I woke up to the sound of those same non-thruhikers talking that I fell asleep to last night. So irritating.. but I did sleep great so I can’t complain, really. I gathered up my dirty clothes and my electronics and headed down to the lodge.
I set my stuff down with Heidi and went inside to order breakfast. Stuff was charging, my burrito came out quick, life was great. Margo came over and the three of us talked a bit. Sometime after 10, Margo and I went to do laundry and shower. We shared a load of laundry and used the detergent pods someone left behind-because the store only sells the bag of like 20 instead of individually like any business that caters more to hikers. I don’t think they like us much.
I showered first and it was a quick quarter operated one.. much nicer than Fish Lake in my opinion. Someone had left their mini shampoo and conditioner bottles and I was THRILLED about that. I had to awkwardly air dry again.. least favorite part, but man feeling clean felt great! While Margo showered, I painted my nails and laid on a picnic table.
Waiting on our laundry, A-Train and Drake showed up! The day in the snow they decided to set up camp where Wolf, Pica, and FoodTruck camped the night before-the rainy but snow free campsite. They just didn’t want to risk climbing back up that elevation into more snow, especially when all of their layers were wet. Smart choice.
They started doing their laundry and shower chores, Margo and I decided to walk to the bakery, and Maddie joined us. We walked and talked and got a lift half way. I ate another pesto mushroom croissant (Margo says that’s not a croissant lol) and some pizza slices. Not too bad! But definitely better yesterday right off the bus and first access to non trail food.
Marquis and the couple Margo had been hiking with before catching up with me (Annie and Riley) got off the bus while we were there! I was so happy to see more people we knew 🙂 They had to hop back on the bus though to get to town and set up camp, we knew we’d see them again soon.
We strolled on our way back, talking, laughing, stopping by everything we passed.. including a garden that sells local honey harvested from the bees they keep, goat milk cheeses and all kinds of other things. Beautiful set up, and refreshing to see. It makes me want to have a green thumb and grow my own veggies-but let’s be real, I’m ever home long enough.. and Aunt Kathy is the one with the green thumb.
We made it back to town and when we saw Annie and Riley, Annie had a snow basket for a trekking pole she found on trail that she was going to put in the hiker box.. IT WAS MINE!! I had lost it day before yesterday and spent 20-30 minutes backtracking looking for it! How perfect!
More hikers started to show up, Wolf & Pica, FoodTruck, Marquis, several we didn’t know. There’s an area under the deck to the lodge that we all hung out at for hours talking. Margo and I ended up getting some dinner to go and eating down there, too. Everyone laughing, cutting up, getting serious talking about the snow coming up and their plans.
Maddie made the big decision to get off trail. The bouncing around, changing plans, pushing miles in scary situations just wasn’t the headspace they wanted to be in or their idea of spending their time wisely, simply because these stresses aren’t a good time and aren’t fun-I totally get it. Another hiker, Peaches, decided the same thing today, too. It makes me so sad, the challenges we’ve been thrown have been tough, and it makes me wonder how far away I am from one more sketchy area or flip decision causing me to change my mind, too.
Eventually we made our way back up this hill from hell to our campsites. It’s actually warm tonight, which is quite the happy change.. and, because I’m surrounded by actual PCT hikers, it’s almost completely silent at 9:40pm, with over 10 tents set up. Hiker midnight is legit. Goodnight, y’all.
I really loved today. I slept phenomenally, I got up and packed before 7, and the 4 of us all headed out at about the same time-all with the same mission: get to High Bridge Camp before 12:30. That’s when the bus to Stehekin comes and it doesn’t come back until 3pm.. which would have been fine, too. But earlier is better, right?
I hiked a bit with Heidi, trail name Silky, an Australian teacher who is quick witted, funny, insightful and very upbeat, and her hiking partner, Maddie, an Australian midwife who is potentially one of the most genuinely kind and compassionate people I’ve met-while also being very chill and fun to be around. The three of us walked across several swing bridges and then chatted about life off and on until the hills slowed me down and they got ahead of me.
