Converse in the North Cascades: Summer Trips 2016 Volume II, August

8/6/16 Beebe Creek

I was worried about condition of right knee and looked like weather was going to come in over weekend and had promised to help with Marblemount Community Club Salmon Barbeque on Sunday. So decided to do light day trip to test knee out after trip to chiropractor. Weather forecast had pushed chance of showers and thunderstorms that they had been calling for today (Saturday) off to the next day. Had noticed a month or so back that I had missed a pond on Beebe Creek which drains to Granite Creek, then Ruby Creek and ultimately Ross Lake and the Skagit. Had gone into what I thought was this area in the early 2000’s, probably 2002 to 2004 and hadn’t found the pond that was shown on USGS Quad. Made some notes at that time to the effect that there wasn’t a pond as shown on map and thought that was that. A month or two ago out of curiosity, looked at area on Google maps. To my surprise there was a pond exactly where the USGS map said there was. Either I had gotten mixed up and gone up the wrong drainage, thinking it was Beebe Creek or I had walked past the pond. At the time I had gone in earlier I didn’t have access to air photos of the area that Google maps provided so I couldn’t check myself. Pond was at about 4600 feet elevation, Highway 20 in the spot it crossed Beebe Creek was about 2200 feet, a gain of about 2400 feet to get to pond from highway. The slope was fairly gradual so I figured this would be a good place to see how my right knee would hold up. Had gotten knee brace after trip to chiropractor and put that on in morning. Day was fairly cool, good hiking weather. Trip up hill alongside Beebe Creek wasn’t easy but wasn’t really hard either. Just right to check out knee. Travel pretty good on lower part through old burn that I would guess to be at least 70 to 80 years old. Trees were only as big as typically found in 50-60 year old stands but area looked like a poor site. Soil was probably poor and entire area rather dry. Several old-growth survivors of fire weren’t very big, about 4 feet dbh. Forest floor fairly clear in burn area. Had to navigate some windfalls but overall not too bad. Hit old-growth forest a little over halfway up. More brush and more and bigger windfalls but overall not too bad. Made it to pond in about 2 hours. No sign of fish or amphibians at pond. All black dragonflies and a healthy hatch of blackflies. Pond in an interesting spot. Appeared to have been hit by avalanches but lots of standing timber around it so no obvious avalanche track. Pond may actually be SAIL (Snow Avalanche Impact Landform). It had a definite berm around it. But it would have formed quite a while ago. Several barren patches around berm on edges of pond where only a few seedlings or bushes grew. Headed back out and made it back to road in an hour and a half. Got back in time to take family to movie, The Secret Life of Pets. Knee appeared to do just fine. Very little pain beyond an occasional twinge. Knee brace bunched up at back of knee though and it felt like I was getting saddle sores. Knee brace also trapped a lot of sweat. Might carry it along on next long trip but probably won’t wear it if knee feels okay.

North side of pond on Beebe Creek looking south. Beebe Mountain at the right upper side of frame. This is the spot where I first saw the pond. I didn't see any fish and it was surprising not to see anything in the way of amphibians here.

East side of pond looking west. Beebe Mountain to the left side of frame.

West side of pond looking east at upper Beebe Creek Valley.

Looking northeast at pond.

