Washington - Snoqualmie Pass to Stehekin
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| On The Way To Kendall Katwalk |
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| Kendall Katwalk |
Once up on the ridge, the views just kept on getting better. It was a clear day, although later in the afternoon clouds started to roll in and I decided to camp at a lower elevation site to avoid having my tent dripping with condensation in the morning.
The following day was clear again. As I stood on the ridge to take a picture, a mountain goat came out from the trees, moved to an outcropping and appeared to be staring at Mount Rainier. This could not get any better.
I was deep in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and there was a pretty lake almost after every bend of the trail. I passed by Spectacle Lake, where we had camped during the section hike.
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| Spectacle Lake |
After a long and steep climb I reached two tiny lakes where I spent the night. The morning brought pretty clouds over the mountain tops.
The trail dropped down to enormous Waptus Lake and up again to Cathedral Rock.
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| Waptus Lake |
After a tricky crossing of Cascading Creek I reached Deception Pass and camped at a pretty pond nearby.
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| Deception Lake |
The next day brought many more beautiful lakes until I reached Stevens Pass, where I picked up my next supply package and cowboy camped on the patio of the ski lodge.
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| It’s ok, I have a season’s pass… |
Finally I had cell phone signal again and could research details about the fires near the border. The news wasn’t good. The PCT was closed and I had to find an alternative route. The official recommendation was just to call it quits at Harts Pass, about 27 miles before the border. I downloaded the latest US Forest Service information about the fires, trail closures and conditions. I wasn’t going to put myself in grave danger and I didn’t want to do anything illegal. However, I wasn’t giving up so easily and if I had to do some bushwhacking or roughing it for a few days, so be it.
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| Red Means No |
Leaving Stevens Pass, I entered the Henry M. Jackson Wilderness and the pretty lakes and mountain views kept on coming.
After a few days the winds turned, bringing colder air and smoke from the north.
Still, Glacier Peak Wilderness impressed with its wide open vistas, white water streams and glorious landscapes.
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| Glacier Peak |
Views of this mighty volcano stayed with me for several days, although sometimes obscured by fire haze.
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| Fires Getting Close… |
When I reached the north side of the mountain, fall colors started to dominate. I wasn’t worried about that any more. I had outhiked winter, but perhaps not the forest fires.
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| Winter Is Coming… |
As I came closer to Stehekin, a remote settlement where I planned to resupply next, I received more news of hikers leaving the trail. Stehekin was an easy exit point as it had a ferry connection to Chelan, from where there were buses to wherever one needed to go.
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| Glacier Peak Wilderness |
I don’t know why reaching the Canadian border felt so important to me. I had touched the Mexican border and simply didn’t want to end this adventure without doing the same in the north.
I planned to pick up enough food to get me to an alternative location at the Canadian border that was not affected by the fire. However, there was no cell phone service anywhere and I could not get updates on the conditions of the area where I wanted to hike. In addition, it was very remote and some of the trails I wanted to take hadn’t received maintenance in many years. The US Forest Service website had just said that conditions of these trails are unknown, meaning no ranger had inspected them in a long time. It was far from certain that I could reach the border that way, but I wanted to give it my best shot.
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