Autumn's Palette - Part 1 of 2, Rainy Lake, 9.26.18
The sunny, clear weather that led to our great hike up to High Pass on Tuesday looked like it would hold for several more days so as soon as I got home from the hike, Bridgit and I packed up the Navibahn for a one-nighter. Yesterday morning we drove over the North Cascades Highway and stopped at Rainy Pass. This area has some of the most dramatic chiseled towers of rock you will see anywhere. The Cascades here are just so rugged it takes your breath away.
Neighbor Greg and I did a hike in 2010 from Rainy Pass called the Maple Pass Loop. It is about a seven mile loop that encircles an alpine lake. There is another lake trail from the same trailhead that I had never been to which is only 2.5 miles round trip. We ambled down this trail to Rainy Lake and hiked past the viewpoint to a quiet spot by the water to have lunch. It was very serene there and the warm air felt good. It was great to have no timetable or real agenda and this trail was gentle enough to make it feel more like a stroll than a hike which was exactly what we were after on this day.
Rainy Lake
More Rainy Lake
Rainy Pass is where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses The North Cascades Highway and continues north to it’s terminus in Canada. This time of year is when the last of the thru hikers that started in late spring on the California/Mexico border are almost to the finish line some 2,650 miles from where they started, desperate to complete their journey before the winter snows hit hard. If you want to see a fascinating documentary about the thru hiker culture on the PCT, watch “Six Million Steps - A Journey Inward”.
Anyway, as we left the Rainy Pass Parking lot, we pulled off just down the road where the PCT hits the highway from the south. I had stopped to take a photo of the colors on a hillside (see below) when I spied a scraggly, bearded backpacker with his thumb out. You could just tell he was a thru hiker so I asked him where he was headed. He wanted to go to a little spot called Mazama which is about 25 miles or so from Rainy Pass. He was planning to spend the night there hoping to find a shower and a few supplies before heading back up to Rainy Pass to continue north to the end.
Since we had just watched this documentary, I had a million questions for this guy. His name was Clif Bar (thru hikers get trail names given to them by other hikers) and he was hiking the Washington State section of the PCT. He was 36, lost his job, wife and home so he, like so many others, chose to hike to seek clarity. We told him to hop in the Navibahn, got him food and drink and offered to drive him to Mazama.
Autumn color in the Cascades
Clif Bar was from Portland and had never seen the North Cascades so we stopped several times at viewpoints along the way. Again, Bridgit and I had no particular agenda so we were just going with the flow of the day.
Cutthroat Peak
After dropping off Clif Bar in Mazama, we headed back up the way we had come about halfway to the pass to a campground we have stayed at several times. We found a great spot with a flat pull-in for the Navibahn and set up camp. Our site was near a creek so we hiked a short trail thru the woods to the creek. Fall colors were just gorgeous everywhere you looked.
Do not adjust your monitor. These colors are real.
More color
Bridgit basking in Fall color
We had a wonderful evening cooking outside and building a campfire. Even though we have an RV, we still love the camping experience and try to do as much outside as possible. The whole day was about relaxing and we nailed it! We decided to do another short hike this morning before coming home so we went to bed early to be ready for an early start. Part Two is up next!