8/11 to 15/16 Mica Lake to Lime Ridge

Took Thursday, Friday and Monday off to do this trip. Turned down about $300 in overtime. Waiting for long break in weather and got it. Started early Thursday morning up Suiattle Trail. Plan was to hit PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) and take it to Mica Lake. From there go to Milk Lake Glacier and then out Lime Ridge to Lime Lake, an unnamed small lake, Milk Lakes, Twin Lakes and then out on Pipeline Trail which I hoped to pick up at least by Lime Lake. Had been on Milk Creek Trail two weeks previously and it had been used but was in pretty rough shape. Lots of heavy brush in avalanche tracks towards the top and didn’t know what shape it was in there so decided to go the long route via PCT. Worried about right knee. Had heavy pack on with 5 days worth of food and clothes. Had gotten pretty good rest for most of week and knee alternately felt perfectly fine and then kind of funky or weird. Pretty much same on trail alternately really good then clicking and popping then weird never really painful though like two weeks previous. Made good time to PCT and then up to Vista Creek where PCT starts up and eventually over ridge into East Fork Milk Creek and then Milk Creek. Had lunch at Vista Creek and harbored fantasies of actually making it past the East Fork Milk Creek and into Milk Creek proper and camping there that evening. Starting out after lunch quickly injected reality into situation. Felt pretty tired and dragging. Day pretty hot and starting to do a lot of steady uphill. Resolved to stop and rest every hour. Did pretty well with that and still making good progress but then left leg cramped a little below the timberline on ridge. Had been close to hourly stop but had to stop and take long rest. Was high enough at that point that air was quite a bit cooler and good breeze blowing. Got going again but pace much slower. Got into meadows shortly after long rest. Had been counting switchbacks. Map showed something like 50 or so until trail crossed nose of ridge into East Fork Milk Creek. Was past fifty before finally crossing nose of ridge. Either map was wrong or I miscounted, each a distinct possibility. At this point, pace very slow. Wanted to get to water before camping. Trail crossed several good streams at head of East Fork Milk Creek. Camped there. Remember telling Chad the day before as we drove into Newhalem Compound at 5:15 the day before that I might still be walking at this time the next day. And so I was, but I was walking very slowly. By time I stopped legs were quivering with exhaustion. About 6:30 p.m. by time set up camp. Ate dinner and walked out trail a little ways. Discovered two well used camp spots just a little farther along than I had gone but I wasn’t about to break everything down, repack and move. Slept really well that night. Right leg seemed okay. Got early start in morning before sun hit. Steady cold breeze coming off snowfields kept bugs at bay. Warmed up quickly in sun. Stopped a little way into the sun to put moleskin patch on spot on right hip that pack was rubbing raw for some reason. Friday supposed to be hottest day of week. Passed PCT hiker, still in tent, who had passed me previous day as I was stopped on switchback with cramp. Started down off ridge into Milk Creek. Apparently first person down trail for the day. Met two ladies near top of ridge but evidently they had camped somewhere on the ridge. Surprised how poorly maintained this stretch of PCT was. Have been on many less used trails that were better logged and brushed out. Trail very brushy with heavy dew on brush. Met lady about 13 switchbacks down who also apparently first person of day on that stretch. She said the wetness from the dew and all the spider webs irritated her but now the trail had been cleared by me for her as she had cleared the trail below for me. I told her she only had 13 switchbacks to go. There are something like 40 or more switchbacks on that section of trail. Met quite a few people after that. Switchbacks seemed like they went on forever. PCT hiker I had passed in tent passed me again about halfway down switchbacks. Kept expecting to reach spot to cross Milk Creek. Reached point where I saw switchbacks of trail on other side and expected to be crossing creek soon but trail kept going. Soon afterward noticed kind of unused trail leading toward creek. Obviously not used much, if at all. Kept going for several hundred yards then stopped to consult map. According to map, I was now on Milk Creek Trail. Thought for a bit and then backtracked to check out the trail that led toward creek. This trail obviously not well used but it had been widened in places. Main trail was very brushy. Figured maybe this was actually where the PCT crossed Milk Creek. Followed it for less than hundred yards before realizing that the spot it led to had been washed out by creek. Creek looked crossable at that point and would have probably tried to cross and pick up trail on other side except both sides very brushy and would entail a fight. Slowly dawned on me that all of this had washed out in floods of 2003. Hadn’t ever been to this area before so wasn’t really familiar with it so reports of trail repairs and reroutes didn’t mean a lot to me. Now I realized that the trail had been rerouted along part of the Milk Creek Trail, at least according to the maps that I had. Way trail flagged down to creek. This probably led to spot where Milk Creek could be crossed and the trail picked up on other side. Decided just to go back and follow PCT as planned. Even more switchbacks and trail continued for some distance down the valley. Wasn’t psychologically prepared for this. Had expected to cross creek higher. Now would have to gain all of elevation being lost. Finally hit spot where sign indicated Milk Creek Trail took off and that it was no longer maintained. Guy I met there said bridge crossing of PCT not too far up trail. Shortly thereafter ran into couple and stuck up conversation with them. When I told them my plan to go from Mica Lake to Lime Ridge they said that they had done a similar route a week previously. They recommended a low route out of Mica Lake to Lime Ridge. They said they had done this route and a higher route and the lower route definitely the better one. They also said they were taking Milk Creek Trail out. I said “good luck” assuming the trail was just a solid tangle of brush at this point but they guy said that he had just brushed the trail out and that they had taken it in, making it from the trailhead to the PCT junction in something like five and a half hours. If I had known that, I would have taken the Milk Creek Trail. Five and a half hours from the trailhead to get to a point that it had taken me almost a day and a half to reach. No help for that now. Continued on. Good thing I didn’t need to camp at Milk Creek crossing. It was brushed in on all sides. Ate lunch at stream crossing in avalanche track a little below the meadows around Mica Lake. The trail still wound through heavy timber but could see meadows just above. Made it to Mica Lake sometime around 2:00 p.m. and ran into the PCT hiker that had passed me on the switchbacks in the morning.

