The Beautiful Deception Lake & Loving the New Trail Family! – PCT 2017: A Hiking Story [48]
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Part 47 ‘White Pass & More Fire Closures’
Day 150 (01/09) – Summit Chief Mountain
The plan was to get up at 6am, for a 7am leaving time. I had my coffee, and breakfast and was packed up rearing to go at 7am. The others were… not so on schedule haha – I guess I had just become super efficient hiking alone I guess. I was enjoying hiking with these guys though, and wanted to stick with them. We started hiking at 8am in the end. Although, I have to hand it to them for making press coffee which takes more time – I wanted in on that!
We had some fairly gnarly terrain to cover today – a steep downhill, a steep uphill, followed by another steep downhill – fantastic! It was also blistering hot, and I drank two litres of water to just get up the mountainous climb.
The highest point of the day’s climb saw us hike alongside a ridge off Summit Chief Mountain, there was a nice little lake we all went for a swim in. I went in twice, it was that refreshing. We decided then that we were the worst hikers – only 12.8 miles by 4pm! Luckily, it was easier hiking from here.
Hiking with Copper, the dog was funny. He’d follow you up close and personal to the point where he’d be walking on you. Sometimes he’d even find that opportunity to overtake and squeeze by you unexpectedly.
We camped by Waptus River just after a large bridge crossing. I merged dinner with the other guys and we made alfredo pasta. I made the sauce in my jet boil and Rise cooked the pasta.
Distance hiked: 20 miles
Total PCT hiked: 2425 miles
Day 151 (02/09) – Deception Lake and Glacier Lake
After getting up and hiking, we soon hit a smoky part of the valley. The fire was over the ridge to our right and a lot of smoke was accumulating in the valley. We could breathe ok, but our breathing was definitely hindered somewhat – our buffs helped a little. The sun’s intensity was reduced also, but it felt like a greenhouse with humidity.
We ended up at Cascading Stream, the stream leading out of Pea Soup Lake high above. On a normal year, this would be a hard crossing, but we were quite late, and it was quite dry in Washington. It was but a mere leap to cross.
The day was hot, and climbing up the mountains was sweaty work. Deception Pass was the obstacle, and we were rewarded on the other side with Deception Lake – one of the most beautiful swimming lakes we had come across. Within seconds – Mr Blisters, myself, Rise and Shine had all jumped off the rock into the lake for a swim. Mammal and Snakebite must have hiked ahead and missed the opportunity. It was amazing! Several other hikers who had arrived also followed suit and jumped in after.
We ascended to Piper Pass, and passed huge white granite boulders and cliffs looming above Glacier Lake. It was awesome hiking over the white shiny stone.
Eventually, we descended to Glacier Lake and met up with Rob (with his golden retriever – Tucker) and Robbie, and two of Snakebite’s friends as well. All nine of us ended up cooking a communal dinner on one of the huge granite boulders by the lake. It turned out incredible! Rob also had packed out a bladder of red wine, and we were in a happy place. After dinner, a few of us played a game of cards before heading to bed.
Distance hiked: 22 miles
Total PCT hiked: 2447.5 miles
Day 152 (03/09) – Stevens Pass
I slept pretty remarkably and didn’t get out of bed until about 7:30am. Rise was brewing filtered coffee and we all gathered around with our mugs. It was delicious, and much nicer than my instant coffee crap.
A few of us climbed a huge boulder by the lake and grabbed some photos before deciding we should probably hike. We left around 10:30am – literally the latest I’ve ever left! But who cares, it was an amazing spot to hang out!
I knew today had several steep climbs, but damn… were they steep! It was so hot and tiring that I had sweat cascading off the front of my face. There were views of some incredible lakes all day. We ended up taking a swim in Mig Lake – it had a great deep end with a rock to sit on. It was by no means one of the more remarkable lakes in the area, but damn, was it amazing on a hot day!
At around 5pm, we made it up to the final pass and down under the ski lifts to Stevens Pass. The lodge and ski park area was open in summer for hikers. I picked up my resupply box there with a delicious dripping waffle cone ice cream in hand (probably smeared all over my beard too).
We then ordered some beers and hot chips before they closed and sat on the balcony. I saw Corky again briefly, who was still with Caddy Shack and Still Phil. It is really hard to want to hang out with different groups of friends on trail I’ve found. Although I wanted to hike with Corky again, I hadn’t hiked with the other two he was with before, and these guys that I’d been hiking Washington with since the White Pass detour were cool.
It was here that Rise’s partner Mr Blisters (only section hiking) and Shine’s dog Copper would leave trail. It was a little sad to say goodbye to them both, along with our newly made friends Rob, Robbie, and Tucker the dog.
Rise, Shine, Snakebite, Mammal, and Wolf (who joined us due to his group not returning from a hitch into a nearby town) cowboy camped in a parking lot at Stevens Pass. It stunk like piss, and some group of people were in the distance playing weird rave music, but thankfully Wolf played some amazing blues on his tiny guitar – he was insanely good and soothing.
Distance hiked: 14 miles
Total PCT hiked: 2461.5 miles
Next Post:
Part 49 ‘The German Town of Leavenworth & Hiking in Beauty’
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