2016.8.20-21 PCT Day + Vista Ridge to Barrett Spur + Elk Cove

3 consecutive days of 100°F weather is driving me out of home.

8/20, Saturday. Busy at the rental car office. Only got my car at 9:30am. When I headed out, the car registered 80°F. Drove towards Cascade Lock. The stretch west of the hill on hwy-26 registered 86°F. Arrived at Thunder Island 10:45, about 85°F. PCT Day event is not on the island proper, unlike last time I was there. Lots of tents all over the island, again, unlike last time, not a lot of people camped here 3 years ago. Maybe more marketing, and more and more PCT hikers. I did see a few in dirty clothes and backpacks. Quite a few have name tags with their trail names. But most participants are like me, freshly emerged from their air-conditioned car. Similar amount of booths. No talks/seminars. A proper stage with a lot of speakers. A few games. Overall, not a whole lot to do. I chatted with 2 forest rangers, inquiring the road conditions to a few hiking choices at Hood. That's very useful. There's a raffle at noon. I got a small LED lighter. There are, of course, lots of schwag.

I didn't want to camp here due to the heat. At 1pm, I drove away. My car, parked in the sun, registered 105°F. Once in the shade, it dropped to 95°F. It's about 1.5 hour drive to Vista Ridge trailhead. However, Google Map doesn't even have the road where the TH is, causing me to take a wrong branch at the last mile. There's about 8 miles bad road, but not too bad. The small TH had ~a dozen cars. It smells of dog poop, maybe my tires went over some. Saw quite a few. I waited for a car to leave and took that spot. 88°F @3:40, 4500'.

Vista Ridge is an easy hike. Very dusty. Almost flat. But my sweat was still dripping. I took my umbrella, and a can of beer. In about 10-15 minutes, you get to wilderness boundary, where I filled a backcountry permit. There, the burnt area starts. Dead trees with white barks, fireweed and beargrass. In 2 miles, you see live trees, but not long, you are emerging out of the tree line. Timberline trail is 2.5 miles from the sign. I pitched my tent (no rainfly) at Wy'east Basin (5800'), the first meadow with healthy streams, minutes from the trail junction. It was just past 5pm, but I called it a day. A very easy day in the hear. Good view here. Can see Adams, Rainier, and St Helens, the latter two were very faint. Good breeze. Quite some little flies. I washed a bit my T-shirt in the creek and wore the wet shirt. Felt good. Ate my sandwich sitting in the shade, typing this blog. Soon, I was actually feeling cold.

At 8pm, I decided to go up the basin wall for a sunset photo of Hood. Unbeknownst to me, the wall keeps rising, and I lost the view of Hood entirely. By the time Hood reappeared, it was devoid of color. 8:30, headed back down the dusty scree.

Since I didn't put up the rainfly, I could see the stars lying on my mattress. The sky wasn't too dark at 9pm, but the 3/4 moon would rise at 9:30. You could also see the light pollution from Hood River.

8/21, Sunday. Headed back up the same trail at 6am, hoping for some sunrise photo. Again, too late. Barrett Spur loop. Looks like I was going up further along the same Vista Ridge, but not on the ridge proper, as too many short gnarled trees. Walking up in scree next to the ridge. Therefore view of Hood is blocked, so is the wind. The slope is not steep. Probably better if were in snow. Surprising number of flowers, at least 2 weeks too late. Once you plateau out, wind gets stronger. There are more low lying plants here, like dwarf lupine. Hood looms closer and closer, until you reach the end, marked by big boulders, nails, and a can of chilly! View of Hood is superb. So close, you can see and hear the falling water, the cracks. Too windy to breathe comfortably. Elevation 7850'.

