Huckleberry Mushroom Delight – The Trail’s End

After our brief and enjoyable stay in Portland, we made our way back down the Columbia river, making our official entry into Washington over the bridge of the gods. As the deep waters rolled on beneath our feet, a surreal feeling came over us; after 153 days we had at last arrived in one of the three states we call home, and though the trail is still new to us here, a since of familiarity cannot be avoided. In true Washington fashion, we got caught in a good rain storm within the first two hours of our arrival, but we can’t say that we expected much less. For the next two days we reaped the benefit of the rains, picking our weight in mushrooms, primarily golden chantrelles. We shared the feast with everyone we had been hiking with, and before long, we were all distracted by the abundance of fungi everywhere we went. As we continued to work our way North towards the Wind river, we continued to steadily climb in elevation. As a result the chantrelles became less frequent, but in their stead we found countless Boletes, yet another long awaited treat. Also a consequence of our increase in elevation was new species of huckleberries we had never seen before. While we had seen almost a dozen different species, the alpine Vaccinium deliciosum proved to be our favorite. Largely isolated to the Cascades, these exceptionally large berries were easy to harvest and were very rich in flavor, making for a great snack, any time of day. Despite the myriad of hungry hikers, birds and rodents sharing the harvest, there always seemed to be thousands of berries still ripe for the picking, an impressive feat in itself. The land remained fruitful as we made our way through the Indian Heaven wilderness, and before long, we caught sights of our next volcano – Mt. Adams.

Then the rain came back. Temperatures began dropping towards freezing at night, accompanied by a steady rain most every other day. As we rounded Mt. Adams, we happened upon one of the best springs we’ve seen, affectionately known as the Lava spring. Flowing at a rate of several gallons per minute, its source is obscured under a very large pile of lava rock, providing a lattice work of small windows through which you can hear and see the water. Just beyond this, the water flows out into an open stream, then down into a large and clear collection pool built up of the surrounding rock. We stopped here for a good while taking relief from the rain, but got our move on once we started to get cold. Despite our plans for pushing out 25+ mile days, the rain got the best of us and we made considerably less. This eventually worked out in our favor, as it allowed us to hike through the goat rocks wilderness during a warm and dry weather window. While those ahead of us saw little more than grey clouds and howling wind, we were afforded one of the most magnificent sunsets of the trail thus far. Despite advise to avoid this section of trail after 3:30pm, we charged down the knife’s edge at sunset. The trail here was very exposed as it follows a high ridge line dividing several large canyons. Moreover, parts of the trail here were comprised of large pieces of shale which felt like walking on stacked dinner plates down a steep grade. Nonetheless, we found ourselves stopping every couple of minutes in awe of the landscape before us. With the sun low on the horizon, the lighting changed dramatically with each minute that passed, consistently transforming our surroundings and some how making them even more magnificent. Just before the sun dropped out of sight, golden rays shot through the canyon illuminating the western slopes, with Mt. Rainier looming in the clouds to the North, surely this was the grand finale. We soon got down off the ridge line and set up camp in the first flat meadow we came to. As to be expected, we saw many goats in this area, though none got close enough to say hello….

From goat rocks it was a hop skip and a jump to white pass ski area, where we were met with some familiar faces from Olympia. We spent the day gathering our re-supply, catching up and sharing stories. Such interactions always seem to revitalize our spirit for hiking. The next day we were back on trail, enjoying a surprisingly moderate climb from the pass. We soon found ourselves hiking the Eastern border of Rainier National park, occasionally stealing glimpses of the crown jewel hidden in the clouds. This section was also very abundant in V. deliciosum, and we continued to gorge ourselves every opportunity we could. Eventually we came down to Chinook pass, where we made our official exit from the park crossing over SR410. We hiked a little ways up the other side, then made camp at yet another sheep lake (the third “Sheep Lake” in less than 500 miles). The next day held a special treat as we encountered one of the few shelters along the trail. Maintained by the local snow-mobile club, the cabin was outfitted with a huge wood stove, a dozen cords of sapwood, a table and benches. By our standards, this was pure luxury. We stayed up late into the evening aided by the warmth of the stove, and without too much surprise had a hard time leaving the following morning. From here the trail meandered through private land and forests, a large portion of which had been clear-cut. Without too many distractions we moved through this area quickly, dropping us out at Snoqualmie pass. We anticipated this being our last stop for services before hitting the border, so we took a day off here to do laundry, gather our resupply and clean up.

After two days in Snoqualmie, we started hiking again. Though instead of opting for the PCT, we decided on an alternate route that passed by Gold Meyer hot springs. After passing by dozens of inquisitive day hikers, we made our 11 miles to the hot springs where we stopped and soaked for a couple of hours. This was well worth the detour. While there were only three pools for soaking, they were all very clean, and the uppermost pool led into a small cave where the source could be found. Naturally the cave acted as a steam room large enough for 4 or 5 people. A real trail-side treasure. With miles on our mind, we did not stop here for the day, pushing out another 6 miles before the sun fell. We followed the Snoqualmie river for many miles, leading up to its head waters in the Dutch Miller gap. The trail here was in very poor condition and made for slow miles, but eventually we dropped down the other side into the Waptus river basin. Here we re-joined the PCT, and as we were eager to make up to 25 miles, we hiked into the night by headlamp, setting up camp in the dark. With Steven’s pass only 19 miles away, we awoke before the sun, leaving camp in the light rain by 6:30, our earliest departure in a long time. Our 19 miles into Steven’s pass were not easy ones, as we climbed over three and a half passes to get there. For a brief minute it even began to snow on us, but this soon turned to rain which would persist for the remainder of the day. We arrived to the pass in the early afternoon, only to discover our primary resupply hadn’t arrived yet, and our other packages had been forwarded to Leavenworth some 35 miles to the East. After two hours of trying to hitchhike in the rain, we got a ride with some local maintenance workers, who dropped us off at the Dinzmore’s – Washington’s premier trail angels. Here we found a hiker dorm room, complete with bunk beds, wood stove, hot food and good company. Needless to say we slept great. We spent the next day hitchhiking between Leavenworth, Skykomish and Steven’s pass trying to get all of our packages organized before heading back out into the rain. We made 10 more miles up the trail before making camp at lake Janus, and here we came to a few realizations. With inclement weather moving in, we could either push through the next 120 miles before our next possible exit point, or we could turn around while we still had the opportunity. After evaluating our motives and intentions, we decided it would be in our best interest to turn around. We came out here to enjoy some of the most spectacular natural attractions this country has to offer, not only sharing it with one another, but with a whole slew of amazing strangers we now call family. And so, after 172 days, 6 national parks, and well over 50 mountain passes, we have surrendered to the trail in the North cascades. While it was an extremely difficult decision, we are content knowing we have an excuse to spread this journey out into the year. Moreover, in light of the Typhoon set to hit Washington this weekend, we feel we have made the right decision and hope that any friends who may still be out there are safe. This will be our last post for the PCT, though we hope you will continue to follow along in the adventures to come. At last our trail has come to an end, though another one is just one the horizon. Thanks for following!

Cheers!