Day 112

We woke up extra early today with the knowledge that much of the day would be very slow going—based on FarOut, I was expecting to navigate somewhere in the woods of five hundred downed trees, many of which were not easily navigable. Sunrise was gorgeous and the first five or so miles up to Fire Creek Pass were wide open and beautiful. Dropping down towards Milk Creek we started hitting the blow downs. After 2,500 miles of backpacking, this section really was not as bad as it was hyped up to be. It was only a few rough miles which slowed us down, and there were certainly worse stretches in Northern California. Moreover, the Miner’s Ridge fire lookout had set out a machete and saw for hikers to use to help maintain the overgrowth, and it seemed to us like much work was done with this system. After climbing out of Milk Creek, we were given a respite from the jungle with more stunning views of Glacier Peak from a clear alpine setting. Dropping back down after Dolly Vista, we navigated more blowdowns and washouts before reaching a seemingly old-growth forest near the Suiattle River with evidence of recent trail maintenance, apparently the first maintenance here in five years! We ended up camping at a site just before the Miner’s Ridge trail junction, an alternate we were considering doing which adds two miles and one thousand feet of vertical gain in exchange for what many consider the best views of Glacier Peak accessible by trail in the entire wilderness area. In any event, tomorrow holds a quick climb to Suiattle Pass and a long descent into North Cascades National Park and the legendary Stehekin, a town of sixty on Lake Chelan accessible only by foot, boat, or helicopter.