Miles Hiked 106.1
PCT Mile 136.6
Elevation 5,561 feet
Miles Hiked Today 13.3
Today is going to be another big climb. The climb to Fire Creek is the reason I brought my micro spikes with me. There was supposed to be a lot of snow at the very peak. However, talking with other hikers they said that the snow was clear and I sent the spikes home. I sure hope they were right.
Ben and I were both up by 6:30 a.m. and ready to go. We agreed to meet about 15 miles down the trail. I personally questioned whether I’d be able to do that.
The first part of the morning began with a descent. The trail was grossly overgrown and difficult to move down the trail. Once I arrived at Milk Creek Junction, the trail wasted no time and went right back up. This part of the trail, too, was grossly overgrown. It was difficult to push the bushes and plants aside in order to move on the trail. To top that, there were lots of rocks on the trail and because of the overgrown nature of the trail , the rocks were difficult to see. Consequently, I took a couple of falls.
Once I got into the trees again the overgrown shrub stopped. But then the blowdowns began. A blowdown is a tree that has fallen or is blown down by the wind. Some of these trees were so big that you actually had to climb up and over them to get to the other side of the trail. The blowdowns were many. Sometimes, you go 50 feet and there is another. This really slowed me down, and my pace was a miserable one mile per hour.
It was clear that I would never make the 15 mi camp destination to which Ben and I had agreed. To my surprise Ben sent me a text message and said that he was stopping about 2 mi south of the Fire Creek peak . Now that I can make; although it will be late.
I finally reached the peak of Fire Creek around 4:00 p.m. and started my descent to the campground that Ben picked. He had told me in his text that he was camped 2 miles past the peak. So, I kept going and at 2 miles started looking for his tent. Nothing. I could not find Ben anywhere.
So now it was getting late, and I would have to camp by myself wherever I could find a spot. About 8:00 p.m. I did find a spot and set up. While doing so, I turned on my phone and set up the satellite receiver. In came a message from Ben. He had decided to continue on after he sent me the text. So that explains why I couldn’t find him. I answered his text and said I’ll contact him when I reach Stevens Pass.
This was a very late day for me. I hiked for over 14 hours. I’m going to be sure not to do that again. After my tent was set up, I made dinner and then went to bed about 10:00 p.m. .
