Lolo Pass To The Gorge
In early June I did a solo overnight from Lolo pass along the PCT to Wahtum Lake, and then over Green point mountain to the Gorge at Herman Creek. The weather was horrible the first day and there was still a lot of snow, making for both difficult conditions and route finding.
My family dropped me off at the pass around 9:30am where there was 1/2" of new snow on the ground. They walked 1/2 a mile up the trail with me under gray skies before seeing me off. The snow deepened as I progressed up the ridge.
The forest was shedding its coat of wet snow in constant drips and frequent dumps. It was wetter under the trees than out, despite the off and on drizzle. The problem was, the trail was almost all under the trees. I frequently sprinted at the sound of snow falling above me.
There was still 4-6 feet of snow on the higher parts of the crest above Bull Run, and there was 6 inches of new wet snow on top. The PCT side-hills along the north east side of the ridge the whole way. There were long stretches where I had to kick steps across steep slopes. Kick new snow. Watch it slough into nearest tree well. Plant downhill pole. Kick step just above pole. Test with weight. Repeat. I would have had to turn back without poles and microspikes. Would have been much better off with an ice axe. It was incredibly slow going.
After a few hours I was wet through my underwear and feeling discouraged. I ate lunch while I walked in the rain. The terrain ahead promised to be easier than what I'd already covered so I had to continue. That's about when I saw the fresh bear tracks. Two pairs, probably a mama & cub. I must have missed them by minutes. I tried to talk to myself aloud. 20 minutes later I came across cougar tracks. A few hours old.
The drizzle let up and the walking got easier. I was drying out and feeling better. I followed coyote tracks for a few miles around a foggy Indian Mtn. Snacked, and pushed the last few miles to Wahtum Lake. Arrived around 4:30, tired but surprised to have made good time for such difficult conditions. I set up camp and discovered that my down bag was soaked due to a worn out dry bag.
After using up my fire starter on three attempts to get a fire going I had to give up. I might as well have been trying to burn snowballs. After dinner the sky mostly cleared and there was a breeze. I rigged some cord to hang up my sleeping bag and stayed up past dark trying to let it dry. It was still wet when I went to bed, and I only slept off and on, coldly.
But the morning came bright and sunny. I made a detour to the summit of Chindere Mtn, and the previous days suffering seemed like a distant memory. Had a quick snack with summit views. After a txt and quick call with Linette to discuss meeting arrangements I headed down.
With headphones on I cruised through several miles of viewless forest over consolidated snow. I don't hike with headphones that often, but music can really help pass the time when the scenery is lacking. This stretch required frequent compass use to stay on course. The views opened up further on and the walking was enjoyable to the top of Green Point Mtn.
Rather than try to follow the often buried trail, I again made a straight line thru the forest on the descent, this time using the east edge of the ridge as a guide. I picked up the trail again at the Wyeth junction, and spotted Linette coming up the trail above ridge camp. We had lunch, then took the scenic route through the old growth at Deadwood camp back to the car at Herman Creek trailhead.
Trip total around 32 miles and 4500 ft of elevation gain. Here's the route I had planned using the shorter trail down Nick Eaton Ridge: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5502302