Section J Snoqualmie to Stevens Pass PCT-August 2003
This is my second try on Section J of the PCT. This time I left about 2 months later on August 27, 2003. There was no snow on the way to the Kendall Katwalk, but there was early morning fog.
Once past the Kendall Katwalk, the fog cleared and it was a beautiful walk along the Gold Creek Cirque followed by the Chikamin where I enjoyed great views of the Three Queens, Box Ridge, and the distant Mt. Rainier on a blue sky day.
This is a very popular section of the PCT and I came across 20 hikers during the day and most were day hikers. While enjoying this view with Mt. Rainier in the distance, I stopped to patch with moleskin a big blister on the edge of my heel and added a second pair of socks to stave off further blisters.
I began looking for a camping spot as I crossed over the Delate Creek Bridge and ended up stealth camping by the Lemah Falls about three miles further up the PCT. It was a 12-hour day, I covered 22.7 miles with assents of 5,300 ft and descents of 5,100 ft.
When I got up and packed up my gear on August 28th, I hiked until I am warmed up which is usually after about an hour or so of hiking. My breakfast is usually Quaker Oats granola along with hot coffee or cocoa. While eating I met my first Southbound thru-hiker who was from England.
The trail then began a steep 2,200 climb to Escondido Ridge. I took another break here at one of the many tarns.
It was a steep descent of 2,300 feet to Lake Waptus.
I took a long traverse along the north side of Lake Waptus and then gradually climbed up along Spinola Creek Valley where I passed through a ghost forest from the mid-1990s burn.
I then came out south of Deep Lake with the Cathedral Rock looming high above. The PCT trail crosses the lake’s southern outlet.
In the summer of 2013, this was one of several Washington Trails Association—www.wta.org—one-week work parties I joined. It was just a few feet from where we replaced two rotting and damaged bridges with turnpikes with culverts. When you do these work parties, you realize how much effort goes into making and maintaining the PCT for others to use.
After volunteering for trail maintenance with WTA and PCTA, I now notice how the trail is constructed for safe passage by reducing water erosion and plant intrusion—including the annual blowdown trees that block the trail for both hikers and equestrians.
I continued up another 1,200 feet from Deep Lake to the Cathedral Rock where I spent the night. I enjoyed dinner of beef stroganoff with cocoa. It was another 12-hour day of hiking and I covered 26.5 miles with ascents of 5,060 ft. and descents of 3060 ft. I saw just 8 hikers.
On August 29th, I headed down about 2,000 feet to the Cle Elum River which has a potentially treacherous stream crossing.
Here is a video of my brother, Jim, doing this crossing in 2012 during my revisit of the PCT.
After this crossing, I continued on past Deception and Glacier Surprise Lakes, and here is Trap Lake far below the PCT.
For the rest of the day, I passed several more lakes like Hope, Mig, Swimming Deer, and Josephine. I ended up for the night at the Lake Susan Jane Lake about 4 miles from Stevens Pass. It was another 12-hour day, I covered 23 miles, miles with assents of 4,720 ft and descents of 5,640 ft. I saw 8 hikers.
On August 30th, I began the last day in Section J which had the checkerboard clear cuts overhead buzzing high tension before arriving at the Stevens Pass Ski Area with its many dirt roads and groomed slopes.
When I got to the summit parking lot, I met a Trail Angel named Mike who served me up eggs, and fried potatoes, with some hot cocoa. He said that he would come up here to serve thru-hikers from Mid August to the end of September from his RV. I was joined by two thru-hikers named Gepetto, and Pacific Beast. Throughout my PCT travels, I would discover Trail Angels like Mike. Some would serve up food, set up water or goodie caches, host you for the night and wash your dirty clothes and many others would give you rides to trail towns or back up to the trail.
Section K Stevens Pass to Stehekin—August—September 2003
After repairing my increasing number of blisters I head up the PCT along with Gepetto. I kept up with him for a while until I had to stop again to again patch up my blisters near the Pear Lake outlet.
While I was resting here, another hiker stopped by. It was Jen—the dry foods instructor at last year’s ALDHA West gathering I had heard. She was coming down after starting at Stehekin—about 25 miles away—and ending at Stevens Pass.
I continued up to Saddle Gap where I first saw Glacier Peak in the distance which I would navigate around for the next 4 days.