Set up camp. Pretty tired. Decided to push myself. Hiked up to unnamed lake above Mica Lake shown on Green Trails. From there had two more lakes in Milk Lake Glacier to hit via route over ridge or sidehill around. Hate sidehill so opted to go up, even though it looked pretty steep. Found doable route to ridgetop though had to do a little sketchy scrambling at top. Saw better route back down from there. From ridgetop looked right down into lake but also saw probably couldn’t go straight down. Had second thoughts maybe should have done side hill but now 4:00 p.m. too late to go back and try that. Checked map again and saw best chance was to follow ridge down toward outlet of lake. Followed ridge that way and found another sketchy but doable route there. Several goat trails and dust baths in area. Made it down without incident. Didn’t spend much time at lake. Fairly barren area though always some plants and aquatic insects. And getting short on time. Now 5:00 p.m. and still had to get to lower lake and back up over ridge before dark. Took a few notes and photos and set sights for lower lake, just several hundred feet lower. Got to lower lake without incident. Lots of different plants and animals here. After dropping pack was walking toward lake and saw Cascades frog. Pretty psyched. Caught it and recorded length and distinguishing characteristics to verify that it was actually Cascades frog. Saw shorebirds, probably spotted sandpipers and a sparrow of some kind. Had decided turn-around time to be 6:00 p.m. to make sure had enough time to get out before dark. By time I was done it was 6:15 p.m. Close enough, would probably get back before dark, especially since already knew route. Right knee had started to ache a little though, that wasn’t promising. Started out and made ridgetop by 6:50 p.m. Took different route down and this worked quite well. Quite happy when hit PCT a little before 8:00 p.m., had got to 4 lakes and with a little time to spare. Immediately got stuff for dinner back at camp. Two people camped at main area just below and had to go through side of their camp to get water. Talked to them for a bit and then got water. Ever since getting back on PCT had been getting whiffs of what smelled like excrement. Didn’t think to much of it. Sometimes mushrooms or other things rot and smell really bad. Had just finished cooked part of dinner and washed dishes and sat down for dessert when hit with another strong whiff. By this time it was dark. Finally had thought to look at my shoes. Was dismayed to see that my right heel was covered in shit. It had also gotten on the bottom of my pant leg. %^&($(()^^&^*#%&! What now? Only water at camp was outlet stream to Mica Lake and a bunch of people camped just below were using it for drinking water. Didn’t want to wash in that. Finally determined to use water bottle. Fill it from lake and outlet and walk away from water and wash down. Tromped back through those other folk’s camp several times to get enough water to wash off shoe and pant leg. Then couldn’t get rid of smell off fingers. Got strongest of it but there was lingering smell that wouldn’t go away. Unfortunately don’t make it a habit to carry soap while hiking. Maybe I should. Finally looked for some tree boughs. Alaska cedar would have been best but all I could find in headlamp was mountain hemlock. Crushed a bunch of needles in fingers and it was good enough to kill most of the lingering smell. Good enough. Went back to finish dinner but at this point wasn’t very hungry at all. Then smelled shit again, strongly. Looked down at other shoe and saw I had gotten some on it as well. Probably stepped in pile as I got back on PCT from my off trail jaunt. This is when first started noticing smell. I looked carefully around and it didn’t seem like any had gotten on any of my gear. I was done for night. Decided to deal with left shoe in morning. Fortunately didn’t seem to have gotten on left pant leg. Took off both shoes and pants before crawling into tent. Usually sleep with pants on while camping out. Not for the rest of this trip. Took pants off every night before crawling into tent and sleeping bag. Up pretty early next day. Deep orange sunrise but stayed in tent until more light. Mountain view from lake okay but not spectacular so decided to rest a bit more rather than take photos. Was expecting a not too hard day so wasn’t in a particularly big hurry to get started. Put pants and shoes on gingerly, taking care not to get any excrement on hands. Walked good distance from camp and attempted to wipe off left shoe. Excrement had dried overnight and only partially