Return towards Dollar Lake. You can see the routes from this photo looking down. This loop is better done in reverse. You can almost always see Hood along this trail. Flowers are also better. You can look down Elk Cove to the right below you, which I'd go next. Dollar Lake itself is just a small pond. The water isn't even clear. Much better looking when it was snowed over last time I was here. I saw two tents. Pretty soon after Dollar Lake, you hit Timberline Trail. Follow it to the right (east) to Elk Cove itself. Narrow and deep. It's very green, braids of creeks, pretty. Quite a lot of people camp here. I walked around the cove for some time, ate my 2nd sandwich. Again, too late for flowers.

Retrace my steps on Timberline Trail to my tent, packed up, reached trailhead around 1pm, 68°F. ~20 cars parked here. I don't know how most of them can turn around. One car waited for me to leave. Drove down to Zigzag road and out to hwy-26. Have good views of Hood in many places. It's a long drive for Hood. Took me over 2.5 hours. My phone registered 24k steps. 8-9 miles.

Overall, about 12 miles (8-9 miles Vista Ridge TH to Elk Cove RT, and 3 miles Barrett Spur add-on), about 4000' gain, but seems less. Easy for overnight, very very dusty.

2016.8.13-14. Goat Lake loop + Elk Pass

My 5th trip to Goat Rocks wilderness, covered the most territory.

8/12, Friday. Picked up a rental car around 5:20, but didn't leave until well past 6pm, hoping to avoid traffic. My car showed 98°F when I filled up gas ~6:30pm. Smooth on Hwy-26, but slow north of Portland going across Columbia River. Google said 6+ minutes. I stopped at the rest area around I-5 exit 55, and Cowlitz ranger station at Randle for restroom, because I was drinking constantly. The latter only has a pit toilet outside of the main building. It was stuffy hot when I opened the door ~9pm. Didn't go in. 10 minutes later on Hwy-12 is a proper rest area (clear sign, north of the road), with running water, seat cover, soap, and descent toilet paper. I overshot the turn by 1 minute, because it was already dark, I couldn't make out the sign. Having the route on my phone is always a good idea. Driving at night has its advantages: you can easily see the on coming traffic, and very little traffic. I was driving in the middle of the wide gravel road. Only 2 cars headed out. When I got to Chamber Lake campground, I circled the place twice looking for a site. Seemed all taken. Lots of people. 59°F @10pm. 3/4 moon was high. Some stars. Not good enough to see Perseid Shower, which was in peak yesterday and today.

Woke up around 3:30 to use the toilet. Walked to the lake. The sky wasn't dark. Could still see milky way, but not shiny. Only a handful stars in the lake. Counted 5 shooting stars, and returned to my sleeping bag. A warm night.

8/13, Saturday. Alarm at 5:30. At 6am, the parking lot at Snowgrass trailhead was full. 57°F. I parked at Berry Patch TH. An outhouse and a garbage can. You can walk here from the campground. I forgot to bring my pass. So, wrote a note, put on dashboard. I left the car unlocked, and windows slightly down. Hazy and cloudy today. It explains why last night the sky wasn't dark. In 2 hours, the junction to Bypass trail. I took Snowgrass trail. Lots of people camped at the junction of Lily Basin trail. Lots of side trails that end at a site. At 9am, I was looking for a tent site. Checked out a few. Opted for a more exposed spot for better view, and close to a small flowering creek.

Packed a small nylon bag, headed north on PCT. Ate an early lunch at one camp site (for better shade). Took my shoes off and rest, facing Snowgrass Flat and Mt Adams. Flowers were past their prime.

Continued up north, passing a few more tent sites. At the junction to Old Snowy, most people turned there. I continued. More snow than 2 years ago when I came here with my nephew. A couple of snowy slopes to negotiate. Then on to the so-called Knife's Edge. It's a wonderful ridge walk. Not too narrow, but I still am glad that I didn't encounter horses. Saw goats twice. A family of 6 in a lupine field just below Packwood Glacier, and another group of 3 on snow a bit north. There're also a couple of tent sites. No water though. Said hello to a group of 3 PCT through hikers. They started in April. 20 minutes later, another through hiker, who's quite unusual. He's very chatty, inquired about alternative routes. He said he re-supplies himself by buying food at towns rather than shipping prepackaged boxes to town. They were all hoping to get to Packwood tonight, which is 17-18 miles away + hitch hike. Not very likely.

