July 10

Distance today: 14.8 miles

Mile marker: 146.2

We were camping in a cloud. Which sounds lovely until you remember that clouds are 100% relative humidity and cold. We called in a weather report at 5am hoping that would somehow change fate. It didn’t. But it offered a glimmer of hope: a break in the rain at 8am. So we slept in some more and packed in the tent as much as we could. There really wasn’t a break, we were in a cloud, but it eased up enough to get moving.

We climbed up to a very scenic and spooky Mica Lake. Along the way we encountered a grouse blocking the path. She stood her ground and we thought she might be in an attacking mood, but eventually she let us through. She was very cute. And later we saw some baby grouses flying into the tree and they were also very cute.

Then, we were treated to some of the best views along the entire PTC. Glorious picturesque scenes of Glacier Peak and the surrounding meadows.

On we marched, Jason brooding in the back and preparing for another onslaught of bushwacking when we descended.

About halfway down the descent, we ran into two hikers going north towards Stehekin and we warned them about what was to come. They’ve been warned by everyone else for the last three days. And they’re probably not ready, emotionally. But they informed us that the trail improves as we go further south. That instantly lifted spirits. We were expecting more walls of plants to crash through. Then at 2pm, the sun broke through! Any bushwacking we did experience was relatively mild in comparison to the lead into Milk Creek.

The hardest part was our first real river crossing at Kennedy Creek. The hillside had apparently given out and it washed away everything in its wake. Someone crossing the opposite direction informed us that there used to be a bridge here. And like, yeah, there used to be an entire hillside. But we made it over barely getting our shoes wet.

Then it was easy, breezy, beautiful. The occasional blowdown didn’t stop us – we could just walk around! The trail was mild and soft and lined with mosses and mushrooms. It was a great moss day.

We got to our campsite by 7pm. On the way, we found Mark’s hat that must’ve fallen off his pack (we met him earlier in the day). We plan to leave it at the Stevens Pass trailhead when we get there (he was faster than us and planning a day in Levanworth). I hope he gets his hat back.