My backpack is filled to the brim and I am ready for my first Pacific Crest Trail experience. My original plan for this summer was to spend a month hiking the Washington PCT. Then after a bit more research, I realized that was a lot to take on for a first time extended backpack trip, so I turned my gaze towards Oregon. My husband, John, was going to be working in Oregon anyways for the summer, so I figured it was kismet. Oregon is supposed to be the "easy" part of the PCT. Or maybe just "easier." Guess I'll find out in a couple days!
Tomorrow I'll take a bus and then a train down to Portland where I'll meet up with my cousin, Kelley. We'll explode our packs and figure out whose cooking system we're taking, which water treatment system will be best, and debate a two person tent versus two one person tents. I'm really looking forward to spending time with her. It has been years since we've hung out, (seriously, like probably 40!) although we reconnected in the past year when she moved back from the east coast to help care for her terminally ill mother. Now we both belong to the same terrible club that we never wanted to join, Cousins who have Lost a Parent to Cancer.
Saturday we'll stash a car at Olallie Lake, and then we'll be dropped at the PCT trail head at Santiam Pass by Kelley's husband. We'll spend the next five days making our way through arguably the most scenic section of the Oregon Pacific Crest Trail, the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Traverse. I'm an odd mixture of excitement, anticipation and anxiety. I've been dreaming and planning this for so long, and although the 44 miles we'll do is only a fraction of the 400 I originally wanted to do, I have a feeling it is going to kick my butt.
My biggest fear? The altitude. I'm going from sea level to 4,500 to 6,500 foot elevation. I'm also a little concerned about the Russell Creek ford we need to do.
But mostly I'm just excited about the scenes we will see, the conversations we will have, the other hikers we will meet. I'm excited to claim a portion of the PCT for myself. I have a feeling that Kelley and I will both join a new club, Hikers who Love the PCT.
I woke up trying to figure out where to hike today. Whidbey Island was fogged in and gray and I wanted to enjoy the sunshine that I knew was a little further inland. I decided to go up to Anderson and Watson Lakes, near Baker Lake.
I crossed Baker Dam and then traveled about another 10 miles up the dirt road, reaching the trail head about 11:45 am. I shouldered my pack, put Sadie on the leash and headed up the trail. It was a climb right off the bat, and although not super steep, the 4,500 elevation gain from sea level had me quickly losing my breath. But eventually I crested a knoll and saw spread out before me a beautiful alpine meadow.
There were several raised log trails, and I continued down and then up the meadow. The meadow was filled with small white flowers and a little steam flowed through that I easily crossed on strategically placed rocks.
At the top of the meadow was a small patch of snow and then the trail began to descend steeply.
A path cut off to the left that goes up to Anderson Butte, but I continued down to another meadow and when faced with the choice for Watson or Anderson Lake, Sadie took the turn to the right towards Anderson and I followed. It turned out to be a great choice.
The trail quickly began to descend steeply over gnarly tree roots and rocks and then through the trees I caught a glimpse of a beautiful green alpine lake.
I paused to enjoy the view and then began to search for a way across the creek flowing out of the lake. There were several choices of rocks and logs and I hopped across on some logs. I meandered around the far side of the lake, gazing at the views of the lake, surrounding meadow and mountains. I was the only person there.
After exploring around the end of the lake for awhile, I found a large rock, took off my socks and boots, and tested out the water. It was clear, cool and refreshing, and I splashed happily, until I finally just pulled my feet up and contemplated the beauty surrounding me. The only sounds I heard were the birds calling, the gurgle of water flowing in and out of the lake, and the drone of bugs. There were a lot of bugs around, but nothing that bit me. The solitude and silence filled up my soul as I sat in quiet contemplation. After many minutes, I dried off the feet, put my socks and boots back on, and began to explore the meadow. Up the hill I found a perfect camping spot with a fire ring where you could sit and see the lake and Mt. Baker in the distance. Hmm, I think an overnight trip might be in order!
By now it was time to start the trek back to the car and I crossed the steam back to the other side of the lake and headed up the steep hill with 500 feet elevation gain. I paused frequently to catch my breath. As hard as going up is, I actually prefer it to going down, where I have to be so careful to place my feet and trekking poles so that I don't take a tumble.
Finally I reached the little snow patch again and I filled up my cap with snow and placed it on my head to cool down. Ah, so refreshing! And now I could gaze out and down the meadow at Mt. Baker in the distance. I simply stood in awe of the view, enjoying the moment.
Mt. Baker dominated the view through the meadow until I reached the shade of the forest again. I arrived at my car and was glad that I'd remembered to put up my NW forest pass as I saw that the car next to me had a ticket on it!
As I traveled back down the dusty dirt road I pulled over a few times to snap some pictures of Mt. Baker. The views were simply stunning.
The road was in pretty good shape except for the one vehicle bridge. It looked like there was a hole in one of the wooden beams but the bridge was wide enough that I skirted past it without a problem in my mid sized Ford Escape. I got out after and walked over to inspect it (probably should have done that first!) and discovered that there really is a hole in the bridge! Yesh!
You can't really tell from this picture, but where the black is you can actually see down to the water below. Despite the sketchy bridge, this hike was a great one, and I thoroughly enjoyed my day.
Oyster Dome has been on my list of must-do hikes for awhile. When I saw the date of July 16th, I realized that it was the year anniversary of my love affair with the Pacific Northwest Trail, and I decided to head back over to Blanchard Mountain to where it all began.
