Day 1 It's a PCT Party!
Started the day off right by eating a big heavy breakfast at the Sultan Bakery . We’re not rushing into this by any means; we set off from the Steven's Pass TH at 11. Stopped to watch some mountain bikes haul down the ski slope. We hike up and around a couple lakes I always heard about, but found nothing extraordinary about them—I’m thinking they’re better in Winter. Ate a couple fiddleheads I found along the trail and toward the end of the hike I was treated to a few handfuls of salmonberries, my favourite, and huckleberries. We camped at Mig Lake just ~7 miles in for a nice easy day. It was drizzling a bit, but not uncomfortable. The hammock tarp provided enough shelter to drink wine & canned beers, eat pizza and sandwiches. That night we indulged in car camping luxuries and easily forgot what kind of trip we were actually on.
Day 1 - Stevens Pass.jpgDay 1 - Hammock Porch Ninjas2.jpg
Day 2 First Rain on the PCT
One of our party members wasn’t feeling well and headed back that morning. I traded him medicine for his Fireball while the other 2 pillaged his treat bag. It was a steady, medium rain all day; this was also the first rain the thru-hikers had in their 2475 miles trekked. The night before, as I was walking out the door, my girlfriend asked if I wanted this random umbrella someone had left at our house— Seattleites don’t buy umbrellas. I gawked at the umbrella for a moment and begrudgingly took the superfluous 14 ounces. My partners teased me at first, but end of the day I was extremely comfortable in a dry sweat-free t-shirt. Umbrellas are awesome!
We camped Deception lakes, another set of warm lakes with steam rising from them. We found some dry ground under tree cover and hung out some gear to dry. Our camp was a little more compact and resembled a backcountry gypsy village when the hammock tarp was tied to the tents (my tent poles were used to prop the green tent). Had a nice, but somewhat late, night chatting under the tarp finishing up the Fireball, to save weight of course. But this was only day 2 and we’ve only completed 17 miles.
Day 2 - Which lake again.jpgDay 3 - Lord of the Rings Day.jpgDay 2 - Gypsy Village.jpg
Day 3 That looks familiar.
It had rained a lot more that night and what was once damp was now soaked. On a positive note, it wasn't raining and the fog lifted. This section we all know pretty well having visited Cathedral Rock, Peggy’s Pond and Mt. Daniel several times including 2 months prior. As we approached Cathedral rock from the North and North-East, we realised it is awesome in a completely different way from each side. The Deception Pass campground 3 miles and -600 ft from Deception Lakes would have been well worth the extra effort to camp at if we had known. Maybe I'll see it again if I ever get around to scrambling up the thing. Cathedral Rock pass is about the only point on Section J you can get a cell signal. We didn’t have a NOAA signal, so we texted our former team mate to get an update for us. And it looks like a storm is rolling in on Tuesday. We chat with some other hikers who are doing J in 4-days over the holiday weekend and continue a few miles downhill to reach camp. Deep Lake is as stunning from its shore as it is from Cathedral or Daniel. These were some excellent camp spots right on the water, but we camped a bit past Deep Lake so we could dry out some gear outside the fire restricted zone.
Day 3- East cathedral rock.jpgDay 3 - Deep Lake from Cathedral Rock.jpgDay 3 - Deep lake and Cathedral Rock.jpgDay 3 - Deep Lake Camp.jpg
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