Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - September 24th
Day 154: Tuesday 24th September
Hideaway Camp – below Snowy Lakes
I overslept in the morning and didn’t get away until almost 8am. I reached Rainy
Pass in three hours, but couldn’t find my food cache. Eventually I checked my journal
and found I was looking in the wrong place! “When all else fails read the instructions!”
As I approached Porcupine Creek an immature American Bald Eagle flew past.
Surprisingly this was the first Bald eagle I had seen since California. As I approached
Cutthroat Pass I got out into open forest and met my first hiker of the day, Roger, who
was section hiking south from Canada to Snoqualmie Pass. When I reached the alpine
ridges I was entertained by the almost iridescent Mountain Bluebirds flying around
searching for insects. I was now east of the main Cascade Range, in the rain shadow of
the mountains and was surprised to find an arid landscape stretching away to the east.
My bootlaces broke which was rather poor since the boots had been new 12 days ago. This
compared with my Brasher walking shoes where the laces had lasted 1,200 miles
I found a lovely grassy campsite with a spring and streams in a bowl below Snowy
Lakes. Unfortunately, by the end of September the sun had already dropped behind the
ridge by the time I arrived and would be behind Tower Mountain by the time I left in the
morning. It was going to be a cold night.
Day 154: 16.0 miles 7.15 hours Camp: below Snowy Lakes
Hideaway Camp – below Snowy Lakes
I overslept in the morning and didn’t get away until almost 8am. I reached Rainy
Pass in three hours, but couldn’t find my food cache. Eventually I checked my journal
and found I was looking in the wrong place! “When all else fails read the instructions!”
As I approached Porcupine Creek an immature American Bald Eagle flew past.
Surprisingly this was the first Bald eagle I had seen since California. As I approached
Cutthroat Pass I got out into open forest and met my first hiker of the day, Roger, who
was section hiking south from Canada to Snoqualmie Pass. When I reached the alpine
ridges I was entertained by the almost iridescent Mountain Bluebirds flying around
searching for insects. I was now east of the main Cascade Range, in the rain shadow of
the mountains and was surprised to find an arid landscape stretching away to the east.
My bootlaces broke which was rather poor since the boots had been new 12 days ago. This
compared with my Brasher walking shoes where the laces had lasted 1,200 miles
I found a lovely grassy campsite with a spring and streams in a bowl below Snowy
Lakes. Unfortunately, by the end of September the sun had already dropped behind the
ridge by the time I arrived and would be behind Tower Mountain by the time I left in the
morning. It was going to be a cold night.
Day 154: 16.0 miles 7.15 hours Camp: below Snowy Lakes
Cutthroat Mountain
Roger
Tower Mountain
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