Day 1 - Paradise to Nickel Creek
10 mi - 83 mi to go
Day of Disaster
Hiked away from the mountain today. Things started out well, but quickly changed in Stevens Canyon where we encountered long stretches of overgrown trail (berries...ouch) and swarms of biting black flies. Cami had several meltdowns and we both battled stifling heat.
Little did we know...
And we're off
At a mid-day stop, Cami learned that both of her socks had worn clear through at the heel, thus creating fresh blisters.
At the end of the long day, we stopped at what should have been camp, but the camp was not where Dave had remembered it. Dave left Cami in the trail to go in search of said camp. While Cami was waiting alone on the trail, she heard grunting noises (a la bear) right behind her in the woods. AAAAHHHH!!!!
When we finally found camp, long debates ensued on whether or not we should turn back. In the end, we scored a new pair of socks from our neighbors at camp. We decided to press on.
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Day 2 - Nickel Creek to Summerland
11 mi - 72 mi to go
Day of Endless Climbing
Morning brought the discovery that our Deet had nearly eaten through the weight-saving plastic bottle it was in. Dave announced, "We are turning back," and went to the sock ladies to ask for a ride to Paradise. He returned with a donation of a brand new bottle of deet. Onward we go.
The ascent began in a breeze-less heat through mosquito infested forest. They preferred Cami to Dave and she amassed 20 bites and lost her will to continue. Finally we emerged to fields of wildflowers and our first view of the mountain.
Steppy time: this was the view the entire day. Up, up, and up
And this is why we put ourselves through this crazy experience. Hiking with views like this one make the whole thing beyond worth it! Ahhh....our mountain!
We reached Indian Bar (campsite) for lunch just before the heat overwhelmed us and our legs gave out. We felt that we should be done for the day, but still had 4.5 miles of climbing to go. After a long lunch, we began climbing a beautiful stretch of trail full of big waterfalls, high cliffs, and always...the mountain.Dave with our trusty map
While we were pushing our way through the overgrown trail yesterday, I managed to receive a lovely spider bite on my knuckles that kept getting bigger and bigger. Lovely.
While in the rocky high country, we saw bear tracks and at least 20 mountain goats along with many marmots.
TWELVE hours after we had started, we finally arrived in camp and hastily set up shop. We were quite sore and tired and VERY glad to be done with our biggest day of the trip.
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Day 3 - Summerland to Sunrise
10 mi - 62 mi to go
Day of Bacon Cheeseburger
We woke up at 5:30 as usual and were greeted by a dazzling pink sunrise shining up on the mountain.
Good morning
The day started with a 2,000 ft. descent (finally going down) through beautiful wildflowers to a river crossing. Typical river crossing
So many different flowers on the mountain. Dave loved this version of Indian Paintbrush.
The next long section of trail meandered through old growth forest. The temperature was finally cool and the trail was wide enough for us to walk side by side. What a treat.
We ate lunch at White River Campground (read: running water and flushing toilets). True luxury.
Fascinating view from the east side of the mountain. Notice the difference between the mountains north and south faces.
After lunch, we made the long climb up to Sunrise. The first section was miserably hot and we were covered in biting black flies. Just as we reached our whits end, we got outstanding views of the mountain, just the motivation we needed to make it to sunrise.
First Sunrise observation: clean people, how odd! We were able to take quasi-bathes in the sink and wash our clothes in our collapsible bucket. We got lots of stares from people thinking we were crazy. In the gift shop, we loaded up with a new bottle of deet, campsoap, and a snickers bar before diving into the world's best tasting bacon cheeseburgers!! After polishing off a piece of blackberry pie and scoring a roll of toilet paper from a generous stranger, we headed off to camp a few miles down the trail.
We were so glad that we had eaten at Sunrise because upon arriving at camp we learned that there was no water source. Also, the mosquitos were out of control at this place. We set up the tent as fast as we could but did not manage to avoid their biting. Argh.
The redeeming factor: full bellies, clean hair, and the knowledge that tomorrow will be an easy hike.
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Day 4 - Sunrise to Granite Creek
4.5 mi - 57.5 mi to go
Day of Rest
The quantity of mosquitoes precluded a hot breakfast so we planned oatmeal for lunch instead. We bummed some extra moleskin off of a couple of overnighters and tried yet another technique on Cami's blistered heels. At 10:20, we left camp after our longest night of sleep yet.
Today's scenery included lush meadows of solid lupine along with several new wildflowers and short, stubby trees.
Unbelievable fields of lupine
It doesn't get any better!
The forest around Granite Creek has trees with very low branches and just look scraggly and different from before. We had amazing views from the high rocky terrain as well as our first rain drops and thunderstorm. The near-total cloud cover and made for a very cool and relaxing evening.We arrived at camp in the middle of this cool day and were pleasantly surprised to find it nearly bug free!! We had lots of time to lay around camp relaxing, playing scattagories, laughing, and drinking hot chocolate. The short hike and long time in camp was rejuvenating for body, mind, and blisters.
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Day 5 - Granite Creek to Cataract Valley
10.7 mi - 46.8 mi to go
Day of Twists and Turns
The day started with a downward hike to the Winthrop Glacier. We could see the entire thing from the top of the mountain to its end, and it gave us a fun show of creaking and falling rocks.
Winthrop Glacier - Cami's absolute favorite part of the trip
Short water break
Our day became memorable after a short hike up to a pass with the best views ever of the mountain's active north face. We watched a spectacle of avalanches while making potatoes for lunch. Usually we eat potatoes for dinner, but had saved one packet for a special treat for lunch. Even with a good number of mosquitoes, we were having a grand time. Just before our first bite, thunder started crashing overhead and cut our lunch short. What a sight we were as we sought lower ground, hiking poles in one hand and a bowl of potatoes in the other. Every time we tried to stop for a few bites, we were swarmed by mosquitoes so we enjoyed our lunch and ate the whole thing while hiking.
All the while, the weather became more threatening with thunder rolling and a curtain of rain fast approaching. We reached a grove of trees just as the downpour began. We sat out the worst and set off to finish a very long downhill section that placed us at the end of the Carbon Glacier.
Carbon Glacier....so long and far away from its source
This is what it is like to cross a glacier river crossing. Fun, fun!
Our feet started getting sore, but we still had a fearsome hill to climb before camp. Miracle juice to the rescue.
Camp held some fine treats for us such as no mosquitoes (finally!), Thai food, and Raspberry Crumble with coffee. Speaking of dreams, Dave dreamed that a collapsing ice cave jolted Brian Miller out of bed and popped his left eye out and Cami dreamed of driving 55 mph in a 25 with Addi on her lap, got caught, and sent to jail.
Camp held some fine treats for us such as no mosquitoes (finally!), Thai food, and Raspberry Crumble with coffee. Speaking of dreams, Dave dreamed that a collapsing ice cave jolted Brian Miller out of bed and popped his left eye out and Cami dreamed of driving 55 mph in a 25 with Addi on her lap, got caught, and sent to jail.
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