Trail Day 122: Steven Pass (mile 2461.6) to tentsite (mile 2484.1)

22.5 PCT miles

I set my alarm to get up before sunrise today. I was going to leave the Mountaineers Lodge before breakfast.  Normally I wouldn't skip free calories, but I knew if I stayed it would be that much harder to get going back on the trail. I had been off it for several days and wanted to get some good miles in.

Another reason I wanted to get going was that the longer I am off the trail, the more nervous I get about going back on it. With all the stories I was hearing from people coming off the trail, I was starting to worry about the conditions when I got back on the trail, and if I would be able to handle them. Part of me knew that once I started hiking again, all that nervousness would seem unfounded.

I packed my bag as the rest of the lodge was starting to stir and slipped out the door, past the rest of the resort, over the pedestrian bridge, and to the trailhead.

At the trailhead I met another thru hiker with another tale of adventure from the storm system.  He had ridden out the past two days in his tent, coming down last night in freezing rain to try to make it to the ski lodge hostel. He got down at 10 pm and decided to camp at the trailhead.

I gave the man directions to the lodge and told him to get some breakfast and to get warm. He told me that the first couple miles of trail were nice,  but after that it was “hell.”

Looking back at Stevens Pass after gaining some elevation.

The trail was damp and the skies were overcast as I started out. The vegetation on the sides of the trail was soaking my pants, so when I stopped for breakfast,  I pulled out my rain skirt to keep my pants dry.

As I was eating breakfast, the sun came out. As it hit the trees near me, the trees started to steam. I thought this was a good sign for when I went up in elevation. Hopefully the “slush” that had made people turn around would melt by the time I got there.

Residual snow on the trail.

A creative solution to keeping my feet dry and warm.

After breakfast, I continued gaining in elevation and rounded a lake with a super cool name, Lake Valhalla. There were a ton of day hikers around here, so I chatted with some of them before moving on.

Lake Valhalla.

The PCT.

View from the trail.

I found this little guy near one of the lakes.

The big challenge of the morning was to get over the top of Grizzly Peak. There was some residual snow on the trail, but nothing too bad. The sun had come out in the morning, and the views were very nice. As I neared the peak itself, the sky started to become overcast again.

View from the trail.

View along the trail.

Grizzly Peak in the distance.

I rounded the peak, which still had some snow, but wasn't too bad. I then started heading downhill. My progress was slow for two reasons. The first was that there were big, juicy berries everywhere. I recently learned there were both blueberries and huckleberries in the area. They are very closely related and hard to tell apart, so I will just call them berries  (or delicious).

Snow on Grizzly Peak.

The PCT.

What? Am I supposed to be hiking and not just picking berries?

The second reason was that my feet had hurt all day. They hurt more than any time I had walked on the trail, and this was after a triple zero of rest. Recovery from this adventure is going to be a long and painful one.

I made it to the last lake before my intended campsite later in the day than I had wanted to. As I finished grabbing water, other hikers started to show up, some I recognized, some I didn't. The bubble of hikers that started after the storms had finally caught up to me. It sounded like they were all going to camp at the lake.

Pear Lake with the clouds rolling in.

I continued on for a couple miles. As I was crossing a rocky area, I heard, “SNAPPER!!!” Little Engine and Zorro were behind me. I let them catch up and we chatted a bit. We were all headed to the same campsite a couple miles down. I told them about my feet problems (Little Engine seemed to be having them too) and let them go ahead.

I rolled into the campsite just after dark and set up next to Little Engine and Zorro. Luckily we were the only ones who had picked that site. With the big bubble of hikers coming through at the same time, I may have to worry about sites bring occupied by the time I get there.