Vacation! I celebrated by taking a weekend to rest and prep, then I took a Big Ass Hike, then back home for another week to do some projects I had been wanted to finish.
For my hike, I had Mike drop me off at outside of Packwood at Johnson Creek Road, around 5 PM Sunday night. I camped out in the woods, the old fish hatchery was occupied by other campers. The Goat Rocks fire was filling the valley with smoke, but it wasn’t too bad.
Monday dawned smoky. I quickly packed up camp and set out down the highway for downtown Packwood. I took a quick break at the community hall, then continued up the highway to Timberline and on to lunch at the river near Jody’s Bridge, where I enjoyed a skinny dip – it was proving to be a warm day. By nightfall, I had made it to the dispersed camping area in the Ohanapecosh canyon just outside Mount Rainier National Park.
Tuesday took me north into and thru the National Park up the Eastside Trail to Tipsoo Lake – a gorgeous hike the entire way. The Ohanapecosh river is lovely, and Chinook Creek above that is amazing! This was a long, hot day overall, and I hiked until dark and slept alongside the trail.
Wednesday saw me hitting the trail before dawn. Having reached the summit at Hiway 410, I turned south to follow the Pacific Crest Trail toward White Pass, making it down the Bumping River. It was a long, hot day, but the scenery was fantastic, and the bugle call of elk filled the air. I did not encounter very many thru hikers, I suspect they’ve already hiked thru. I did encounter a fellow who’d fallen off the trail, and then gotten stung by bees as he clambered back up onto the trail – that was worrisome, but he claimed to be OK.
Thursday dawned misty and breezy, with shreds of mist moving rapidly thru the trees from west to east. The smell of smoke was in the air. I hiked south across the Tumac Plateau to White Pass, checking in on my phone with Mike and Julie, and uploading weather and fire forecasts when I got to the pass. I continued on and spent the night at Ginette Lake.n There were a number of hunters out, making their way back down the trail in the dark. One stopped to chat for a few minutes, expressing frustration at the lack of elk.
Friday dawned a little bit smoky, and just a bit chillier. A massive 4-pt bull elk stood across the lake. When it saw me seeing it, he melted into the forest and fog. I broke camp and hiked south toward the Clear Fork Cowlitz, where I planned to spend the night. Water sources were plentiful for this time of year, and by late afternoon, I was approaching the river. Being so early, I decided to carry on and try to make it up and over the permanent ice-field beneath Old Snowy. The climb was endless and amazing, the trail perched on the knife-edge top of Coyote Ridge. I approached the ice field just as the light was failing, making it safely across. I hiked down to Snowgrass Flats in the dark, not finding any water and unable/unwilling to make camp without it.
Saturday started early, with a hike out from Snowgrass toward Goat Lake at first light. I had only a cup of dirty chai, saving breakfast for lakeside. It was a lot of climbing thru gorgeous meadows to the Angry Mountain trail. It was nice to descend Angry Mountain into the forest cover – I’d been days in the sun at this point. I’d never been on this trail, and the WTA had recently repaired it. Obviously not oft-travelled, the trail was in great shape. I spent the night alongside Johnson Creek road by the crossing at the snowpark, down in the woods at an old hunter camp.
Sunday was a 10-mile walk out on the road. I texted Mike, he came and got me, and we enjoyed Huff-n-Puff for dinner.
Images taken September 19-26, 2022 outside Packwood, WA, in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Mt. Ranier National Park, and the William O Douglas and Goat Rock Wildernesses.
All in all, counting water trips, I hiked 110 miles with roughly 17,000′ elev. gain.
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