Rocky Start

The moment when the boat shoved off from the dock to take me up north to Lightning Creek on Ross Lake was full of so much emotion.  It was a stunning sunny day with shining white peaks all around and my dad stood on the dock waving goodbye for now.  Leaving all things familiar behind and a huge adventure ahead of us with so many uncertainties.  The eastern mountains are familiar to us but the western landscape is HUGE: bigger mountains, steeper slopes, sharper everything.  The weather said clear for a few days so we started with eager legs.  The moment we stepped onto Pasayten Wilderness land we entered a wild land for sure, on a trail that would lead us up to the PCT just south of the border.  SO many down trees and unrecognizable trail that it took us 3 hours to go a single mile.  We set up camp, exhausted, and turned back the next morning with our spirits a tad broken and clouds rolling in to envelope the mountains above, glad we were not at 6000 feet.  We were so close to Canada we had to at least touch it so we walked north along the lake and touched the border.  Our northern terminus happens to be obelisk #72, and there is an actual line at the border.  A 50 foot wide swath of no trees cuts a straight line through the wild mountains, a strange site indeed.

Having finally started our adventure we headed south, started hiking too much, and promptly injured a muscle in my leg, oops.  So we slowed down and kept moving, we dont sit still very well.  Making our way up to Rainy Pass we hit snow at about 3500', a bit lower than normal and the steep slopes made me glad I bothered to bring my ice axe.  Heading down Rainy Pass of course no adventure is complete without a sketchy raging rive crossing, Roxi was not thrilled but came through and was very proud of herself when safe on the other side.  On the way down we saw absolutely no sign of other humans, are we the first crazies trying to southbound this year?  No trail signs and no trail markers. We found a deer trail that seemed to be heading in the right direction and within an hour we were standing on the trail where it began to poke through the deep snow. Tah-dah!! It kept leading us on the trail until the snow disappeared and we were safe at last, heading down the valley to the wonderful town of Stehekin, WA.

It turns out I am the first crazy southbounder into town and I decide to take a few days to get my leg back to 100%.  The next section is 100 miles through more high steep snow with not many lower options and I am seriously considering skipping it for now.  The Glacier Peak section is one of the most incredible parts of the trail and it would be lovely to come back and do it at a more appropriate time next year.

So it's been a rocky start and we are excited for the snow to melt... but that means raging rivers too so we will just have to take our time and do our best to stay safe, no heroic efforts here!!!

Peace & love,
"Beads" (my trail name) and "Roxtar"