Riding The Crest 2009

WASHINGTON SECTION I   Snoqualmie Pass to White Pass

September 10 - September 12

We drove from Cashmere to Snoqualmie Pass for me to start my ride. Cane and I made good time as we were slack packing (no camping equipment) and I got off and walked-jogged down hills. Stampede Pass was an unmarked dirt road but Ech heard me coming and started barking. Ralph had the trailer turned around and was in a lounge chair. When I got in the truck I melted with physical and emotional fatigue. I felt drained and went from tired to depressed and was ready to call it quits. Ralph had called Jack Price and he invited us to stay at his Happy Trails Ranch for the night. So Ralph drove us there and we met Joyce (Jack’s sister) and her son Jesse. We were camped right out front with Cane in a round pen. Ralph helped me se up Cane in the round pen for the night. Then he made us a salad and hamburgers while I packed for the next two days. At dinner Ralph and I talked about my goals for riding the rest of the trail. After rethinking the next section I decided not to ride the three days from Stampede Pass to Chinook Pass. I did not think Cane was capable of five such long days and I would need to pick and choose where to ride now. So we decided that I would ride the two days from Chinook to White. I needed some good sleep. I was in bed at 8:30.

We were up at seven after a good night’s sleep mostly due to Tylenol PM. Ralph went to feed Cane and then disappeared. He had gone into Billy’s trailer (the caretaker) for coffee. We were invited for coffee and breakfast. So I got my coffee cup and joined them. Jesse made us a magnificent breakfast of eggs, bacon and hash browns. Bill showed us albums Jack had made while Jesse cooked. We finished at almost 9. Then with the drive from Easton taking more than two hours, I got another late start. At 1:30 I had eaten a sandwich and rode Cane over the bridge at Chinook Pass. Mount Rainer loomed majestic in the background all afternoon. We passed Dewey Lake where we saw pack llamas. Actually I saw a llama tangled up in its line so I called to the people camping nearby. One of the men came to untangle it. Cane did fine though I’ve heard so many stories of horses not liking llamas. He was still refusing most water crossings. One that I tried to lead him across that day he pulled back so hard he yanked me off my feet. I did not enjoy sprawling in the wet mud along the bank so I convinced him he would rather cross the water than cross me! I had to saw one protruding fallen tree off the trail. I was reminded how important the saw was and remembering I always said “have saw, will travel.” I used the side pull from Long Riders for the first time on Cane and he did very well as had my horses. The side pull allowed freedom for the horse and yet gave me control. Cane was improving each day but he still backed up when he was not wanting to do something (like cross water). Cane is more mellow than either of my boys were to start with but even he has his issues. About 8 miles out I met 2 southbound women, Spider Woman and Alex at American Lake Trail junction. They were only southbound hikers I’d met since Canada. After telling them my story we decided to hike on and camp together. Not far up the trail we met Homeless who knew Miles and told me Miles was about two days back. I was glad to know I would be seeing Miles again before we both finished the trail. At 6:13 I passed Laughingwater Creek Trail and I rode on until I saw a small lake on my right and then a short trail down to it, a meadow and lovely campsites. It would be my camp for the night. I unsaddled Cane and 15 minutes later Alex joined me and then Spider Woman. We set up our camps while Cane grazed in the field. After I ate, I put Cane on his high line. It was dark. I worked on my journal until 10pm.

I was up at six when I heard Alex taking down her camp. I got very little sleep because Cane spent the night pounding on the ground. He was not pawing just shifting and fidgeting and it kept me awake along with the uneven ground. And maybe the bellowing of the Elk did not help either. One buck sounded like he was in our camp! I heard Alex stirring a lot too and hope Cane did not keep her awake as well. By the time I got dressed and went out to feed Cain, Alex and Spider Women were gone (as they had warned me they might be) and I never saw them again. I was on the trail at 7:45 and at 8:45 was at Carlton Creek Trail junction where I met Dan, a young man packing in with two horses and his Yellow Lab. His saddle cinch had broken and I offered some straps. He said he was glad to see someone and talk to them and he was only out for a few days! He asked how Ralph handled me being out alone because his wife had a hard time with him being out there. I noticed he carried a rifle and a pistol. He was on his way to Dewey Lake, where I had been the day before. We were going in opposite directions or I think he would have ridden with me. In all, I had seen about a half dozen parties of riders on the trail on the whole trip. All but one were out for the day. The only other riders doing a section of the Pacific Crest that year were Susan B. (who I had ridden with earlier) and Ed A. (who was finishing his riding of the entire trail). The logistics of a rider on the PCT is so much more difficult than a hiker that there are fewer who attempt it. I had passed three bow hunters who did not look happy to see me and Cane with our clacking tin cups (I used my cups as bear bells) until I asked what they were hunting. They answered, "elk" and I told them of a magnificent buck at Crag Lake. He was just off the trail from me as Cane and I passed. I saw him for a few moments but not long enough to get the camera out for a picture. Hunting season for bow  had just begun and I was seeing many hunters and their camps. I would start wearing my bright orange colors but bow hunters tend to be much more careful of their aim than gun hunters. Both were respectful and I had never had a problem in all the years I had ridden the forest in hunting season. I saw some of the hikers I had seen in southern California as I rode south to White Pass. Chuck, who I had met on the second day of the trail by Mexico and Creamiscle who we had not seen since California either. When I got to the White Pass trailhead we put a sign on the trail to welcome hikers in for a bite to eat at our trailer and enjoyed visiting with them.

NEXT: Southern Washington and the spectacular Goat Rocks!

So many trails - So little time!

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