PCT: Day 146

Today was a busy one for everyone.  We were all out of the house by 4am.  Blue Lizard was headed towards northern Washington on a 7hr drive to pickup General and the Daleys who were coming out for different reasons.  I was headed to White Pass with Matt to slack pack the section of the PCT through the Goat Rocks Wilderness.  Jessi dropped us off and headed to Walupt Lake with the kids where we’d meet 30 miles later.

The hike started with dense forests and limited views of Mt. Rainier before climbing up to a ridge with big views.  A little further on we rounded a corner to some of the best views I’ve seen on trail yet with lush green mountains, lots of snow, and waterfalls.  The trail from there traversed the Knife Edge which was nowhere near as treacherous as it is sometimes made out to be.  We crossed a couple narrow spots and a few snowfields, but nothing worrisome. 

The next big views were the Cispus Basin which is surrounded by running water and waterfalls and filled with wild flowers.  From there we crossed Cispus Pass and headed back into the forests for what felt like a never-ending descent to the lake.  We finished around 7pm followed by the  long drive back, making it in around 11pm.

Blue Lizard made it in before us after dropping General off at Trout Lake.  She also talked the Daleys into coming back to stay with us while they figure out their next steps so we were back to a full house of hikers.