I turned around at Elk Pass, about 10 miles from TH. I could see where I walked last weekend. Anticlimactic. It's lower, and lost view of Rainier. Coyote Trail branches off to the left (W). Met a boy heading that way.

At the north trail junction Old Snowy, I decided to avoid the sketchy few steps to get on a boot path over a snowy slope. It was only 4pm, so slowly, I walked up to Old Snowy, since it's a short and straight forward jaunt. I was pretty tired by then. At one of many resting stops I made, I noticed a group of ~20 goats in McCaw basin. The top of Old Snowy offers a closeup view of other Goat Rocks peaks: Ives, Gilbert. On descent, met the first Singapore PCT through hiker, Raccoon. He got disoriented by the sign. Even though he was maybe only 10 minutes shy of summit, he turned back towards PCT. He said that he was tired. He came here only to hike PCT, raising money for cancer research. We walked a bit together until a temporary small creek formed by melting snow, where I decided to wash and fill water. I took 2 photos of him, so he can update his Facebook page later for his followers. He said his parents is worried because he's doing this epic hike alone. He's 26. Later, just above the Flat, I met an elderly through-hiker, whose wife is from Philippines. His pack is considerably larger than others. He was hoping to camp by Elk Pass.

I got back to my tent around 7pm. After dinner, walked about for sunset photos. All day haze and clouds provided beautiful color by the setting sun.

My phone registered 44k steps. So probably 16 miles + some walkabouts.

8/14, Sunday. Night sky was darker, but I didn't wait for shooting stars. A warm night. The first time I use this new bag. 45F MH phantom.

I started hiking out at 6am. Blue sky. Headed to Goat Lake. Pleasant temperature. Met 4-5 hikers on the way, but saw many tents. Lots of flower on this trail, easy walking. Arrived at Goat Lake at 9, took off my boots and ate my last sandwich, facing the blue-green lake. Some ice still floating on it. Windy. I put on my rain jacket. So many tents here. People are packing up.

From here to the junction of Goat Ridge trail, flowers were at their peak. Their fragrance filled the air. View of the Goat Lake basin, the Goat Rock peaks and Mt. Adams is unbeatable. This stretch is my favorite of the day. I took too many photos.

At the trail junction of Lily Basin Trail and Goat Ridge Trail, I left my pack behind a tree, and headed north (right) to continue on Lily Basin trail. I was hoping to see Heart Lake and Lily Basin. However, I soon turned back by this snow patch after passing the junction to Hawkeye Point. A bit too much scree, even though I met a group of 4 backpackers who came this way. The junction itself is worthwhile. Mt Rainier looms behind Johnson Peak.

Walked up to Hawkeye Point, at the middle of this photo. Along the way saw people camping, using snow melt. There's a geological marker up there, and remnants of some structure, a lookout? Lots of rusty nails. I cannot resist placing this rusty bowl for a photo. The 360° view here is splendid. It's interesting to survey the landscape that I walked yesterday.

Back at the trail junction to pick up my pack. Finished the weekend by hiking down Jordan Basin along Goat Ridge trail. Jordan Basin is quite pretty. Plenty of flowers. I got distracted by side trails to campsites, and lost the trail while shooting photos of the creek and flowers. Had to scramble to back up. I rather like this Goat Ridge trail. Not too many people. The trail eventually connects to Snowgrass trail, and back to Berry Patch TH. Washed up a bit using the water I took in a milk jar.

My phone registered about 32k steps. Roughly 12 miles. Later, I had to walk home from the car rental office, which added additional 3 miles to the long and beautiful weekend.

