cathieandrandy

Yesterday we met in the lodge dining room, the four of us and 2 other hikers, Billy Goat and Glacier. We mulled over the various weather reports, and finally came to a consensus that the most sane decision would be to take the equestrian PCT detour.

Besides being easier terrain than either the officially closed PCT or the US Forest Service detour (which Billy Goat has done, he says it is really composed of elk trails on which the forest service posted signs) this third option serves as a foul weather route because it swings east out of Stevens Pass, then north to meet the PCT as it comes around the northwest side of Glacier Peak.

This detour is in the rain shadow of the mountains. On Tuesday, when we got a hitch out of Stevens Pass heading west for Skykomish we were standing in pouring rain, filthy dirty from slogging through mud and soggy horse manure. A nice man who picked us up (Perry) commented that just a mile back (east) the sun was shining and the sky was blue.

Unfortunately, this easier-safer detour does not have the fantastic vistas of the Glacier Peak Wilderness, the crown jewel of the PCT in Washington. So it was with sadness that we walked along a road. We passed a nursery, and a man waved and calling out to us said he had seen several other thru-hikers in recent weeks. At the nursery I saw they had just erected a sign which read “closed for the winter.” Yikes!

Later, a car pulled up beside us as we trudged along. The driver guessed we were PCT thru-hikers, and said he hiked the PCT in 2005. He asked if we wanted a ride to the road’s junction with the trail. We said no “we’re walking the detour” and felt bad enough we were missing Glacier Peak - we weren’t going to cheat, too. He laughed and said when he hiked southbound in 2005, the official route was not an option due to swollen creeks and rivers. And because the detour’s crossing of Boulder Pass was considered too dangerous he and 20 others got car shuttles around this part.

We thanked him for the encouragement and kept walking.

Today we are glad this was our choice. Weather moved in: Cold, windy and wet. We got only sprinkles as we continued up the canyon, now on trail, but it looked mighty messy high above us to the west. We have now left the road for the trail (joining the US Forest Service detour) but after the treacherous Boulder Pass section.

Seven other backpackers came down the popular trail we are on, the Buck Pass Trail, and said it is snowing at Buck Pass (at 5000 feet). That’s where we are heading tomorrow.

Now we are camped at a comfortable spot about a mile shy of the pass, under the shelter of fir trees. We have some anxiety about the Portland Trio. They decided to take the entire US Forest Service detour, leaving the Cascadia Lodge in Skykomish early, before we were up and about. They will be climbing on rock, well above 5000 feet. We look forward to seeing them arrive safely in Stehekin on Sunday.