Stampede Pass to Snoqualmie Pass…and Beyond?

In my last post, I told you about the section of the hike between Chinook Pass and Stampede Pass.  After Carolyn returned home, I only had 18 miles until I reached Snoqualmie Pass, which is roughly the halfway point of the Washington PCT.  Feeling fairly strong by this point, I decided to push myself and try to finish this leg of the trail all in one day.  I left some of my overnight gear with my trail angels, so I had no choice but to make it through to the end (or spend a very cold night on my own).

Nathan and my parents hiked in the first couple of miles from Stampede Pass before sending me on my way.  I picked up my pace and, to my surprise, actually passed a couple of thru-hikers over the next few hours.  Nuptse and I even jogged some of the flat sections, being careful to maneuver around the many rocks and tangled roots covering the trail.  I was amazed at how much of a difference my lightened pack made, and swore to myself that I would do whatever I could to shed extra weight in the future.

I traveled with ease up and over a ridge before making my way down to Yakima Pass, another glorified gravel road.  I then made my final ascent to the large and secluded Mirror Lake, where Nuptse went for a quick swim.

From Mirror Lake, the trail descends nearly all of the way to Snoqualmie Pass.  Dreaming of the vegan pizza I had been promised upon my arrival, I began running some of the down hills.  I was brought abruptly back to reality when I turned a corner, lost my footing, and nearly plunged head first over the edge of the trail.  Before I even had a chance to steady myself, I noticed that the side of the trail where I would have fallen consisted of a sheer fifteen or twenty foot drop down to a pile of large boulders.  The experience was somewhat surreal, and I thought of how ironic it would have been to have survived the knife’s edge and the last 200 miles of the trail just to plummet to my death on such an easy section of the trail so close to my intended finish line, simply because I am ridiculously clumsy. I decided to walk the rest of the way.

A short time later, I began to catch glimpses of Lake Keechelus and the cars and trucks racing along I-90.  Although they looked like toys from where I stood high on the mountainside, they served as a reminder that I was close to civilization and to what I knew might be the end of my journey, at least for this year.  I have driven across that highway so many times over the past few years, and it seemed odd to witness it from this perspective.  A few miles from the pass, I stopped briefly to admire the peaceful Olallie Meadow before running into my family, who had hiked in to meet me.  Together, we made it the last few miles across the ski slopes and down to the trailhead at Snoqualmie Pass.

Reaching Snoqualmie Pass meant that I had just hiked over 200 miles and finished approximately half of the Washington section of the PCT.  I had hiked 44 of those miles on my own, and in doing so conquered one of my biggest fears (or at least stood tall, puffed up my chest, and looked it straight in the eye).  Nuptse had also grown substantially over the past month on the trail, both physically (I was feeding him more than twice the calories he normally gets) and in terms of his maturity.  Without Nathan or his big sister Rupal around, Nuptse had to be my protector.  And while that made him initially suspicious of every hiker we encountered on the trail, it also made him a stronger hiking partner.  I am so proud of him, and of what we accomplished together.

But as wonderful as the last few sections of the trail have been, the experience just didn’t feel the same without the other half of the pack to share it with.  I have decided that, unless Nathan and Rupal can recover enough to join me on the next section, I am going to wait until another year to finish my grand adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail.  The good news is that, since I’ve been home, Rupal has stopped limping and Nathan’s knee seems to be recovering nicely.  In fact, he is at a physical therapy appointment as I am writing this.  Becaues the next leg of the trail between Snoqualmie Pass and Stevens Pass is a relatively long 77 miles, we are going to attempt a few smaller overnight hikes to see how they do. Depending on their progress (and how much snow falls in the coming days and weeks), we may decide to continue on our journey after all.  Stay tuned!