A fun south bound hike along the Pacific Crest Trail following a previous north bound week on the PCT
Backpackers: Ed Tucker and Carl Fisher
August 15, 2015 – Miles: 4.3 After spending Carl’s birthday Brian and Ann Lewis we depart at 6:45AM to catch 2 city buses then Greyhound bus to Stevens Pass. We hit the trail around noon with overcast and cloudy weather. Throughout the day we were hiking up into the clouds and mist. We were told it was 40 degrees-and it felt like it. When we arrived at Lake Susan Jane, our intended destination for the night, we didn’t like the campsites so we pressed on to Mig Lake. We had stayed at Mig Lake on a previous trip. We are now fully in the clouds and everything is getting damp so we quickly set up camp, have supper, forego wine and crawl into our tents at 6:00PM. From time to time there is a gentle tap-tap-tap of rain on the tent. Carl got up to pee at 10:30 and it was very, very foggy.
August 16, 2015 – Miles: 10.0 We woke up in the clouds and started hiking with everything damp. After an immediate uphill section of trail we broke above the clouds to a beautiful blue sky. It was an uneventful day ending at Deception Lake and with more than 3000 feet in elevation gain.
August 17, 2015 – Miles: 12 We met Mother Goose, Nicky, Bill and Robin (whom we had hike with the previous week) within the first hour on the trail. There was lots of uphill today that seemed hard to me and, fortunately, the end of the day was all downhill to Deep Lake.
August 18, 2015 – Miles: 15.3 The morning hiking was all down and the afternoon all up. We woke to smoke blowing in from the north which lasted all day. We camped near a small lake at High Point with 4 young folks (3 on their first trip). We are ahead of schedule and will most likely get out a day early.
August 19, 2015 – Miles:9.5 Today’s trail was somewhat a repeat of yesterday with the uphill being more severe. Water reports about where we wanted to camp (to get out tomorrow) were sketchy meaning we would have to haul lots of water uphill. We made a decision to cut today’s miles short and to stay at Spectacle Lake. This decision put us in camp at 1:30PM with plenty of time to wash clothes, take a refreshing swim and to generally enjoy Spectacle Lake under sunny, blue skies and no smoke.
August 20, 2015 – Miles: 17.6 We woke to sunny skies with clouds coming over the ridge and breaking up. We hit the trail early so we could do our climbing in the cool of the day. We attained the ridge overlooking Spectacle Lake at 8:30AM and then got into the clouds. We walked in the clouds until 2:00PM. Along the way we found dog gear, food, bars, and jerky at the side of the trail. A very strange occurrence. We hollered and blew our whistle and listened but got no response. We arrived at Snoqualmie Pass at 5:30 and immediately went to DruBru, a brew pub, for beer and pizza. The Lewis’ picked us up at 6:30PM.