I promised my wife that I was going to get an early start so that I had the option to quit early. So I was up at 4:30 AM. It was barely light at this time and I was barely awake. It was kind of nice to get going this early. The world looked different with different light. I was up on the ridge and I would stay there for most of this morning. The views were absolutely amazing. I knew that I was up early because for the first time, I was fighting the spiderwebs. The trail was pretty rough in this section with lots of loose rock and big dropoffs. My foot was feeling better than the previous day with the rest of three hours in the middle of the day yesterday giving me a bit of a reprieve. This felt like wild country. Here I was on this amazing trail with big beautiful lakes below me.
I took a lot of pictures because the scenery was very photogenic. It felt quiet out. In fact, I seemed to be seeing more marmots than people. I was excited to see the marmots and they were good company out here. The few people that I saw seemed to be just as happy as me to be out there. I found out later that the people who had built this trail were used to building railroads. It seemed like they just carved this right out of the rock. The other huge benefit to this morning was that I was in the shade for a long period of time. I could see the sun in the distance, but I did not have to deal with it beaming down on me. The trail itself was not too difficult. It seemed to go uphill to get over a ridge and then downhill to get down the other side.
All the while with these spectacular vistas with these pristine mountain lakes below me. This was an amazing day and my favorite day so far. I chatted with the few people that I saw. It seemed so much easier to have conversation in such a great spot. Most people were not PCTers, but were just out for multiple days. One group of older guys had just made it up a very steep hill and were in a pretty good mood that they had made the climb up from Spectacle Lake. I was taking a break under a tree. They chatted for a while. I then proceeded down this steep hill. I had heard that Washington was so much more difficult than Oregon because of all of the ups and downs. So far it had not seemed that way.
Now, though, I was starting to see those big elevation changes. Yesterday, I had to earn it up the hill in the afternoon. Today, I would be descending quite rapidly toward Spectacle Lakes. Looking at it from above, I could see why so many backpackers were spending a few days exploring this area. The lakes looked very inviting and the craggy peaks looked fun to scramble. I wouldn't mind spending another couple days out here on another trip. On this trip, though, I would have to continue moving forward. Today was marking two weeks of hiking and I was doing alright. It was also the halfway point of the whole trip as Spectacle Lake was the last big section on my map. I would move on to the second map after passing this area.
It was downhill for a long time. I saw some kids about boy scout age and their out of shape leaders heading up the trail to Spectacle Lake. They seemed overladen with gear and struggling to deal with the steep hill. I was feeling pretty good just coasting downhill. I went past a waterfall and struggled to find a place where I would have a shady spot to rest. This area was burned over and the sun was becoming hot. It still did not seem to be threatening thunderstorms, but the heat was definitely warming up the air. As I was dropping elevation, it just kept getting hotter. It was about this time that I missed the trail. The PCT was really easy to find most of the time, because I would just follow the most impacted part of the trail. When I did this in this area, though, I realized that I went the wrong way. For some reason the trail out to Pete's Lake was very obvious, but I missed the PCT. Looking at my map, though, it was about the same distance to keep going the same way I currently was going. So I just kept going. There was a stream to cross without a bridge, so I put on my camp shoes for this section. I made the crossing and then continued on the trail until I ran back into the PCT. Being nearly out of water, I backtracked to the bridge. The trail seemed to be in great shape, so I was not sure how I missed it.
I got below the bridge and filled some water. This is where the weather seemed to change pretty quickly. Up until this time, I was enjoying the nice sunny day. As I started up what I thought was going to be a pretty challenging hill, I could see the dark clouds start to build. There was absolutely no place to camp right now, though and given that it was still mid afternoon, I did not feel like camping anyway. Actually, I was feeling pretty good and the looming thunderstorms only seemed to motivate me more. I was actually getting in a pretty good groove charging up the hill. My pack was not incredibly heavy at this point and the switchbacks seemed to not be too bad. That is when the thunder started. I looked for lightning, but was not seeing any cloud to ground stuff. It was actually kind of funny because in one direction I was heading toward blue sky. As I turned the other direction, I was heading right toward thunderstorms. I hoped that the trail would go toward the blue sky instead. My wife was very paranoid of thunderstorms and lightning. Even though she was not here, her presence was felt and I moved forward with the thought of finding a place to camp as soon as I could. The ridge really didn't seem like the best place to be in a lightning storm, but so far I was still below the ridge.
This is when I saw a group of tents. Right near them, were a couple of older guys coming back with some wet swim trunks. They said something about going for a dip and I asked casually if there was a lake right there. They sort of gave me some attitude which was rare out there on the trail. It was funny how kind almost everyone is out there. You really get to be away from judgment and unhappiness out on the trail. Almost everyone is pleasant and in a good mood. It was surprising to see these guys grouchy. Still, I did not let it deter me and I still found a place to stay and a nice tent site right next to the trail. All the while, there was thunder of in the distance and a little bit of moisture from the sky. It was only 4:30, but camping seemed the right choice at this point. Once again, it turned out to be a little under 20 miles, but I was holding my end in the agreement. Once the tent was set up, I set out for a dip in the lake. It was kind of funny jumping in a lake while it was actually raining, but the water turned out to be the most comfortable on the entire trip. I enjoyed the dip and then went through the typical motions of my nightly routine. A freeze dried dinner, pumped some water, had some small chat with my neighbors, and after brushing the teeth, settling in for the evening. I hoped there were no fires above me and I awoke about 10 pm to the sound of helicopters over me. That was not a good sign, but given the amount of tents in this spot, I figured one of my neighbors would let me know if flames came down the ridge and I let myself get back to sleep.
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