July 12

Distance today: 16.8 miles

Mile marker: 182.8

We didn’t quite make it to the lake we were aiming for yesterday. But we didn’t necessarily need the miles and we wouldn’t be swimming in a lake if we arrived after 7pm. So then today we passed the lake around 10am and of course had to take a quite dip. It was cold but not that cold. We waded in to scrub off some of the grime that built up over the last week. The wind over the water kept most of the mosquitoes away. We eventually bot got brave enough to jump in and have a little swim. It was quite refreshing! And it felt good to feel a little cleaner than we had in a few days. Not quite clean, but clean-adjacent.

Our last big ascent before Stevens Pass was next: almost 1300′ over just 2.6 miles. But most if climb was far steeper, easing up only towards the peak. We made it for lunch and were tired and thirsty after baking in the midday sun. Jason had Thanksgiving surprise and Alex had cilantro pesto pasta. We were swarmed by mosquitoes as we ate. Where do they live on top of the mountain? And why are the mountains so un-breezy? The air was nearly stagnant today.

Shortly after lunch we ran into a hiker going north. Every year he was doing a Washington Section of the PCT and this year was the dreaded Section K. He told us that the lake we were aiming for today was a little crowded with weekend backpackers. We had forgotten about weekends. You kinda lose a sense of time in a very interesting way. The hiker suggested we lay up at an earlier lake.

Only one blowdown today, but it was a doozy! How would you get around this?

When we got to the nearer lake, we stopped for a break and recovery as we deliberated on stopping here or pushing on. During this break, Jason had a shoe/sock/foot fiasco which was eventful but ultimately harmless.

We decided to push on thinking that if ALL the sites were taken, we would continue further towards Stevens Pass and have an even shorter out tomorrow. But we kept passing northbound hikers and asking them about how busy this lake was and they said that we’ll fit and that there were even some empty sites higher up the slope.

Thankfully they were right! When we got to the lake, there was a spot all to ourselves away from the mass of other campers. It would be good to get a good night’s sleep and not disturb anyone if we pack up earlier tomorrow. For dinner, Jason had mac and cheese and Alex had garlic mushroom couscous.

We’ll be at Stevens Pass tomorrow morning for our next resupply (another 6 day carry…. ugh). Then we’ll march on through and start chipping away towards Snoqualmie.