Today’s miles: 14
Total trip miles: 195/2690
I wake at 6:30 a.m.to a very cloudy morning. Or is it just fog? Everything is grey and dewy and I glance up at the sky nervously. Sure enough, I’m 10 minute into hiking when I feel the first rain drops. To stop and get out my rain gear or keep going? Common sense wins out as the sky is a dark grey and I take off my pack. I’m glad because the drops become more persistent.
It rains steadily for the next two hours. I’m climbing over Red Pass in the rain, a climb that starts at 3,700 feet and ends at 6,200 feet. It seems like this should be the worst, a huge climb in the rain, but for some inexplicable reason it’s a great morning. My jacket is keeping my clothes underneath dry, my pack cover is protecting everything in my pack, and I’m not that cold. Just some wet hair and damp hands. The rain is keeping me cooled off, I think.
As I reach the peak of Red Pass, I’m greeted to blue skies and stunning views on the other side. I look behind me to see where I came from, and it’s still cloudy and rainy back there. But up here, it’s blue skies and green pastures. How absolutely wild the mountains can be.
I’m in luck as I’m heading for those green pastures and I take one of the most beautiful ridge walks of my like. Everything is lush below me and I can see deep down into the valley. At some point during the ridge walk, another hiker comes up behind me. His trail name is Lifeboy, named after the band Phish. We crossed paths as we came into Stehekin. He tells me he just decided to through hike the PCT three weeks ago. Wow, I say.
After Lifeboy passes me, I follow a sign that says toilet with an arrow pointing down into a climb of trees. But there actually are, wooden ones built into the ground. It’s a nice luxury to have, when you can actually find them.
Lifeboy and I play leapfrog a couple of times, in which I pass him and then he passes me. We end up hiking together for an hour or so, and I’m walking in front, engrossed in our conversation. As we bog through a swampy meadow, Lifeboy abruptly stops and says “I don’t think we are on the PCT anymore.” Shit. I took a wrong turn and led us half a mile the wrong way, a wet and muddy half mile at that. I decide to rock scramble a ridge that looks like it leads back to the PCT while Lifeboy retraces our steps. Coincidentally, we meet back at the PCT at virtually the same time.
In the late afternoon I tell Lifeboy to hike ahead without me. I decided I’m stopping early today. The miles are adding up and I feel I could use a more chill day. I stop hiking and set up camp at Lake Sally Ann around 4 p.m. The lake is 95% frozen and the water you can see is a shade of transparent blue. I spend the evening reading, writing, and doing a little gazing out on the lake. I thought there would be way more of these days. There haven’t been and I make a mental note these days are much needed. Mashing miles is fun but so is just chilling at a beautiful lake.
