Trail Day 124: Large Creek (mile 2508.0) to tentsite (mile 2529.0)

21.0 PCT miles

After seeing a mouse and hearing about all the mice sightings by Taylor and the Swiss, who were still having dinner outside while I was in my tent, I expected to find a hole chewed through my tent this morning. Luckily, my tent was still hole free.

I packed up and kept heading down trail, passing a couple campsites. When I got to the river crossing before the first uphill climb of the day, I came across a bridge I had been warned about by some southbound hikers while I was sheltering at Stevens Pass. At least it used to be a bridge. It had been snapped in two at some point and had not been replaced. I carefully made my way across and started the first uphill section of the day.

What seems to be the problem here?

The uphill was steep and long. I stopped partway to the top to eat breakfast,  but I also really enjoyed the break. As I was eating, I saw Taylor and the Swiss pass me by, along with Flame.

After that, I slowly dragged myself to the top of the uphill, getting great views along the way. The trail had just rounded Glacier Peak and I was now getting views of the surrounding valleys and snow capped mountains.

Glacier Peak in the morning light.

View from the trail.

Another view from the trail.

The PCT, looking back at Glacier Peak.

View from the trail.

Fall colors and the PCT.

I slowly started heading downhill. The trail was steep and not well maintained throughout this whole section. The trail was washed out in parts, and in others trees had fallen across the path and were tough to get around.

Heading down.

Marmot encounter.

After a while, I really needed a break. It was about lunchtime too. I checked my app and saw I was only a half mile from Mica Lake, which people described in the comments as incredibly beautiful. It had tent sites as well, so I figured it would be a good spot.

The lake was gorgeous as advertised. It was an almost unbelievable shade of blue, clear, and glassy. I stopped at a hill overlooking the lake and ate a long lunch. While I was eating I had Snow White, Vortex, Papa Oats, Hey Girl, and Hatchapi pass me by and head down to the lake. Hatchapi said he wanted to swim in it.

Mica Lake from my lunch spot.

The incredible, blue waters of Mica Lake.

Little Engine and Zorro refilling their water supplies.

I finished lunch and started to head down the trail to the lake itself. That is when I heard Zorro and Little Engine behind me, followed by Second Wind. When I got to the lake itself, Holiday and One Day came trickling in. Everyone was there.

My original intent was to grab water and leave. However, several of the group had jumped in. They said it was cold, but were able to stay in a little bit instead of immediately hopping out, so it couldn’t have been that cold. I kind of wanted to swim in the clear blue mountain lake myself.

I changed into my swimsuit and took the plunge. I took a few strokes before heading back. It was cold, but a neat experience. Eventually everyone except Hey Girl jumped in. Luckily, the sun was shining so we were able to dry off and stay fairly warm.

As I was drying off, we had another surprise. Two more hikers came in, both of PCT fame. The first was Brewhiker, whom I had met way back at Bird Spring Pass in southern California where he made burritos for the hikers who were camped there. I knew he was going to hike the northern part of the PCT this year, but I didn't expect to run into him. True to his name, he had his current batch of beer, made with huckleberries and blueberries, fermenting in a bottle in one of the side pockets of this bag.

The other hiker that came in was famous for what she was traveling with. Her name was Yaddi, but she was traveling with a kitten named Manzanita. The kitten was rescued in Wrightwood, when it was so small it could fit in the palm of your hand and had hiked the whole trail with her since then. Miraculously, it was still alive.

I put my dry clothes back on and headed down the switchbacks. They seemed to go on forever. Eventually, I was able to cross the stream that caused the huge dip in the trail, and start the climb back up.

Ugh. You can see the switchbacks from across the valley.

Another gorgeous view from the trail.

Sigh, another gorgeous valley.

The cascade the trail had to cross before going up the other side.

It wa 4.5 miles to the top of the uphill. After already doing one big climb today, doing a second one was brutal. It was incredibly slow going and more physically taxing than any other hiking I had done recently. Most of the other hikers passed me at some point.

When I made it to what I thought was the top of the ridge, it turned out that I still had more uphill to do. Daylight was fading fast. It was almost completely dark by the time I got to the next water source. I found myself crossing small streams and walking a narrow path to the next campsite in the dark.

I could tell where the campsite was a little ways out by all the headlamps bobbing around. Half of the thru-hiking bubble was there.  The other half was at the campsite 4 miles down the hill, where I had originally intended to camp today.

A couple hikers rolled into my campsite after me, including Brewhiker, Yaddi, and Manzanita. Not only would I get the honor of sleeping with the famous trail cat, but I also didn't have to worry about mice eating through my tent tonight.