I slept in a bit this morning and Frank got out of camp about 10 minutes before me. We began a climb that would last most of the day. Luckily though, it was well graded. We climbed up and crossed the Bridge Creek where, ironically, the bridge washed out earlier this year, but the park service installed a temporary one for people to cross on.
We continued our climb up and noticed some elk prints on the trail...larger than normal... A couple minutes later, we came across something that Frank had told me didn't exist in the North Cascades: a moose (the dark figure in the horrible photo...).
She was as surprised as I was and we followed it up the trail for a bit before it went off into the trees. Wondering if we'd started seeing things, Frank asked her sister to verify the existence of moose here and she confirmed there were about 3000 here according to 2019 numbers.
We hiked on and the trail paralleled Highway 20 for a while before finally crossing it at Rainy Pass. Just in case you're wondering, our early morning blue skies had clouded over and it started to rain just before we got to Rainy Pass, but let up fairly quickly. We sat down near some other hikers and away from the middle school students preparing for an overnight trip. When the rain started again, we went under cover of nearby trees and ate lunch.
After lunch, I changed into my rain gear and we hiked up towards Cutthroat Pass. It rained lightly as we got above treeline and we saw foggy views.
Through the next few miles, it rained at varying intensities and we got views of varying uakity through the clouds.
We passed 2600 miles - our last mile marker on the PCT.
We kept hiking and the clouds parted a bit before Methow Pass for some semi-views.
We crossed the pass and entered the trees. The rain was barely falling now and we had the protection of the trees, but we were still cold and wet. After a couple miles, we arrived at a tentsite and set up for the night. We got out of our wet clothes and ate warm dinners before going to bed. Hoping we'll be able to dry out tomorrow because otherwise, it'll be a cold and potentially hypothermic day.
An all-day climb sounds exhausting but you all are in great shape! I’ve never seen a moose in person, have you, Michael? I’m curious how Cutthroat Pass got its name; maybe I don’t really want to know. What’s your guess as to the temperatures you’re experiencing.
ReplyDeleteI saw one in the Grand Tetons. Not sure how cutthroat got it's name but might be after the cutthroat trout which is found in the area. Highs are in the 40s and 50s and lows in the 30s
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