the trail. It had frozen and any tracks were not distinguishable. The first of several times I had to take out the GPS to find the trail. Still the morning sun on the mountains looked great.
Upon descending into the next river valley the trail became much more running worthy, with plenty of forest. The whole time I had been thinking, how am I going to get the dog across the ford with the dog. My mind flip flopped a few times, but finally, it was the dangerous ford warning sign that swayed us to divert south of Hyas Lake to the alternate route on this section.
The diverted route is about three or four miles longer with many fallen trees, and scenery wasn't much to brag about once past the lake. This section became very hot and ended with two fords over the river. On the second day we stopped three or four times for breaks. We made it past Waptus Lake and up the to the heights on the opposite slope. It took a little cunning to find a half way reasonable place to sleep. I thought about pushing it further but did not want to end up camping high and possibly in the snow again so we stopped.
The next morning I had some difficulty getting back on the trail. It had frozen and any tracks were not distinguishable. The first of several times I had to take out the GPS to find the trail. Still the morning sun on the mountains looked great.
Upon descending into the next river valley the trail became much more running worthy, with plenty of forest. The whole time I had been thinking, how am I going to get the dog across the ford with the dog. My mind flip flopped a few times, but finally, it was the dangerous ford warning sign that swayed us to divert south of Hyas Lake to the alternate route on this section.
The diverted route is about three or four miles longer with many fallen trees, and scenery wasn't much to brag about once past the lake. This section became very hot and ended with two fords over the river. On the second day we stopped three or four times for breaks. We made it past Waptus Lake and up the to the heights on the opposite slope. It took a little cunning to find a half way reasonable place to sleep. I thought about pushing it further but did not want to end up camping high and possibly in the snow again so we stopped.
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