I was in the habit of waking up early, so now I felt like my body was used to it. I had a good night sleep, but my body felt tired when I woke up. That was interesting because I felt so good the previous day and today I was feeling kind of flat. When I got out of the tent, I was greeted with foggy conditions. Up here in the mountains, it really just felt like I was right in the middle of a cloud. I left my beautiful camp site and headed uphill for a short distance before I made it to Saddle Gap. From there, it was downhill to Pass Creek. So far, I had run into a few blowdowns, but the trail was in very good shape. I was a little concerned about it, but had only had to deal with a handful of blowdowns so far. Most of the time, though, the trail was in very good shape.
I ran into a couple who gave me the low down. They said the trail was pretty good all the way to Red Pass, but after that, there would be lots of blowdowns. The forest was feeling a little bit more wild.
I came to a junction for the Pass Creek Trail and after that, I spent a long time climbing uphill. The climb first started with some time in the forest, but quickly morphed into more open scenery. The day was cool and I was keeping the poofy on for longer than normal on this day. The trail zigzagged up an open bushy hill. I just kind of plodded along like usual eventually arriving at Lake Sally Ann where there was a group of people hanging out. I assumed that the trail would be rather quiet today, but I was wrong. I saw many people.
Some of the people seemed unconcerned with my presence like the guy who was probably slightly older than me that came up behind me. He seemed to pass by with barely an acknowledgement of my existence. Another group I talked to for quite a while. The guy had a PCT hat on so that helped us strike up a conversation. He seemed really interested in my hike and wanted to be out there doing it himself. I encouraged him because I was definitely enjoying myself. Those were always the people I enjoyed were the ones enthusiastic for the experience. The trail was rather flattish after Lake Sally Ann with ups and downs, but really just lots of open country with what would be big views without all of the low clouds.
Still, I was happy that there was no rain and all I was dealing with were cooler conditions. It made the hiking easier and a bit more enjoyable. What was not enjoyable was my foot. It was getting sore again after the one day of rest. I knew it would continue to be a problem until the end. It felt like I had an extra large foot in my shoe even though my foot was not swollen at all. There was definitely some numbness, but it didn't affect me too much, so I just continued on. The ups and downs of a few hundred feet here and there continued until a downhill stretch that would take me to Indian Pass. Here was a nice big open area that met up with the Indian Creek trail. There were so many trails coming in from so many different parts, I wondered how accessible these areas were given that it really felt far away from any roads.
Along with the groups of people to keep me company, there were also many marmots. They were here and there and everywhere. Some hid when they saw me. Some came out of their holes to squeal. Some watched as their children played in front of them. This was the day of marmots and it was definitely the right habitat. I even ran into a fellow PCT hiker who was just sitting there watching the marmots as I made the long trek up from Indian Pass to White Pass and then continued on up to Red Pass. He seemed to be 20 years older than me at least and was really just enjoying their playfulness. He told me his name was Woodchuck and he called the marmots woodchucks. I enjoyed that I actually got to pass somebody, because that was a rare occurrence for me. We talked for a bit, but I had a mission and that mission was switchbacking my way uphill.
I would have loved to say that the clouds peeled off and I had a great day full of big views, but that would be a lie. I got a short reprieve for small sections of my afternoon where tall, scraggly peaks would show their rough edges for short periods of time. Those peaks would be enclosed within a short period of time and soon I was back in the clouds. This was ever more apparent as I closed in on Red Pass. The fog became very thick and the views which should have been fantastic were almost non-existent. Still I felt the thrill and exhilaration of having made the big climb as Red Pass was nearly 3000 feet above Pass Creek and almost 15 miles away. By the time I hit Red Pass, I had already hiked over 17 miles and it was only 3 pm.
From here on out, it was all downhill. I was happy about that because I was foot sore, tired, and the day had been especially dark and dim. The big open views were capped with clouds, so that the alpine scenery was more shrouded than usual. Still, the trail was in great shape and those many blowdowns just had not occurred yet. I continued with my breaks every hour and sometimes I would listen to my audible account. Since I did not have any music, that made these days feel especially dimmer. There was also no cell service at all in this section as not even a check of the Mariners game was possible. Still I continued downhill as I would now be dropping all the elevation I had gained throughout the whole day.
The trail went from nearly 7000' all the way down to close to 4000'. This took me through more open scenery until I was back in the forest. Here the trail seemed to hug the shoreline of a creek that would turn into White Chuck River after all of the forks came together. It was very peaceful and quiet. There were beginning to be a few blowdowns to negotiate, but not anything too wild and crazy. There were also the benefits including small waterfalls to enjoy and the thick, milky outflow of glacial sediment coming through the creek. For some reason, it just felt pretty comfortable in the forest. As it was approaching 5:30, I began looking for a place to camp. I was hoping to make it to Chetwot Creek, but when I got to Baekos Creek, it felt like far enough for the day. I had worked hard on this day putting in 22.5 miles in some of the hardest terrain yet with multiple passes and continuous climbs. The creek was easily crossed and there was one other group camping there. I camped across the creek from them, so we did not interact much that night only seeing each other when I went to filter water from the creek. I camped at a site only a few feet off the trail, but I never saw a soul hike by the rest of the night. I enjoyed my dinner, did all my camp chores and settled in for the best sleep I had on the entire trail.
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