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| Gravel Lake |
Despite our hopes for a summer without smoke, it seems the new normal involves lots of fires, and where there's lots of fire, there's eventually lots of smoke. But we were determined to fit in a backpack, to test Karen's ability to handle all that's involved (carring a bigger pack, hiking 2 days in a row with a night on the ground in between). With the smoke situation not seeming too bad, we headed north on the Pacific Crest Trail from Snoqualmie Pass, to Ridge and Gravel Lakes. The trail starts up and mostly doesn't stop until it reaches the ridge, then follows the ridge to the lakes. The views of surrounding and far-off peaks would have been stunning, if not for the more-than-expected smoke. The lakes were fairly nice, but no killer-view campsites (at least with the smoke). The bugs were pretty bad (though not the worst we've ever seen) ... reminding us of why we usually wait until September to backpack. There were more than a few longer-distance hikers, either doing the entire PCT, or "just" the 80 miles between Snoqualmie and Stevens Passes. You could easily spot the people doing the entire PCT ... very small packs and a very quick pace (even uphill)! All-in-all, it was a solid hike (14.6 miles, 3400' gain), and the bodies held up ok. But, the smoke! It was pretty bad on the first day, and worse on the second. Oh well!
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| Green Corn Lily |
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| Fireweed and Snoqualmie Mtn |
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| View East from Shoulder of Kendall Peak |
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| Alaska Lake and Alta Mtn |
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| Ridge Lake |
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| Mountains Beyond Mountains (Chimney Rock, Lemah Mtn, Huckleberry Mtn, Chikamin Peak ... L-R) |
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| Karen on the "Catwalk" (trail blasted out of the cliff) |
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| PCT through Old-Growth Forest |
5-Star Moments
- None, really. The smoke kinda took the sparkle away.
Random Questions
- Are these people saying it's spectacular being honest, or just trying to convince themselves?
- This smoke looks kinda disgusting, but is hiking in it really bad for you? It seems pretty invisible for 100 ft or so, but ... Perhaps the answer is in Tom having a sore throat and headache by the time he reached the car!
Future Ideas
- Section hike the PCT from Snoqualmie Pass to Stevens Pass (and maybe more)!
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