Day 123-129: Trout Lake to Snoqualmie Pass

Mile 2229.9-2394.1

If you read my last post, you’ll find that the first 3 days of Washington were quite uneventful. That all changed after I left Trout Lake. I didn’t get going until just after 4 PM out of town and made a quick 10 miles onto the massive Mount Adams. Camp that night had an unbelievable view of the mountain from a meadow.

I awoke the next morning to cloudy skies and for the first time in a while, smoke. Ugh. It started out thinner and I still got some nice shots of Adams, but thickened as the day went on. I didn’t have any issues breathing, but it was enough to obscure any long distance views.

Adams in all its glory

The obscured views were particularly concerning going into the next day through the Goat Rocks Wilderness, which is supposed to be one of the most scenic days on the whole trail. Thick smoke the next morning dashed my hopes for a clear day. I got a late start (7:30) and hiked up, and within a couple miles the views started. Even with the smoke, it was stunning.

To make things better, my friend Goodwill caught up to me and we hiked together through the rest of the day. We took an alternate trail to the summit of Old Snowy Mountain, which presented incredible views.

Next it was time for the infamous knifes edge section, which was more of a stroll along a beautiful alpine ridge when compared to Maine’s Katahdin knifes edge. NEVER underestimate the east coast. Sadly, it was still too smoky to see Mount Rainier, which would’ve been the icing on an already very impressive cake.

Looking back up old snowy from Knife’s edge

We took most of the day hanging out in goat rocks, but then made a quick 7 miles to camp with an amazing view back up towards the mountains.

The next day started with a nice ridge walk, with Rainier just showing its head through the smoke.

You can JUST make out Mount Rainier in the back.

The rest of the day was less interesting, as I picked up a resupply box at white pass then walked through a forest for another 16 miles. But the next day, after hiding for days, Rainier finally showed herself in all her glory. This was the closest I would get to the mountain, so I really got to appreciate its size.

WOW

Smoke rolled in shortly after, but the next 20 or so miles were still quite pretty. I also got to experience some of the most crowded trail I had faced, which was quite the shock.

Sheep Lake… beautiful but crowded

The next 2 days were pretty boring honestly. There’s really not too much to say, except that my high school friend Angus would be meeting me at Snoqualmie Pass! I raced through this last section and had an awesome reunion. Angus is joining me for 5 days to Stevens Pass. Should be a blast. 2394 gone, 260 to go. Not too much longer and I’ll have to be a person again.