That was ok, I love getting to know folks but trying to talk and walk up a mountain (even a small one today) is quite embarrassing lol.. so, for the rest of the time I listened to my audiobook. We had 11.2 miles to get done in 5 hours. Having a deadline meant not enjoying the beauty as much as I’d have liked, like the gorgeous water crossings and little lakes out of no where.. and a MASSIVE tree that looked biblical Maddie spotted. Even still, I soaked in what I could and loved every second.
I made it to the bridge at 11:58. A whole 32 minutes early! Apparently I was only a few minutes after the Aussies, and then Margot got there not long after me! Perfect! I checked out the Stehekin river passing below the bridge, the teals of that glacier looking water were simply gorgeous. We’re technically still in the North Cascades National Park, and y’all know I love a National park 😉
The bus got to us right on time, and as the passengers disembarked, mostly day hikers, it started to sprinkle. Once we got on the bus, it looked like real bad weather was coming.. I was very happy I made this bus and didn’t have to wait around in the rain for the 3pm one!
The bus stopped at the bakery for 15 minutes before continuing in to town. I got some kind of mushroom, pesto, heaven filled breaded thing and a pecan sticky bun. DE-LI-CIOUS. The four of us ate on the bus so we wouldn’t get left. Once in town, we had to figure out the lay of the land. Stehekin is only accessed by hiking in, like we did, boating in across a lake from Chelan, or flying in on a small plane. That’s it.
Because of its remoteness, the town has zero cell phone service. Like NADA, zip-none. The one lodge in town, connected to a general store and next to the post office, offers WiFi for $5 for 24 hours AND they only give out 30 a day because otherwise their system would get overloaded and everything would crash. Cool cool. Because of knowing all of that, I decided to enjoy my friends today, and then get the WiFi in the morning and do my best to get all the things done I need to. Like upload 9 posts, check out the snow coming up (there will be some), download an app that has more roads and trails apparently and works very well without service, download some audiobooks.. sheesh, that’s already sounding stressful.
Maddie & me
We sat for a bit under the deck of the lodge, waiting to see what the weather would do. No one wants to set up a tent in a storm, and it was early still-plenty of time for it to pass. Thankfully, it never came. But while we were waiting I got myself a can of Pinot Noir. Yep, a can. Whatever.
We walked up to the campground and set up our tents. We talked awhile, laughing all around, at times with literal tears running down my face (this was probably the wine’s fault). Margot made the choice to wait for tomorrow to shower and do laundry so it’ll give herself something to occupy her time.. and I agreed to do the same. Eventually I made my way back to the lodge and sat on the deck charging my stuff. When everyone else got there, we waited for the restaurant to start serving dinner and then went inside to order.
I had fish and chips and it was fantastic. I’m just now realizing I obviously liked all my food and ate it too fast to remember to take a picture of it! Ha, maybe I’m getting a bit of hiker hunger? Or maybe it’s just the excitement of it not being ramen noodles or mashed potatoes. Either way, please know I thoroughly enjoyed my meals, even if they are pricey.
We hung around until our stuff was charged and the restaurant was cleaning up, and headed back to our tents. We noticed a line of people going into the visitor center, so we joined-because why not? I’m still not sure what they were celebrating, but they had food and a band set up, a little picture taking area and all sorts of National park stuff. I got my stamp and sticker for my national park book (another one I get to scratch off the poster Jennifer got me!) and the others talked with the ranger about trail conditions.
That was the topic of conversation once back at our tents, the ones that are now surrounded by loud non PCT hikers who are not currently in bed at 9:40pm like I wish they were. Apparently we have 50 good miles out of here south, and then we hit “sketchy snow” that caused one hiker to turn around and back track to Stehekin. They did say that they only hear from hikers when they don’t make it through, they never hear from the hikers that do-and I think quite a few people are ahead of us and must surely be making it, right?
Either way, it does no good to worry about it right now.. we don’t have service to verify anything and cross check with postholer and Facebook groups and all do that. Something tells me a good bit of tomorrow will be dealing with that. Oh, also, another hiker that I’ve leap frogged with a bit, Strider, came into town today and said she slipped right where I did before Cutthroat Pass and had to scramble around the scree and boulders and vertically climb back out, too. I think she did it alone though, and that makes me sad.. I know she had to be terrified. She did it yesterday too, and was already set up at Six Mile Camp when I got there last night-so she fell before I did! Crazy.
