August 18 - Another Great Day in the Northern Cascades

August 18 - Another Great Day in the Northern Cascades

The day started as usual: up at 5:00, headlamp on red, jacket on, contacts in, incidentals bag ready for headlamp when its light enough, socks and pants on, warm enough for short sleeves? (No), sleeping bag stowed, air mattress deflated and stowed, everything in the tent thrown outside in a pile, shoes on, tent taken down, everything in the pile placed strategically in the backpack, poop kit out, and you know the rest. Departure just before 6:00 am. Of course, NoEnglish already has her backpack on and is waving at me to get started first on the trail. 

We start with a one mile 500 foot climb to the top of the pass. Then start a painfully steep descent. We pass by and greet three hikers still waking up at Mica Lake. Two hours later I call a break so I can eat some breakfast. NoEnglish is always in favor of 'eata time.' Eve passed below the cloud layer and put jackets on because it's cold and damp. Another hour goes by before we're on the uphill portion of our twin 3000 foot descent and ascent. The ascent only takes us two and a half hours but we need to find water before we can stop. By noon we have water and are set up trail side to cook (heat water in my case) lunch. Hot tea along with chicken teriyaki is on the menu for me. NoEnglish has something from a hiker box she can't adequately put into words spread on a tortilla. 

Next is a 4500 foot descent to our expected camp spot on the Suiattle River, a glacial torrent coming off of Glacier Peak. The noise of the river is drowning out all else as I write this. The descent wasn't without surprises: we found blueberries and salmon berries galore! Yum. 

Cloud layer below us. 

Sunrise lighting. 

Mica Lake

Descending below the cloud layer. 

Huge bridge over the Suiattle River. 

Our camp spot. 

Next to camp is the bridge. We had to go under it to get to camp. 

Hikingsolo (aka Allen)