Day 39 (8-25-21): Huckleberry Heaven

It’s been about six months since Sydney and I completed our hike. For several weeks after returning home I posted updates of our adventures along the PCT – then I got distracted with “normal” life and lost momentum. Over the next week or two I will complete our story – sorry for the delay. Hope you enjoy it and thanks for following! PS: There will be a surprise at the end of the final post… so stay tuned.

PCT Mile 2436 – 2455

Miles Hiked = 19

Last night Sydney and I camped in a nice campsite near Deep Lake. It was a popular camping area – there were several other PCT hikers nearby as well as other local backpackers. Today would be Sydney’s nineteenth day on the trail and later today she would pass the three hundred mile mark since starting together at the Bridge of Gods.

We were once again up early and back on the trail at 6:35am. It was the second day in a row with clear blue skies. On days like this, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be then out on the trail. The Washington Cascades are beautiful – I’m partial to the High Sierra’s but these mountains are special.

The first three miles were a steady uphill climb. We were headed up and over Cathedral Pass. Usually when we hike I lead and Sydney follows. But she is always right behind me. As we climbed higher we soon enjoyed views back down towards Deep Lake, still in the early morning shade.

Did you notice the moon in the previous photo?

As we continued north towards the pass, Cathedral Rock came into view – it’s jagged peak was quite impressive in the early morning sunlight.

After almost two hours of hiking we reached Cathedral Pass, directly under Cathedral Rock.

After a short break, we continued our hike as it descended down the northern side of the pass. Along the trail were hundreds of Huckleberry bushes – we helped ourselves to the tart berries.

We continued descending until we reached an unnamed stream cascading down a narrow canyon. We were aware from our Guthook hiking app that there was not a bridge across the stream. That always creates a little anxiety. Usually stream crossings are not a problem. Sometimes they’re a little hairy-scary. But not today.

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Luckily, there was an easy crossing over a short hiker-made log and rock bridge.

Sydney and I had descended about seventeen hundred feet from Cathedral Pass to this unnamed creek. It was about 10:30am and we had been hiking almost four hours. We stopped and had a snack and filtered some water. The trail would now go up 2300 feet over the next seven miles.

Along the way we enjoyed hazy views of green valleys filled with pine trees, lush meadows and slow-moving gentle streams

There were also colorful flowers along the trail

and more Huckleberries

as well as bright red berries known as “ watermelon berries”

Early in the afternoon we passed by beautiful Deception Lake – it would have been a great place to camp, but we still had miles to hike and hours of daylight to get there.

We continued up and over Pieper Pass and took a short break. There was cell service so I called Donna to say hello and let her know that we were doing well.

Shortly after resuming our hike we passed by Glacier Lake – another spectacular Northern Cascade lake.

A little later we passed by Trap Lake

Late in the afternoon, as we were searching for a place to camp, we came across this plump marmot blocking the trail!

But he scurried off soon enough and we were able to pass by.

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We soon found a place to camp next to a rock field. There was also a small stream nearby which is always preferred.

Today was a tough day on the trail with almost 5000 feet of elevation gain. Tomorrow we only have about ten miles to Steven’s Pass which leads to our next town stop and resupply.