Day 171-173 Miles 2403-2453

Day 171 

Start: 2703.5 End: 2417.7 Total: 15

In the morning we packed up, had breakfast and filtered water from the lake. This next section, the Alpine Lake Wilderness, would be one of the steepest yet, with lots of elevation gain and loss. We started the day off with a good climb out of the lake.

After our climb out of there we descended a bit then started climbing back up another nearby mountain. We took a break on top and had some good views of Mt. Rainier and the surrounding sea of mountains.

We took another break at the top of a different climb before beginning the traverse along a narrow trail on the side of the mountain. With a large drop off to one side and steep scree fields to the other. We did this for a mile or two before crossing over the other side of the valley and beginning another ascent. 

At the top of that climb we saw spectacle lake from way above. That’s where our lunch spot for the day would be!

We began a very steep descent full of switchbacks and made our way to the junction. It would be a half mile off the pct and was another few hundred feet lower. We were all getting pretty tired and hungry as we tried to find a nice spot next to the lake for lunch. We eventually got to the lake and found a good enough spot. We dropped our packs and all immediately went for a swim!

We took a couple hours of hanging out there and enjoying our lunch break before getting moving again. It was such a beautiful, remote alpine lake. Top tier so far in all of the hike. I was happy we made the small side quest there. It would have been easy to hike right by since it wasn’t directly on trail. 

We had already done 10 miles and only had about 5 remaining. All of the elevation gain had already been done for the day (except for climbing back to the pct) so it would be an easier rest of the day. 

We made it back to the pct and descended down a long ways through a burn zone. Lots of weekend warriors were making their way to spectacle lake to spend the night. 

We got down and hiked flat for a few miles before getting to our campsite and calling it a wrap!

Day 172

Start: 2417.7 End: 2436.5 Total: 18.8

We left camp around 8:30 and started a big climb of 2500 feet with lots of switchbacks and amazing views of the huge granite peaks and the valley below us. 

We crossed over the crest of that mountain, dipped a bit back behind it and collected water from a no longer flowing stream. There was a field of huckleberries around where we got water so we filled our tummies with berries while filtering water. There seemed to be infinite huckleberries so every so often we’d stop hiking and pick a bunch. Then we would also try to grab one on the go without slowing the stride down. 

There was a bit more climbing after our water break then a long downhill. We found a good shaded viewpoint of Waptus Lake and had a lunch and siesta break. We then hiked down to the Waptus River 

Where we took a bath. The river was surrounded with large uneven rocks. I went to put on my pack and was knocked off balance, usually I’m able to correct it when that happens but the rocks were so uneven when I went to correct it I further tripped myself up and ended up completely falling over. Luckily I escaped unharmed. We went a couple more miles and filled up water for the evening. 

We had a steep trek for about 3 miles which would get us up half of the first climb for the following day. We set up camp on the edge of a cliff with some sweet views. We got into camp around 7/8 so hurried to set up our tents on the rocky surface and start dinner!

Day 173

Start: 2436.5 End: 2453.3 Total: 16.8

We woke up in the middle of the night to a big lightning storm. We were not in the most ideal spot to be during a storm but it still looked pretty far off. It never even ended up raining but the lightning was fairly constant so that put us on the edge. 

We woke up in the morning and everything was fine but it was starting to get a little Smokey. In the morning we continued the climb, passing a lake before ascending up the switchbacks. We then dipped through a rocky valley and had some more ups and downs.

Chris has a ton of knowledge about mushrooms so he was telling Mantis and I which were edible. We ended up harvesting a few Rusala mushrooms and Mantis made a soup out of them at lunch. It was delicious!! 

We had another big climb at the end of the day and went up and over this huge granite peak with many huge granite boulders.

We descended into the valley , got some water and then found a really awesome campspot next to Glacier Lake. We went for a swim before getting set up for the evening and having dinner!