I was hopeful that today would be better. I woke to ash on my tent. It was actually a bit better. It seemed like the smoke combined with water droplets to make more of a fog than a smoke cloud. Still sucked though.
That’s cathedral rock. It’s a huge mountain that pushes up out of the middle of the valley. I’ve seen it on a clear day and it’s amazing.
I passed a lot of alpine lakes today. Deception Lakes was first and it was still really nice, despite the smoke. I ate some food and got water here.
Next I came to a part of the PCT I had really been looking forward to. A few years ago I climbed the mountain on the right with my friends Phil and Damon. The view from the top was amazing and the valley is incredible. This time I saw it from the other side where the mountain actually looks quite a bit more imposing.
I didn’t make it to Stevens Pass in time to get any food or drinks so I headed right to the Mountaineers Lodge. It’s a cool old ski lodge that has hostel style lodging. For $20 you can stay a night and take a shower. They don’t have laundry, so I wore my clothes in the shower and hung my stuff up to dry in their ski gear drying room.
In the morning I’ll go to the ski resort and get a package full of food for the next few days to Stehekin. Then I’ll hit the trail and hope the smoke clears.