In the Shadow of Mount Adams and Mount Rainier: Continuing the Washington PCT

July 27, 2019

After 82 miles of hiking and a rest day in Trout Lake, Washington, we were ready to continue our journey along the Pacific Crest Trail. The next section would take us alongside the iconic mountains of Adams and Rainier, as well as through the Goat Rocks Wilderness, considered one of the most scenic portions of the entire 2,650-mile trail.

We found the town of Trout Lake to be very accommodating to hikers. Volunteers operated a free shuttle service to and from the trail and town, located 13 miles away. Once in Trout Lake, we enjoyed great food at the town restaurant, including their famous huckleberry shakes.

Back on the Trail with Mount Adams in View

After our rest day, we joined 13 other hikers and piled into a pick-up truck to be shuttled back to the trail. Almost all the hikers were headed south; we soon fell into step with three older guys heading north with us. They were completing their final portion of the PCT with the hike across Washington. We would leapfrog on the trail with them over the next few days.

We almost immediately entered the Mount Adams Wilderness. The trail took us to the west of the mountain (elevation 12,281 feet), climbing consistently, as we hiked through a couple of burn areas. The blooming wildflowers next to the trail made up for the fire damage that we saw.

Up to this point, we had crossed creeks and rivers via a series of sturdy bridges. Late in the day, we came across our first challenging crossing at Adams Creek. Fortunately, a few logs had been strategically placed across the water. Darren went quickly across.

It took me a little longer, but I successfully navigated my way across the rushing creek without getting wet. Just a few years ago, crossing on logs would have been difficult for me, so I was pleased with the improvement in my creek navigation skills.

That night we found a campsite a short distance away from another creek and pond. Early the next morning we had a stunning view of Mount Adams reflected in the water.

Sampling a Lava Spring and Entering the Goat Rocks Wilderness

The section from Trout Lake to White Pass, where our next resupply box was located, totaled 66 miles. We planned to take four days to cover the distance. After a 15.5 mile day out of Trout Lake, we covered 20.2 miles the next day, as the trail “only” had a gain of about 1,900 feet and a loss of 2,800 feet.

Several hikers had told us not to miss a lava spring, as it had some of the best water on the entire PCT. We timed our morning break at the spring. The water looked like it was coming right out of the rock. And the others were right – it was some of the best water we had ever tasted.

We left the Mount Adams Wilderness and entered the Goat Rocks Wilderness a few hours later. The PCT travels 31 miles through this wilderness area. The weather can be a factor in this section, as it is frequently cloudy with poor visibility. Fortunately, we had crystal clear skies, so we looked forward to the unfolding scenery as we hiked.

After camping next to a small lake that night, we left early the next day to hike into the heart of the Goat Rocks area. A series of climbs brought us to the first named pass on the northbound Washington PCT: Cispus Pass at 6,473 feet. Along the way, we were treated to beautiful flowers along the trail.

Encountering Our First Snow and an Alternate Trail

Once on the other side of the pass, we began to encounter more day hikers and weekend backpackers, since it was Saturday. The trail wound down through a meadow before beginning to ascend again. As we hiked through the meadow, we could see both Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens (8,363 feet) in the distance.

Once we reached the top of the climb, we saw the first significant snow of our trek. Goat Rocks typically has snow later than even the North Cascade Mountain range in northern Washington, so we weren’t surprised to see the snowfields. I had carried microspikes in my pack for just this occasion. But, by the time we reached the snow, it was early afternoon and it was already slushy. So microspikes didn’t help. It was a little slippery (I fell once), and we took our time navigating through it.

At the end of the snowfield, we had a choice to make as to our route for the next mile. We could hike on the “old” PCT alternate trail, towards Old Snowy Mountain, which went up about 200 feet to a narrow ridge and had less snow to navigate. The other “stock” route stayed flat but traveled along a glacier, with more snow and some narrow trail dropoffs. Given the slushy condition of the snow, we opted for the alternate path. It was only two-tenths of a mile longer than the main trail, and we reasoned that it wouldn’t take much more time.

The climb up the alternate went through another snowfield and then made a near-vertical ascent on a shale rock trail. It sounded like walking on broken dinner plates. My heel, which had been hurting off and on since we began our trek, began throbbing with each rocky step.

Finally, we reached the top and the ridge. While it was fairly wide, there were extreme drop-offs on both sides. My fear of heights has continued to improve with all the hiking I have done the last few years, but I still concentrated on not looking around too much and just focusing on Darren’s feet in front of me.