Just beyond Saddle Gap, I stopped at Pass Creek for the night after 12 hours of hiking and 28 miles with ascents of 4270 ft and 4640 ft. I only met 4 hikers on this day.
On August 31st, I left my stealth camp around 6 am and arrived at Lake Sally Ann and stopped for my usual breakfast of Quaker Oats granola with powdered milk and cocoa, and met up with six campers at the shoreline campsite.
I hiked over 6 mountain passes ranging from 5,000 to 6,500 ft. before I got to an official campsite at Sitkum Creek—complete with a pit toilet.
I enjoyed some spectacular 360-degree views from Red Pass at 6,500 feet. It included the Monto Cristo and Sloan Peak ranges and Glacier Peak. From here it was a foot-pounding drop of over 2,600 feet to Skitkum Creek where I would spend the night.
It was a 23-mile hike of 13 hours with ascents of 4500 ft and descents of 5,480 ft. Other than the 6 campers at the start of my day, I saw no other hikers.
On September 1st, after leaving Sitkum Creek one of the attractions I passed by was the Kennedy Hot Springs which was destroyed later by a big landslide that also took out the Suiattle Bridge. I then crossed Fire Creek at 3,800 ft and on up to the East Fork Milk Creek Basin—5,860 ft.
I again hiked up over 2,000 ft. to Fire Creek Pass at 6,350 ft. with more spectacular views.
Shortly after that, I arrived at Mica Lake where I met up with a fisherman and a couple with 2 llamas.
I went down again to a campsite by Vista Creek—2,877 ft. where I spent the night after a long 14-hour day of hiking for 23 miles with ascents of 6,090 ft and descents of 6,600 ft.—my feet, knees, and legs were throbbing so it was time for 4 tablets of Vitamin I (ibuprofen). The people I met at Mica Lake were the only ones I saw on this day.
On September 2nd, I left Vista Creek at 6 am heading down the Vista Creek Valley until I got to the Suiattle Bridge at 2,800 ft. After crossing I headed up to Suiattle Pass at 5,990 ft where I saw my first bear eating berries in the valley below the pass.
Shortly after leaving the pass, I had a choice of staying on the longer PCT or taking the Agnes River Trail. With my sore feet, knees, and legs, I chose the Agnes trail.
After fifteen minutes of going down this gentle trail with the cascading water sounds, I almost ran into my second bear just 50 ft away. We both quickly ran away from each other. After about 6 miles, the Agnes trail rejoined the PCT at Hemlock Camp.
This trail was surrounded by mostly evergreen trees—hemlock, cedar, douglas fir, spruce, and pine as the trail dropped from 5,990 ft at the Suiattle Pass to 2,160 ft. at the Five Mile Camp where I spent the night after hiking for 16 hours, covering 24 miles with assents of 3,800 ft and descents of 5,730 ft. I saw 15 hikers on this day.
Another person camping here turned out that his sister had worked for me as an Employee Assistant Counselor in Colorado when I was a Labor-Management Relations Manager for the Federal Aviation Administration in the NW before I retired in 1999.
After dinner, I surveyed my physical situation and recognized my feet, back and knees hurt. I ran out of bandages and was now resorting to using duct tape. That night I decided that I would end this year’s PCT hike at Stehekin instead of to Canada.
There is no road access to Stehekin so you can only get there by boat, hiking, or horseback.
On September 3rd, It was only a five-mile hike to the National Park Bridge Creek Ranger Station where I caught a $2 shuttle bus down to Stehekin for a 5-mile bouncy ride in an old yellow school bus which did a 10-minute stop at the famous Stehekin Bakery where I loaded up with bakery goods.
My timing was pretty good so I was able to get the noon “Lady Express” Catamaran for a 2 1/2 hour, fifty-mile ride on Lake Chelan to Chelan at the south end of the lake.
From there I caught a community bus to Wenatchee where I stayed overnight before catching an Amtrak train to Seattle. for the end of my trip.
That night, I washed and patched up my feet before taking the Amtrak.
It was a beautiful ride to and through the Cascade Mountain Range and then down to Seattle.
The following year, 2004, I would again take Amtrak from Seattle to Portland where I got a shuttle along the Columbia River to Section H Bridge of the Gods to White Pass.
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