PCT Mile 1230 – 1251
Miles Hiked = 21
Yesterday Sydney and I enjoyed our time in the tiny town of Trout Lake. But this morning it was time to get back on the trail. We were up at 6am and had arranged a ride at 7am with Gerry, one of the local Trail Angels.
We were back on the trail by 7:45am.
Soon after starting to hike, we entered the Mt. Adams Wilderness. Mt. Adams is the second highest mountain in Washington state at 12,281 feet. Mt. Ranier is the tallest (14,411’).
Continuing the pattern that started in Oregon, the trail would travel in a clockwise direction around the western side of major Cascade Volcanos. We hiked through the forest for the first few miles and then traveled through a burn zone for another five miles.
For the most part, the trail was a smooth dirt trail so we made good progress around the western side of the mountain.
The view of the Mt. Adams slowly changed as we moved from the southwestern to the northern side.
Sydney and I passed by several “silty” streams that originate from one of the many glaciers on Mt. Adams. We never collect water, however, from these silty streams, instead preferring to wait for cold clear streams that originate from snow melt or natural springs.
In the mid-afternoon we arrived at Adams Creek along with three other hikers. There were several logs strewn across the creek but this was Sydney’s first significant creek crossing so we opted to ford the creek rather than walk across the logs and risk slipping and falling into the rushing water. The other hikers were clearly nervous also, so I led the way and we all crossed safely. At the deepest point, the water was up to my mid-thighs; for Sydney it was probably closer to her hips.
Sydney did great crossing the creek and was clearly relieved that the crossing was now behind her!
A little later we arrived at a pretty stream with clear water and a nice little waterfall as it cascaded down to the meadow below. We took a break and collected some water.
Flower of the Day:
Cep Mushrooms are edible mushrooms that grow in the forest near the roots of forest trees. They are very common in Washington along the PCT and we passed by many of these large mushrooms almost everyday.
Late in the afternoon we arrived at Lava Spring where we would make camp for the night. Because of the proximity to the spring, there were at least twenty other hikers camping in this area. We chatted with two young hikers that camped next to us. They had both just graduated from college and hadn’t started hiking until mid-May (i.e. approximately 2200 miles in less than three months). They were hiking about thirty-five miles per day!
Lava Springs emanates directly out of these lava rocks – it was icy cold and clear.
Thanks for following.
One Dream, One Path, Four Feet 