When we did stop to admire the view it was incredible. Not only could we see Mount Adams and Mount St. Helen’s behind us, but we now had clear views of Mount Rainier in front of us. At 14,411 feet, it is the tallest mountain in Washington and the Cascade Mountain range.

To get back to the main trail, we needed to climb down another rocky section. In all, it took us about an hour to cover the one-mile alternate distance.

Slow-Going on the PCT Knife’s Edge

Back on the main PCT, we figured we made it through the worst of the trail and hoped to make better time. It was about two miles to the next water source, and we had very little left to drink. Normally, we can easily hike over two miles per hour, except in extreme cases. And, unfortunately for us, we came across one of those situations on the “Knife’s Edge” portion of the PCT.

This section of the trail travels along another ridge, and the research I had done indicated that it was not a big deal to those who are afraid of heights. What I didn’t count on was the condition of the path. Much of it was steep and full of loose rocks and scree, making it too easy to slip and slide while walking.

A couple of places were also eroded, with the path barely wider than my two feet together. On one terrifying part, we had to turn sideways to hug the rock wall on the right while guiding ourselves along the narrow trail, with a large dropoff to the left of us. We again averaged a little over a mile an hour through the two-mile section.

After what seemed like an eternity, the trail turned off the ridge, and we began to descend. At the first creek we saw, we stopped and filtered some much-needed water to drink. We planned to go two more miles before stopping for the night, but given our slow progress, we opted for the first campsite that we saw. It turned out to have a wonderful view of Rainier, and we slept well that night after the events of the day.

In the morning, we only had 15 miles to go to reach White Pass and our resupply box at the local store. As we hiked, we decided to see if there was a room available for the night at the small lodge next to the store. As soon as we had cell service we called and got one of their last rooms. It felt good to shower and sleep in a real bed before tackling the next part of the trail.

Increasing Our Trail Miles with Motivation

We were motivated to put in long days on the 98-mile portion of the PCT to Snoqualmie Pass because we would be meeting our daughter Lauren (who lives in Seattle) for a weekend break. To maximize our time with her, we decided to increase our daily mileage. So we hiked 11 to 12 hours a day, covering the distance in 4 1/2 days.

As we trekked north, we traveled through the William O. Douglas Wilderness. We hit another bad section of mosquitoes and had to hike with head nets for half a day.

While hiking, we continued to have great views of Mount Rainier and saw many beautiful lakes.

The most stunning lake that we passed was Dewey Lake. It was here that the wildflowers were also in full bloom.

We continued to meet many people on the trail. In addition to PCT southbounders, we began to see more hikers who were just out for a few days on a section of the trail. As we left Dewey Lake, we came upon a man with two llamas. We stopped to talk to him and admire the animals.

As we hiked to Chinook Pass on the eastern edge of Mount Rainier National Park, we came across many day hikers photographing the wildflowers and lakes.

We crossed a highway and then proceeded to climb again, leaving Mount Rainier behind us.

The next part of the PCT was burned from a 2017 fire. Ten miles of the trail traveled through the heart of the damage. However, we were surprised to see so many blooming flowers on both sides of us as we hiked.

Reaching Snoqualmie Pass and Meeting Lauren on the Trail

After four days of 20 plus miles of trekking, we woke up on a Friday morning with only 11 miles to go to Snoqualmie Pass. Lauren wanted to hike with us on the trail, so we arranged to have her walk southbound from the parking lot to meet us. Before we reached her, we passed by beautiful Mirror Lake in the early morning.

Shortly after we reached Mirror Lake we turned a corner and saw (and heard) Interstate 90 far below us. Ahead of us, to the north, we could also clearly see the range comprising the North Cascade Mountains. From Snoqualmie Pass, the PCT continually ascends and descends through a series of mountain passes all the way to the Canadian border. This greatly increases the elevation gain and loss on the trail.

We quickened our pace, knowing that we would soon see Lauren. About two miles from the Snoqualmie Pass trailhead, we saw Lauren coming towards us. After we both hugged her, we walked together to her car.

When we reached the trailhead, we were almost exactly halfway through Washington, having covered 246 miles since leaving Cascade Locks, Oregon, on the Columbia River. We looked forward to a weekend of relaxation before entering the North Cascade Mountains and some of the most challenging portions of the Washington Pacific Crest Trail.