There is something altogether uneasy about being asleep in a tent and hearing the sound of raindrops hit the tent. Even if the rainfly is working sufficiently and the gear and the people are staying dry, there is still the feeling that it is only a matter of time before the morning will come and the weather will be upon you. That in all your efforts to keep yourself clean and dry, you shall be thwarted and the day will be spent with soggy feet and damp clothing.
That was today whether I liked it or not. Getting out of the tent at 5:00 in the morning, I could see the European couple near me finishing their packing. I would see them not far down the trail. The weather was not particularly horrible, it was just wet enough to make everything just a little bit miserable. The rain was coming down, though lightly, it was enough to make things rough. The worst part about it, though, was that I was going right by the junction for Grassy Point Trail. The terrain was such that each step that I took made my shoes just about as saturated as they could possibly be. There is nothing you dread more in rainy conditions than a meadow because there is no tree cover to protect you or the ground either. Though beautiful on a sunny day, meadows make conditions much more challenging. On the bright side of things, though, since I had camped at high elevation, this gave me an easy morning. I would be spending the next nine miles dropping elevation down to the Suiattle River and then I would spend most of my day walking next to it. This meant that my grassy meadow would begin to turn into thick bushes again. These thick bushes were just as rich with salmon berries as the bushes yesterday and I made sure to get my fill of fresh morning fruit. Then it would go downhill some more until I was in thick forest.
This would be great if it wasn't for the blowdowns. This is the northwestern portion of Washington, so these blowdowns were not small trees. Sometimes it would take a lot of energy to get up, over, or around these trees and then hidden behind the first was just another and another to climb over. With a big pack on and a sore foot, this was a task that I was starting to get frustrated with. I would estimate that I had gone through hundreds of blowdowns when at 10:30 AM, the suddenly stopped. It was like a miracle, but really it was just the upper limit of where the trail crew had reached. I spent the next several hours walking by the Suiattle River feeling like I was making incredible time.
As I continued to lose elevation, the forest definitely changed quite dramatically. I would go from 6000 feet in the morning to below 3000 feet when I crossed the Suiattle River at noon. Though the weather was still wet, it was definitely a bit warmer and the morning had been relatively easy compared to my big day the previous day. I was hoping that the rain would stop, but I was ungraciously rewarded each time I thought this could be it with a stronger shower that would refreshen the dampness through my body. Crossing the Suiattle River was a big deal though, because this meant that the trail was going to lead me away from Glacier Peak and toward the Stehekin area which I was excited to see tomorrow.
For now though, a beautiful bridge took me across the large glacier charged river and now I would be walking uphill again. At first, this was not much as the trail was sort of up and down and mainly by the river. I was surprised today how very quiet the trail was. I was barely seeing a soul out here. I knew the rain would detract from people coming in from other places, but even PCT hikers may have been hiding out on this day. When I talked to some people about this day later on, many of them did spend the day in their tent. I couldn't imagine doing that just to stay dry. I was still enjoying this day, but it was definitely one that I was happy to put some miles behind me as I continued up the river.
After about 14 miles hiking on the day, I came to Miners Creek where there was a very detailed and fantastically created bridge. This sort of marked the end of my flat hiking and was the unofficial end of the clear trail. After this the blowdowns were back to make the end of my hiking day a workout. Instead of following the Suiattle River, I was now following the uphill path of Miner's Creek. This would take through many switchbacks and even a burned out area from a recent fire, probably only last year. The forest just felt so dark and cold. It was a little lonely and ominous at this point too and with more blowdowns to go over, resulted in what felt like an almost melancholy type mood for the day. Still I continued on uphill.
The goal for the day was to make it to Suiattle Pass. It felt like I was going to make it there, but how was it going to be once I made it there? Would I just spend a night in the wet and cold. As I walked through the clouds, I began to notice a shift in the weather. Climbing uphill, the temperature was dropping, but I was also starting to come out of the wet, damp, fog of a cloudy day and the sun was beginning to peak its head through the clouds. I hoped for some excellent scenery as if it was going to be a rainy day, at least I wasn't missing out on the mountains that are around me since I was in the forest anyway. I came to the second junction of Miner's Creek where I saw a very nice campsite. It was still early in the day and I just could not get myself to give it up here. There would be sufficient water, but it just felt like I needed to get to Suiattle Pass to feel like I was making it out of the valley surrounding the Suiattle River. After leaving Miner's Creek, the trail became much steeper with switchbacks frequently. After passing another opportunity to camp with the junction of the Miner's Ridge Trail, the views really opened up and I even experienced something that I had not seen all day. Sunshine! From someone who had been outside for many days in a row now, this was the most that I appreciated it on the whole trail.
It still was not warm, but at least it was not wet. I continued to climb on and on until finally reaching Suiattle Pass. Here, I looked for a campsite and there was one right at the pass, but there was no water. So I continued further. I had already hiked around 21 miles and 22 seemed to be my daily average. There was one marked on the map and sure enough when I got there, there was even a sign saying camp this way. I followed it and there was a nice big open site for me and me alone. I quickly settled in, set the tent up, and got my wet clothes hanging up on the clothes line. I was pretty doubtful that anything was going to completely dry in this weather, because although it was sunny, it was still cold and rather humid.
I was fortunate to have water at my campsite, but I was also unfortunate to have mosquitoes. All day long I had battled the rain, which at time dumped torrents upon my head. Now that I was in camp, the mosquitoes did not allow me a great amount of time to enjoy the sunny conditions and after doing my camp chores, I was soon hiding away in my tent. There was not anyone to talk to on this day anyway except I could have had a conversation with the unhappy hiker who had to look for another site after wandering into mine looking for a place for himself for the night. When I heard him, I was unaware if it was an animal, so I got out to see a human with a backpack scampering away. I was happy to have my nice dry tent, but I knew that tomorrow would be spent with more wet feet as the sun quickly sank below the level of my campsite, so it was not out long enough for me to enjoy it or for it to get any of my gear dry. Oh well, I will continue on regardless.
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