10/2/2024
Section: Milepost 2534.2 to 2551.9
Total Trail Miles: 2618.9 Miles
Distance: 16.95 Miles
Moving Time: 08:40 Hrs
Elevation Gain: 2585 Feet
We woke up to slightly better conditions than we had gone to bed with. The wind had died down but the sky was still very gray. We ate and enjoyed some warm drinks which always sparks intestinal movement. I went off into a strange little drainage to take care of it, taking along with me a cool aluminum shovel that we had found on the climb out of Milk Creek the day before.
For most of the PCT last year, we had carried a hard plastic shovel or, in some cases, just used our ice axes to dig cat holes. I had seen this shovel on other peoples backpacks and, while I wouldn't call the emotions I felt “shovel envy,” they did look pretty sweet. Can confirm though, after my experience this morning, they are very nice to use. One side of the shovel is serrated which helps cut a very nice plug out of the earth where there is usually an inch or so of hardened surface. Works super well! I came back and encouraged Amanda to take a shot at it with the shovel before heading back to my backpack and making sure everything was in its place. Soon after, she returned with a similarly glowing review of our new shovel. We did our warm-ups and were underway around 8:40, swimming through the low hanging clouds that still enshrouded our campsite.
Today's segment looks like a big W with a very small middle hump. The first half is entirely defined by a 3300’, 8 mile descent from Vista Ridge to the lowest point in the Glacier Peak Wilderness at the Suiattle River crossing. It begins with a stiff set of switchbacks off the ridge, crossing a small drainage, before reaching Vista Creek. From 3600’ on, the trail follows Vista Creek down the drainage for about 3 miles before reaching the confluence with the Suiattle River. Here, the trail does one of its stranger “kick-outs” heading nearly due west, away from the day’s destination to cross the Suiattle river on a very nice bridge and adding about 7 extra miles to the whole endeavor. After the crossing, the trail heads back east along the river, making a small ascent up to the Miner’s Creek drainage, where it turns back up-hill in earnest and climbs into the drainage. The stage climbs 2000 feet in about 4 miles to its resting place at Miner’s Creek camp along its namesake creek.
The area we are hiking through today was one of the reasons we weren’t sure we were going to get to finish this year. Fires had sporadically popped up throughout the Glacier Peak Wilderness throughout the summer but the Miner’s Creek Complex Fire was deep and wasn’t fully put out until about 2 weeks before we were scheduled to make this second attempt. I had called and emailed the forest service several times but had never really gotten a “hard-and-fast" confirmation that it would be open until the week before we set out and despite being cleared by the the forest service, some beta on the stage ahead had suggested making a small bypass using the Miners Creek Cabin bypass. Fortunately, we had been able to talk with Dave who had told us the section was very small and stable so we didn’t have to take our chances with a potentially very overgrown side-trail.
From our site we sped downhill, engaging in a seemingly endless series of switchbacks. Before long, Vista Creek could be heard below us. We reached it soon after and continued heading downhill and northwards. The sky opened occasionally, spreading light through the tree limbs above us. We sporadically caught whiffs of smoke in the air and, looking back up at the ridge on the opposite side of the drainage, I could see little smoke columns puffing into the air. We sped downhill, keeping Vista Creek on our right side and quickly made it to the confluence with Suiattle River, turning west once we arrived at the intersection. The trail got even faster here and we made our way west, overcoming occasional blowdown and trying not to think about the fact that we were heading the wrong direction. The Suiattle River area is deep and notorious for uncleared trees down across the trail because it’s difficult to reach for the forest service.
The trail got maddeningly close to the Suiattle River without any sign of a crossing but, eventually, we did turn right down to the river and a beautiful bridge came into view. We crossed out onto it and put our packs down. The sun came out and we frantically brought out all of our damp articles to try and get them some drying time in. I perched mine precariously close to the edge to maximize sunshine and a small draft that was coming up the river. Amanda stripped down to her underwear and sat on the bridge munching on Cheetos. I enjoyed the last remnants of my kettle chips and put a pretty serious dent in my bag of WINCO chocolate-peanut butter cup trail mix. We relaxed for some time on that bridge. No one came or went across it as we sat there, just enjoying the short bursts of sun that would occasionally pass over.
After about 45 minutes, we got up, stretched and put our things away into our backpacks. We took some last looks down at the Suiattle River before completing our crossing and turning back east towards the Miner’s Creek drainage. We climbed softly along the Suiattle River for another hour, occasionally walking through some overgrown areas along its banks. For whatever reason, the Forest Service seemed to have been able to get in on this side and clear what would have been some really nasty blowdown. I am guessing they had to do this to get into the fire. Eventually, we reached the turnoff to begin our climb into the Miner’s Creek drainage and stopped to rest for a few minutes.
We started our climb around 4 pm. We had considered sleeping down by the Suiattle River but decided it was worth getting some climbing out of the way. We made our way up the drainage, our legs tired from a long downhill segment in the morning. About an hour into the climb we came to the burned section I had been a little worried about and quickened our pace to minimize our exposure. It wasn’t bad, but it was on a fairly steep slope so we tried to minimize our time in it. We climbed on and soon reached a wide, open area dotted with young trees. We stopped here at Miner’s Creek camp and set up for the night. I got water and attempted to make a fire while Amanda set-up the tent. I know - PCTrs don’t usually make fires. It’s not “the PCT way” but the camp was honestly a little depressing. It was shady, damp and cool and much of our stuff was still a little wet. I did what I could but, even with a lot of help from the fire starters I had brought along (also not the PCT Way), I couldn't get anything to catch for very long - it’s all just a little too wet. None-the-less, Amanda and I enjoyed a few minutes by the fire and put our socks out to get some dry-time but we eventually abandoned the fire prospect, cleaned up our things and ducked into bed. Just wasn’t worth the pain of sitting out in a camp that the mushrooms looked to be about a week from overtaking completely.
Once in the tent we relaxed and read for a bit before falling off to sleep. Tomorrow was the last climb of this section and, for us, of the entire PCT. After Suiattle Pass it was all easy hiking out to North Cascades Highway.