Day 161: Rainy Pass to Hart’s Pass (mile 2622)
9.23.18. 30.6 miles.
It didn’t rain too much last night. The hard rain stopped around 8 or 9, and it may have drizzled some more. My tent, rain jacket and pants were still super wet. I hate packing up wet stuff, much less putting wet gear back on. Thankfully, my shoes were a little drier and I had dry socks.
I started hiking at 6:20. I immediately started climbing, the climb was not finished from yesterday. This was a little steeper though. I passed the spot I wanted to camp and was happy I didn’t go there: I was completely in a cloud the whole hike up and that tent site was in the thick of it. I leapfrogged with another hiker named Double Down throughout the morning.
The last mile marker. I was freezing cold.
As I approached the top of the climb, the mist I was in was turning into snow! So I’ve officially been snowed on now. It was super light and actually so much better than rainy mist bc it’s not as wet.
Packed out 1 cinnamon roll/ day for lunch
I could tell that the top of the climb should have good views, but there was so much fog and clouds I couldn’t see much. I was excited for the larch trees though! Some are already yellow, but most are still a yellow-green color. They’ll be beautiful in about a week I’m guessing! The trail undulated along the ridge for a while before descending a bit, then climbing again shortly to Methow Pass, before a long descent through woods. I took my lunch break by the Methow River, eating not only a cinnamon roll from the bakery, but also a dehydrated meal since I didn’t have it for dinner last night thanks to the trail angels. I met and chatted with Cover Girl (a man) and Dune.
I was feeling very full after lunch, which didn’t help on the climb out. It wasn’t so steep, but definitely rocky at first, which I hate, and it took me a while to find a good rhythm. I worked up a sweat on the climb up and actually took off my rain gear, but at the top, it was windy and I could tell it would probably start getting misty again soon, so put it all back on. I was right. Soon, it started snowing again. Like I said though, so much better than rain.
The trail went up and down a ridge for a little bit before another small climb and then a descent. I wasn’t sure if I’d make it to Hart’s Pass, but once I got to the camp area before it and saw my timing, I decided to go for it, even though I’d need to finish the miles with a headlamp. I booked it down there and arrived around 7:30 pm. Low and behold, there were former hikers doing trail magic! They were waiting for some hikers to finish their border tag. I grabbed an orange from them, and found a campsite to set up in. I quickly set up with the snow falling around me, but like I said, so much better than if it was raining bc I was pretty dry & my rain gear was basically dry getting ready in my tent! So not a lot of really wet stuff in corners. And my feet were dry since the snow doesn’t really get to your socks in the way that the water does.
Dark at 7:30 pm
I can’t believe I’m 30 miles from Canada! The feeling is unreal. I also can’t believe I did a 30 today. First in Washington! Sometimes when the weather is bad and you don’t stop to take lots of pictures, you just power through the day.