Stehekin, Washington
Anyway. I think it’s sounding real earplug time, if ya know what I mean. Group camping can be very annoying. And while I’m happy I’m with new friends and making connections, I do really wish I was in a motel, Lodge, hotel, something with a bed and no people when I closed the door. Hopefully, when I make it to Steven’s Pass in so 7 odd days (starting Monday or Tuesday, because I’m waiting for my resupply box), I can make that happen.. and decent service, too. Okie dokie, goodnight y’all.
I think I went through every single emotion today. Ok, maybe not every single one, but quite a few.. quite a few..
I slept fantastic, and refused to get up before 7. I finally did and packed everything but my tent. Y’all. The SUN WAS SHINING! The skies were blue and I ate my breakfast watching one side of my tent dry out like magic, while the other side still had condensation dripping down it. When I finally did pack it, it made no difference that the sun dried half, because it was all wet again now.
I said bye to Margot and we agreed if we came upon anything sketchy we’d wait for the other one before continuing on. Most of the morning I was happy as could be, sing songing to myself, loving the massive views from every angle, and seeing the little gap in those huge mountains where we slept last night as I got farther and farther away from it.
I started hitting little patches of snow once I got to some switchbacks, but they were manageable and some I went around completely. I didn’t even break a sweat! As I was coming around this one “circus” (I think this is the term Margot used for it), I got to some snow crossing the trail and it was decently steep.. I got nervous so I put on my microspikes, and then just went for it.
I got 5 or 6 steps across when I slid. First I slid on snow. Then I continued to slide into the loose rock scree that makes up this mountainside. The only reason I stopped was because I dug my heels into the rocks and dirt-and laid back into my pack. I was so scared that my leg would snap or I’d pick up more speed and slam into one of the huge boulders below.
When I did stop, my pack was up around my neck. One pole was still in the snow above me where I fell. The other one was maybe 15-20 feet below me, along with a water bottle that sailed out during the descent. Oh. My. God. I was petrified to move. As I was waiting for my breathing to slow down and my heartbeat to stop pounding in my ears, I watched the small rocks continue to slide and bounce down.. past my pole, and my water bottle..
Even though my whole body was still shaking, like my limbs were being controlled by someone else entirely, I unhooked my pack. I slowly pulled it to the side of me, and as I did, it and I both slid down a little more. I dug my heels in deeper. I was going to just sit there until Margot appeared. And then, for some reason I decided that might make her panic or something and maybe cause her to make a wrong choice attempting to help me and then get herself hurt, too.
Before I moved, I took my Garmin Inreach (my SOS if I got hurt and needed an evacuation) off my pack and zipped it into my pants pocket with my phone, which now has a cracked screen cover). Then, I slowly and very shakily moved to a crouched position, rocks still sliding with each move, and decided to try to quickly climb my way back up to the trail. Once I did, I felt relief and terror simultaneously. I had to get my pole. Which meant I had to step in the snow steps up to it, without falling again. I did, and then I slowly inched backwards in those same steps, praying the entire time that I stayed on my feet.
Then, I had to butt slide back to my pack, but try to do it slowly enough that the ground underneath me didn’t break away like an avalanche and take my pack with it. As I got to my pack, the rocks continued to slide and pushed my other pole farther and farther down. That was ok, I was wanting get down to the big boulders below, maybe 50-100ft down from the trail? I’m horrible with guesstimations like that..
I slid and crept down this very steep very loose and so scary mountainside to the more stable looking rocks. When I touched them I held my breath hoping they wouldn’t move, too. I was able to get my other pole and my water bottle, and I stood in front of the largest boulder while waiting for Margot.
When she got there, she didn’t realize at first why I was down there.. like maybe I was choosing to go around the snow.. then I told her and she saw my slide marks. We talked a few minutes, she got her microspikes on, and decided to slowly slide her way to where I was, too, but from more of an angle than my directly down route went thanks to the fall. While making this plan, we start to hear and somewhat feel a crashing rumble.. we panic, eyes darting, looking for the source of the noise-just knowing something was coming down on us and there was no way to get away from it. Pure terror on both of our faces that was palpable. Thankfully, it had to have been on the other side of the peak we were at, because a rock avalanche never came crashing down on us.