A year ago, I decided to go for a hike on Blanchard Mountain, and drove up to the Samish Overlook. When I started hiking, I saw some signs for the Pacific Northwest Trail, and realized that it was the same trail that I had been curious about in Fort Ebey State Park, a park near my house that I hike frequently during the winter. I'd seen PNT signage there, but couldn't figure out the trail route. When I returned home from the hike on Blanchard Mountain, I googled the PNT (what did we do before Google?!) and realized that the route went less than a mile from my house. I'd wanted to hike a National Scenic Trail for a long time but was only familiar with the Pacific Crest Trail and the Applachian Trail . I'd never heard of the Pacific Northwest Trail (not surprising since it was only designated a National Scenic Trail in 2009) but since it was so accessible and close to my house, I started last summer to day hike the PNT on Whidbey Island.
Part of the trail to the Oyster Dome is on the PNT. Oyster Dome has intimidated me because it is supposed to be a pretty difficult hike, although with amazing views once you get to the top. I wasn't sure if my fitness level was up to this hike, but in celebration of my one year anniversary of hiking I decided to go for it. I packed up some water in the pack, lightened it up of anything unnecessary and headed to the trail head at the mile 10 sign on Chuckanut Drive. A short ways up the trail was an information kiosk with this map. I usually try to take a picture of any maps for future reference, although I did have a paper map in my pocket as well, which came in handy further up the trail.
The trail climbed up and up through shady trees. It was supposed to be 87 degrees so the shade was very welcome. Eventually I reached a wooden bench at a wonderful view point and I sat to enjoy the scenery and rest for a few minutes. Three other hikers came up and the one girl who'd hiked it before said we were about 1/3 of the way there. They continued on ahead and after a few more minutes I hit the trail again.
The trail wasn't too bad, although steadily climbing, until I reached the Samish Connection Trail. At this point, the PNT continued up to Samish Overlook, so I said goodbye to the PNT and went to the left on the Samish Connector. The bugs were starting to annoy me, so I paused to get out a little Deet wipe and applied it to my legs and arms. It wasn't so much the mosquitoes as the flies. This part of the trail was extremely steep, with lots of roots and uneven terrain. I was very thankful to have my hiking poles. I labored up the steep trail, pausing to catch my breath every so often. Sadie helped pull me up a few places as she strained ahead while attached to my waist belt.
A young man came up behind me and I asked if we were almost to the top. He didn't know since he'd never hiked it before, and I pulled over to the side to let him pass me. That was kind of the story of the day, as I was passed by probably 10 hikers. A few minutes later a woman came down the trail and said I was almost over the worst of it, although there was a bit more of steep terrain ahead. I thanked her for the information and just put my head down and one foot in front of another until I reached the top of that section. Then the trail curved to the left, and went down to a little creek.
By now I was pretty tired and I could feel a hot spot starting on my right heel. I found a log, took off my boots and soaked my feet in the cool water for a few minutes. I was realizing that I hadn't packed myself enough water and so I took the water bottle I was going to use for Sadie and refilled my hydration bag and let Sadie just drink out of the creek. I pulled out my spare set of wool socks from my pack, dried my feet, applied a bandaid to the hot spot on my heel, and continued on.
There was just a short jaunt up and then I was on Oyster Dome. As promised, the views were spectacular. I found myself wondering which islands I was looking at as I ate my Luna Bar for lunch. Several other hikers were there and we exchanged cameras and took pictures of our triumphal conquest of the Dome.
After enjoying the views and eating my lunch, it was time to head back down. As hard was it had been going up, it was almost as hard going down and I was carefully using my poles and watching my footing on the steep slopes. It actually seemed steeper going down than I remembered coming up! I sucked through all the water I had and was out of water before I got all the way down. I had some water treatment tablets in my backpack in case of emergency, but figured I'd be back to the car by the time the water had been treated. Hindsight being 20/20, this would have been a good hike to bring my steripen.
Eventually we returned to the PNT and the welcome sight of the rectangular white blazes. The trees kept us shaded and I found myself enjoying the glimpses of sunlight through the trees.
Happy one year anniversary, Pacific Northwest Trail!
I woke up thinking about where I should go hiking today. I wanted to finish a section of the Pacific Northwest Trail that went past Squires Lake, so I loaded the pack with some water and food and off I went. I arrived at the trailhead at about 12:00 pm and there were only a couple parking spaces left. Sadie the dog and I made our way up the trail towards the lake. Along the way we passed some interesting rocks. At first glance I thought the rock on the right was a large dog.
Then we passed a tree with some beautiful fungi growing on it.
After climbing up a bit, we arrived at Squires Lake. The lake belonged to the Squires family for several generations until it was purchased and turned into this park. There are several informational kiosks around the lake that tell about the history of the land and ecology.
But my goal was to hike the PNT section, so we went to the right, following the white blazes and Pacific Northwest Trail markers.
The PNT follows the South Ridge Trail, a trail which runs along a narrow ridge, with some great views. It would not be a good trail for little kids, though, because the west side of the ridge is a steep cliff. One wrong step could have grave consequences.
Through the trees is a view of Lake Samish. I followed the trail until it turned into trail 1340, which eventually became a wide old logging road, number 1300. I followed this until I connected my steps to where I was on Thursday when I hiked up to Alger Alp. Here is video of the view from the top of Alger Alp.
I turned around and began the descent back to Squires Lake, passing several other hikers and dogs. My favorite part was the South Ridge/1340 trail. Its height and views, combined with the fear of a misstep, made it exhilarating.
When I got back down to the lake, I wasn't quite ready to call it a day, so I followed the trail that went around the lake up to Beaver Pond and then looped back.
Beaver Pond was rather overgrown and not as pretty as Squires Lake. The viewpoint at the end of the trail was very overgrown, with bushes above my head and zero view. I'm sure 15 years ago when that viewpoint was made it was pretty, but there is no view there now. Squires Lake, however, remains beautiful.
After returning to Squires Lake, Sadie and I took the trail back down to the car and headed home.
