Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - September 17th
Day 147: Tuesday 17th September Nason Creek – Pear Lake
It rained most of the night, but there was just a grey overcast by dawn and some
clearances during the morning. The magnificence of the scenery was obvious around
Lake Valhalla, even in these conditions. Most of the day I was on a high level traverse,
before reaching Pear Lake where I camped early, having seen no-one all day. The rain
had held off, but with the temperatures very low all day I wouldn’t have been surprised if
it had snowed.
I was settled into camp when “Ranger”, “Flying Dutchman”, “Fire Marshall”,
“Lemstar” and “Sumara” turned up to camp. They had taken the last room in the only
hotel in Skykomish last night and had all crammed into the room. Then another group
of about 15 thru-hikers had turned up looking for accommodation and been lucky
enough to be put up in the loft of the house of a “Trail Angel”. The number of thru-
hikers was on the increase as they aimed to finish the trail by the end of September.
“Flying Dutchman” was a consultant accountant from Holland. He looked for
projects where he could work for six months to a year and then take time off to hike
before his next job. He had thru-hiked the AT in 1997, and among his shorter hikes was
the West Highland Way in Scotland. After completing the PCT he was flying to New
Zealand to hike and then on to Tasmania where he was going to work as a volunteer
helper on an erosion project. He had an identical tent to mine, the Terra Nova – Solar
Minor. Although he had been on the trail for four months he still hadn’t learnt how to
put it up properly! Most equipment in Holland comes from Britain or Germany, although
the Americans I now entering the market in a big way, as they are doing in England.
“Ranger” had acquired his trail name as he used to be US military in the elite US
Rangers. “Fire Marshall” had acquired his name because of his failure to manage to get
a fire alight earlier on the hike.
“Sumara” had camped at this lake 27 years ago as a 16 year-old scout. A lone
walker had arrived in camp late, set up a tarp and cooked his evening meal on a stove
(probably a primus). By the time they got up in the morning this hiker had already left.
Was this an early thru-hiker? At that time all cooking was done on open fires and his
scoutmaster had said that stoves would never catch on!
Day 147: 14.5 miles 7.24 hours Camp: Pear Lake
It rained most of the night, but there was just a grey overcast by dawn and some
clearances during the morning. The magnificence of the scenery was obvious around
Lake Valhalla, even in these conditions. Most of the day I was on a high level traverse,
before reaching Pear Lake where I camped early, having seen no-one all day. The rain
had held off, but with the temperatures very low all day I wouldn’t have been surprised if
it had snowed.
I was settled into camp when “Ranger”, “Flying Dutchman”, “Fire Marshall”,
“Lemstar” and “Sumara” turned up to camp. They had taken the last room in the only
hotel in Skykomish last night and had all crammed into the room. Then another group
of about 15 thru-hikers had turned up looking for accommodation and been lucky
enough to be put up in the loft of the house of a “Trail Angel”. The number of thru-
hikers was on the increase as they aimed to finish the trail by the end of September.
“Flying Dutchman” was a consultant accountant from Holland. He looked for
projects where he could work for six months to a year and then take time off to hike
before his next job. He had thru-hiked the AT in 1997, and among his shorter hikes was
the West Highland Way in Scotland. After completing the PCT he was flying to New
Zealand to hike and then on to Tasmania where he was going to work as a volunteer
helper on an erosion project. He had an identical tent to mine, the Terra Nova – Solar
Minor. Although he had been on the trail for four months he still hadn’t learnt how to
put it up properly! Most equipment in Holland comes from Britain or Germany, although
the Americans I now entering the market in a big way, as they are doing in England.
“Ranger” had acquired his trail name as he used to be US military in the elite US
Rangers. “Fire Marshall” had acquired his name because of his failure to manage to get
a fire alight earlier on the hike.
“Sumara” had camped at this lake 27 years ago as a 16 year-old scout. A lone
walker had arrived in camp late, set up a tarp and cooked his evening meal on a stove
(probably a primus). By the time they got up in the morning this hiker had already left.
Was this an early thru-hiker? At that time all cooking was done on open fires and his
scoutmaster had said that stoves would never catch on!
Day 147: 14.5 miles 7.24 hours Camp: Pear Lake
Lake Janus
Lemstar, Flying
Dutchman, Fire
marshall and Sumara
Dutchman, Fire
marshall and Sumara
 |  |
| |