successful. Figured it would probably be gone after a day of walking but would have to be careful not to spread it onto any of my gear. Broke down camp after breakfast. Guy camped nearby had said he had seen fish surfacing in Mica Lake the day before. I hadn’t seen anything during the short time I had been around Mica Lake the day before but saw some surfacing this day. Rigged pole to see if I could catch some. No luck. Talked with the folks camped nearby for a bit as they broke camp. Headed out about 8:00 a.m. Sun was shining and it was already quite warm. Picked up side trail off PCT that the people the day before had told me about. This trail quickly petered out. Scouted ahead and saw what I thought was route they had talked about. Didn’t look too good to me. They had said I would need to skirt below some rock faces. Saw those. Ground beneath looked doable but steep sidehill. Below the sidehill it like ground broke into steep gully and then scrubby brushy avalanche hammered ground. That didn’t look too good. If I could get past gully, then the avalanche brush would be brutal to navigate. Guy the day before had mentioned both the gully and avalanche brush and recommended getting up out of avalanche brush as soon as possible. Evidently gully was navigable but didn’t look good. Noticed a gap in the rock face with a kind of ramp up to an area above rock face. This looked barely doable but I would be able to avoid both the gully and avalanche brush by taking it. Decided to try that. Beyond rock face Lime Ridge stretched out like a Promised Land of easy travel with no obstacles. Trick would be to get there in one piece. Slick sidehill through heather and blueberry bushes to get to gap in rock. Had to backtrack several times to get around areas and small rock bluffs that were too steep to safely pass. Made it to gap in rock. No picnic. Really steep and had its share of avalanche brush. Fortunately had small snow fed stream and was watered up there. I was sweating profusely and going through a lot of water. Made it to promised land about 9:30 a.m. Picked up some tracks, maybe of the people I had talked to the day before. Promised land much better travel. Not so steep. Still had to do a lot of sidehill though. Ended up traveling across several snowfields where going was easier than navigating heather or talus. Goal was Lime Lake. Could see gap where it sat and aimed for that. Reached this gap a little before noon and could see that there were a few fisherman’s trails. This was good news to me. These trails were probably from the other end of the ridge and the Pipeline. So chances were good I would be able to follow them to the other lakes I wanted to go to and then back to the west end of Lime Ridge where I had been to two weeks previously. The going would probably be a bit easier from here on out. Had lunch at Lime Lake. Heard osprey but didn’t see any fish or any fish surfacing. Part of plan was to go into some lakes just southwest of Lime Lake. On many maps these still showed as being covered with glaciers. On the newer USGS quad they were kind of inked in as lakes but it didn’t look like the change was permanent yet on the maps in my possession. So, as far as project concerned, wasn’t sure about these. Were they officially mapped or not? In looking at map, appeared it would be fairly easy to get to them so figured I would do that and be done with it. On ground however, things looked quite a bit different. Had planned route either higher on ridge or from outlet of Lime Lake. Outlet of Lime Lake very steep, bluffs and brush. Was done with steep bluffs and brush for the day. Decided to try route little higher on ridge. Fished way around lake. No bites. Didn’t see any fish or any fish surfacing. Someone had told me that this lake had been stocked with golden trout but I didn’t know how long ago that had been. Didn’t look like any fish present at time I was there though maybe they were not very active at that time. Headed back up to ridge. It didn’t look very promising either. Pretty steep ground and lots of sidehill. I was done with both for the day and it was getting late. Still wanted to check out small lake just over ridge from Lime Lake and get into Milk Lakes that day. Scouted up ridge and discovered a few potential routes into the partly mapped lakes but none I wanted to attempt that day. Heat and trip from Mica Lake had worn me out and, again, I was out of time. Was pretty bummed. Even though considered those other two lakes to be somewhat optional, had wanted to check them out and be done with it. Now might end up having to make another trip. Also saw