Day Three:
The best laid plans of mice and men. We thought we’d be able to make it out in our five allotted days with another relatively easy day today. Although this was a great day, fantastic even, it turned out to be anything but easy.
Here’s the morning view from camp to the south (notice the first little bits of smoke):
In a hike filled with massive ups and downs, this day started with an up:
Plenty of log work-arounds:
A clear view of the Glacier Peak massif:
But by 10:00 in the morning the smoke was becoming evident:
We continued of course. In wonderful alpine terrain, around ridges and past Pumice Creek:
This was actually a treat, one of the few PCT signs we saw on the trip:
But the real treat came farther along toward Fire Creek. We watched this amazing creature graze for ten minutes from one spot on the trail and then for another five from a different vantage place:
Closer to Fire Creek I saw this little punk way up the trail from us, down past a switchback. I’d say that Digby covered 2.5 times as much ground as me or Tricia with her constant running back and forth and ahead. She’s gonna fit right in to this life:
Here’s a multi-tree blow-down just before our rest break at Fire Creek:
And then another 1,200 foot uphill leg, to Fire Creek Pass. It was smokey, but oh-so wonderful alpine terrain. In spite of some ongoing aches and pains, Tricia did the whole climb in one push (in spite of those ongoing aches and pains, she also kept up the incredible, positive attitude that makes her a pretty much perfect backpacking partner). I saw her and the dogs on parts of the climb:
All alone for part of the hike, I got a nice shot of this flower:
And of this “Doctor Seuss” plant (no idea of the real name);
The trail highpoint near Fire Creek Pass was clear and viewful (oh, except for the worsening smoke):
Ups require downs. On we went:
Mica Lake is one of the few lakes on this part of the trail. It’s alpine and beautiful:
Nice camping spots there gave us a chance to rest:
For a while. But rational humans eventually figure out that resting near a clear blue lake is NOT a “best” use of time. Cool blue water requires a game of fetch (and in fairness, so does cool brown water and even warm brown water… let’s face it, rational humans should eventually understand that any liquid compels a fetch game):
Meanwhile, Vicki was back in Darrington watching the skies change from blue to smokey:
We were seeing it too:
The down continued. Massively. Although the Cascades are low elevation compared to our home range the Sierra Nevada, they are sharp and steep. Today’s hike showed that, as does the day’s Halfmile Map. Here’s the whole map:
And here’s a closeup of the section down from Mica Lake to Milk Creek (and then up its other side):
The actual walking:
And then we reached Milk Creek. Upon first inspection, I wondered whether Chocolate Milk Creek might have been a better name:
It’s a small creek, but raging. Thankfully it’s crossed by a large, high and sturdy bridge:
We were 10 miles in by this point and hoped to stop for the day here. There’s no water past Milk Creek for over five miles. It was smokey and warm and the next part of the trail is up. Or maybe I should type that “UP.” Massive sets of switchbacks naturally work both ways, and in this case the next leg is a dry, 2,200 foot gain, 4.2 mile “walk” to what was marked as a waterless campsite on the end of a ridge.
We felt like morning would be a nice time to do this hike.
But it wasn’t even 4:00 yet and, more critically, there wasn’t anywhere to camp. At least not in the classic sense. We debated setting up our tents on the flat planks of the bridge, but worried that the sound of the raging creek wouldn’t allow sleep, that the raging creek might endanger the dogs, and that we might be in the way of any other hikers (it turned out that there were no others that we would have blocked that day).
What to do.
Eventually another hiker, a woman we’d seen earlier in the day, came by. She was using an “app” and not a map and was focused on milage and possible campsites and not so much on elevation change. She kindly told us that she was going for it. That pronouncement tilted Tricia toward going for it and that tilted me toward going for it. We got ready (ironically, the woman, Cecile, got halfway up the switchbacks herself before deciding that she couldn’t make it, turning around and then making a rough camp at Milk Creek; she then put in a 16-plus mile day the next day).
With a hot 2,200 foot gain and four liters of water storage capacity to a dry camp, we had to do something for more water. I cleared room in my bear canister and used double ziplocs to safely store another 1 1/2 liters. The ziplocs leaked, of course, but just a little and we used this extra to rehydrate about halfway though the ascent, allowing us to arrive in camp with a full four liters.
And here is that ascent. Tired, hot and long:
And slow. But we made it to the dry camp by 7:00:
Mustering the energy to set up and then eat was hard. But we did and were ready for rest and then bed just about the time it got dark:
Another tough day.