2016.8.6-7 White Pass to Shoe Lake and beyond

8/6, Saturday. I don't have to get up at ungodly hour to make the 8am meetup at Sunset TC, a nice change. 3 hour drive. Met with two other cars and 3 other hikers at the White Pass PCT southbound trailhead (~4200'). It's a small parking area for maybe 8 cars. Some of us have to park at the campground north of Hwy-12. A couple at the parking lot came to see one particular PCT through hiker, who's trying to set a record.

The trail to Shoe Lake is straightforward, steadily but slowly gaining elevation. 5 of us started at ~11:30am. 2 hours in the woods, passing 2 grassy ponds: Ginnet Lake after ~1 hour, the 2nd pond 20 minutes later. Ignore all branches, one of them goes down to the Ski area. Still in the woods, no view. About a mile later, you get a glimpse of Mt Rainier above the ski lift. Yet another mile later, you finally get out of the trees. View here is very nice, and you can see the little Miriam Lake, and the big pool of blue Rimrock reservoir far to the west. The view gets better and better until you are just above Shoe Lake, at this point, you can see the peaks of the Goat Rocks. Camping is now forbidden in the lake basin. The closet camping is Hidden Spring, about a mile further on a side trail. Again, all in the woods.

I continued on south along PCT. Passed two sizable ponds, one of which is named Lutz Lake. Both grass rimmed, and have camp sites. From the trail, the water doesn't look very clear. But I could be wrong: I didn't get to the edge of the water to check that. There're also a number of tiny streams, which I don't like as my water source. There're a couple of more camp sites by the trail, which I don't see obvious water source. I pushed on, totally disappointed. Finally, after 2.5 hours, maybe 6 miles, ~half a mile south of the trail junction to McCaw Basin, I emerged from the trees. I was now walking south on a slope with the view across McCaw Basin on my left (east) and a sun basked slope dotted with flowers to my right (west). Soon, you crest the ridge, and go down west to a beautiful flowering basin, with melting snow running in force. A nice small camp site, just being claimed by a couple. Further down, closer to the running creek is a large campsite, already had 5 tents. Passing the creek (easy), going up above a flowering plateau. Another nice campsite, already claimed. Somewhat windy here. I was by then exhausted. Found a clump of trees and pitched my tent in front, facing the mountains, on grass (very bad, I know). Relieved to have the pack off my shoulders. It was 7pm already. Put on my fleece and I continued up towards Elk Pass with my water bottle. I found a couple of more camp sites, and saw one more person. I was walking into clouds that was getting darker and thicker. So, I turned back after maybe 3/4 mile from my tent, and maybe still 1/2 mile short of Elk Pass. All along, very pretty and open country. Cooked dinner ~8:30pm, it was quite cold. No bugs.

My phone registered 46k steps. I estimated ~15 miles from camp to trailhead. Extra 2 mile for going up the butte above Shoe Lake, and from camp to Elk Pass.

Encountered at least 7 PCT through hikers today. They are fast.

8/7, Sunday. Woke up ~1:30am by my bladder. Pleasantly surprised to find out that the sky was clear. Beautiful stars, no moon. I set my alarm at 5am, because I promised to meet my group at 9am. Packed up and started heading down without cooking breakfast. It was around 5:50, and the sun was just rising, casting a yellow glow all around. After 30-40 minutes in the beautiful alpine scenery, back to the dreary woods. I got to the campsites of my group by 9am, and they were packing up. I checked out the area. A small meadow 5 minutes walk further (so is the spring, which I didn't see). Another 5 minutes, there's a better camp site on a ridge with nice views of distant hills.

Headed out, we took the trail to Shoe Lake. Unbeknownst to me (should have checked my map), you can continue and it connects back to PCT. I left my pack at the trail junction, so had to come back. The lake is nice, but not as pretty as when you look at it from above. My group was flying. I wasn't able to catch up with them. Arrived at the car 5-10 minutes late. Drove back by 1pm.

My phone registered 43k steps today. My longest hike to date this year.