route on map coming from the Whitechuck side of ridge and thought maybe that would be the way to go. Even though a bit disappointed, I had to focus on task at hand. Headed up to ridge above Lime Lake. Could see next, small, unnamed lake below. Picked up trail on ridge. Pretty obvious there. Old sign boards with “Please” routed on top of top board and rest blank, evidently in order for USFS back country rangers to post messages. Didn’t look like it had been used in years, probably not since 2003. Dropped off trail to go down into unnamed lake. Not much to see critter-wise at unnamed lake. No fish. Didn’t see any amphibians. Wouldn’t be surprised if they were there, just hiding under rocks and woody debris. Lots of aquatic insects and bugs. Caddisflies and diving beetles and probably quite a few others as well. Got some really cool photos of other side of Suiattle, Downey Mountain, Sulphur Mountain, Miner’s ridge reflected in lake with clouds. Took temperature at about 4:00 p.m. It was 91 degrees Fahrenheit. Thought that was a little high. My thermometer was not the best. But then I got to thinking. I had drunk 4-5 quarts of water that day, sweated profusely and urinated very little, so temp probably pretty close. Headed in the direction of Milk Lakes and picked up a trail after a bit. Lost and found it several times. Overgrown but general direction was pretty obvious. Followed it all the way to Milk Lakes. Hit them at a little different spot than I expected. Went to upper lake first. Upper lake smaller than lower and perched on ridge top with no apparent source of water yet more full than lower lake. Saw osprey and later saw it fishing or playing at lower lake. It dove into the water three different times in succession but didn’t see it fly away with fish. Whole area quite pretty though no good views of mountains, all hidden by trees. Brook trout in lake. Saw fry at upper lake though no obvious areas of spawning gravel. Brook trout pretty tough and quite adaptable. Also started to feel twinge of homesickness. Kept hearing Vashti singing some song or another and telling stories and Phoebe saying “dinnertime” with a certain inflection that won’t last into later childhood. This trip cost me 5 days of their lives that I can never get back. Found good camp spot. Didn’t have time to scout trail before dinner and dark. I was a little worried. Trail was the type that could fade away in spots. This type of trail is usually easier to follow from source or trailhead direction. I was going opposite way. Had to go over pretty steep ridge to get into Twin Lakes then over another steep ridge to get on Rivord side of ridge. I knew the trail from there on out. Figured I would just have to trust the fact that pretty well beaten trail present so there was way over both ridges and if I headed in that direction, the ground would funnel me to where I needed to go to get over each ridge. Or I would figure out another way through, something I had done quite often in the past. That night I tore the patch off where my pack had been rubbing my hip. Hurt like hell and some blood and blood serum on patch. Pack had just bunched it up and caused several more sores. Slept okay. Up pretty early next day. Put new patch on hip. Checked few more things out at Milk Lakes and then on my way. Goal was to check out Twin Lakes and then get past Rivord Lake and camp on ridge top for final night. Found and lost trail several times but got over ridge on trail. Twin Lakes very pretty area as well. Could only see lower lake to start and saw it as I topped the ridge from Milk Lakes. Quite a pretty spot. The first thing I saw in the lower lake was fish fry about an inch long. Rigged fishing pole and soon determined the fish were brook trout. Fished my way around the northwest side of the lake. Caught quite a few brook trout. Didn’t see any amphibians. At outlet there was a clump of trees that had been struck by lightning probably less than a month before. I was glad I wasn’t anywhere in the vicinity when that lightning had struck. There was bark and large, sharp tree splinters sunk deep into the ground in a 30 foot radius around the tree clump plus furrows of fresh soil and dead vegetation running 30 feet, following tree roots I assume, to the outlet creek. That would have been one hairy place to be when that lightning hit. The wood and bark was quite fresh, just starting to get spots of mildew on the exposed cambium. I looked for trail over next ridge before heading to Upper Twin Lake. No luck . I could see likely spot though. The people I met near Milk Creek Trail had said that the route was brushy.