She carefully made her way down towards me.. scared surely but still laughing and smiling and making my nerves calm. My shaking hadn’t left, but it wasn’t as intense. About half way to me, she goes “you know what? We’re brave.” And you know what? She’s damn right. If I could have avoided all of this I would have in a heartbeat, but now faced with this scary situation I was happy she was here with me, and happy that she was being so positive and reminding me that we can do hard things.
Once she got to me, we took a breather, and then we slowly worked farther down and around these massive boulders the size of trucks, watching as some steps caused a cascade of rocks to go sliding down past them to a beyond I was scared to think of. When we started coming up the other side, parts of it felt like vertical climbing. The microspikes would grasp on to these tiny green plants between the loose rocks and we were able to eventually climb our way back up to the trail. Relieved as hell we just stood there a while. Took off our spikes and cleaned out our pebble filled shoes.. she started walking first and I was grateful, because I was still shaking. I eventually got back into my grove once the adrenaline quit pumping through me like the only drug keeping me alive.
Not 20-30 minutes afterwards, we started walking into day hikers. There were coming in off different trails to get to “Cutthroat Pass” but just not the part of what we just did. They were all quick moving and had little backpacks.. I was a little in shock at how quickly everything changed. It took me a few minutes to get a grip but then I was fine the rest of the day.
It was basically all downhill elevation was from there. And we were now in North Cascades National Park, so the entire way down from Cutthroat Pass to the Rainy Pass parking lot there wasn’t a single blowdown to climb over. There were, however, many streams and creek crossings. I attempted to keep my feet dry, until one failure-then I just walked through them all without trying to keep them dry. What difference would it make now?
There was a girl with a dog and a man doing a trail run, and so many other day hikers. Once I got to the parking lot, I dropped my stuff and used the bathroom there. It was getting close to 3pm, and this is the road to hitch to Mazama.. or I’d have another 8+ miles to get to the next campground. Before I made a decision, I decided I’d dry out my tent, socks, and shoes and sit to eat some snacks.
Margo wasn’t long after me and we were discussing just hiking the 8 miles to camp, since there wasn’t any lodging available in Stehekin anyway-whatever we did would be camping, and why move camp twice when you can keep it up for 2 days and have a legitimate zero day? While we were talking, none other than Marquis appeared! It WAS him making the arrows and digging his trekking poles through the snow that day I was in a panic! He said he stopped at the campground just on the other side of the pass, the one I swear I walked through and yelled through and saw no one. He saw me coming up the switchbacks and waved to me, but I never saw him! We all got good laughs over where we each were during all of that snowy mess! No one has seen A-Train and Drake since then though. I wonder if they went back to Mazama when they got to Hart’s Pass?
Once we got up and ready to go again, Margot and I left Marquis at the road, hitching to Mazama, while we hiked on to get to six mile camp in the National park. We weren’t hiking but maybe a mile into our 8 miles, and it started to rain. Like the skies opened up out of no where! Rain jackets and pack covers and umbrellas. Oh my.
I was cruising right along when I realized I turned the wrong way and had to walk a good 15-20 minutes back to a trail junction to go the right way. The trail was flooded and overgrown. I was trying to not let myself get frustrated.. but the weather had been so beautiful all day, even when I was terrified. Ugh.
When I made it to camp, Margot already had her tent up and met 2 of the 3 other people camping here. I quickly set mine up too and the 4 of us spent the next couple hours talking and eating dinner. These two hikers are from Australia, so many of the places they were talking about Margot knew about too, since she recently lived there. It was entertaining for sure.
Now, now I’m in bed, it’s sprinkling off and on and it’s chilly, but I’m warm in my sleeping quilt-with only normal sleeping layers on, no down booties needed tonight! Tomorrow we have an 11 mile hike to get to this campground that a bus comes by and will take us into Stehekin. It only comes at certain times, so we’re going to try to make the 12:30 one. That way we have more time in town to get to the campground, set up shop, get quarters and detergent from the lodge (that’s fully booked-boo), shower, do laundry and eat all the things. Yep. That sounds perfect. Goodnight y’all. Let’s all pray you get to read these soon-which would mean I’d have service or WiFi! What a thought 😉