I headed to the upper lake. Saw a Cascades frog and lots of tadpoles in a pond on way there. Upper Twin Lake was a striking azure color (remnant glacial flour? no glacier evident now. Mica Lake was very similar). There were no fish evident in lake. There were salamanders everywhere. These were probably long toed salamanders and there were probably no fish in the lake because the salamanders were out in the open. This is usually not the case if there fish around. Captured salamander at the outlet in a party balloon that had escaped from some populated area and ended up in lake. This was the second balloon I had picked up on this trip. Upper Twin was another quite pretty spot but, again, no long views of mountains. Headed out about 1:30 p.m. On the way down I thought I saw a trail heading toward the ridge. Sure enough, there it was. Pretty happy about that but then proceeded to lose it several times through open, brushy meadow area and also in timber. I was able to follow it through though and get over the ridge. The trail went a lot farther up the ridge before cutting over it toward Rivord Lake than I had expected. Made it to Rivord Lake then to the higher lake at 5698 foot elevation beyond Rivord Lake. Camped there. Nice views and good breeze to keep bugs at bay. Good spot to camp for those things. Bad spot to camp if you are expecting electrical storms. None had been forecast and sky looked pretty good so decided to stay. Reached spot at about 3:00 p.m. and I actually had enough time to get out that day but I had the next day off so decided to take this afternoon off. I was also worried a bit about my right knee. It had felt fine to this point, a little funky now and then and hurt every now and then but functioned fine and no swelling. But I didn’t want to push it too much. There was lots of steep downhill ahead and it would be better to give it a rest. Out of nowhere my right arm had begun hurting pretty badly if I held it in certain ways. Pitched tent. Tent wasn’t too far from a very steep drop off so I staked it down with everything I had. The wind was blowing strongly but I was counting on it not getting strong enough to blow the tent with me in it over the drop off. Took nap. Checked out lake again. I had been here two weeks before and hadn’t seen anything other than aquatic insects and bugs. Same this time. Took some photos. Got really good photos at dusk. Buckindy on the other side of the Suiattle. Didn’t get the brilliant sunset I was hoping for but it was okay. Got really cool photos of the moon over Lime Mountain. I was too dark and beyond my skills to get coolest of these but still pretty good. Climbed into tent and finished my notes for day. I had tested the spot to pitch my tent and it was okay but must have moved about a foot while pitching it because a large hump in ground made it hard to get comfortable enough to sleep. Too late to move the tent so I just went with it. I must have slept okay because it daylight before I knew it. Wind had died down overnight. Had hoped it would keep dew off tent but no luck. Pretty heavy dew on tent. I would have to wait for it to dry or hang it on clothesline at home. The sun hit early and I waited about hour but wanted to get moving so I finally just wrapped the tent up, planning to dry later on clothesline. I had put the knee brace on that morning for little extra insurance. My right arm was magically okay. I didn’t know what that was about. The trip down hill was not too bad. Got back to trailhead at about 12:30 p.m. Harbored big plans to trade Sacha rigs at her work and pick up the kids for the afternoon. But when got home I had to hang up the tent to dry and get my pack cleaned out. Then I went to take shower and realized that tub needed cleaning in the worst way and that I had forgotten that I had planned to do that when I got back. This was easier to do without kids underfoot so went ahead with that. Then I needed to do two loads of laundry. Working on the last little bit when Sacha pulled up with kids. Kids super-excited to see me and I must admit, I was quite excited to see them and Sacha. Never in my life really had anyone that excited to see me. Makes one question why I would go out into mountains for days at a time away from them. Don’t know. But soon enough, I knew I would feel that draw to head out again if the weather was good. My right knee was kind of okay, feeling a little strange and occasionally hurting, but still seemed to work okay. No major swelling. The chafed spot on my right hip was worse. The moleskin had bunched up, causing, in effect, saddle sores the same as you would get if you saddle horse with wrinkled blanket underneath. I weighed my pack at end of the trip. 64.6 pounds, according to the bathroom scale.

Meadows on Vista Ridge looking southeast at Gamma Peak, on a ridge off Glacier Peak.

Looking northwest at Grassy Point from Vista Ridge.

Looking up and north at the lower flanks of Kennedy Peak, part of Glacier Peak from my first night's camp at the head of the East Fork of Milk Creek.

Looking north at Grassy Point from my first night' camp at the head of the East Fork of Milk Creek.

Looking north at Spire Point from my first night's camp at the head of the East Fork of Milk Creek.

Moonrise over a shoulder of Kennedy Peak from my first nigh's camp at the head of the East Fork of Milk Creek.

Looking south at the head of the East Fork of Milk Creek and Kennedy/Glacier Peak from the Pacific Crest Trail.

Whistle pig or hoary marmot (Marmota caligata) from PCT at about same spot as previous photo was taken.

Looking north along PCT at Mica Lake.

Mica Lake from PCT.

Looking southwest at Mica Lake from near lake outlet.

Looking north from small unnamed pond above Mica Lake.

Looking northeast at small unnamed pond above Mica Lake.

Looking northeast at small unnamed pond above Mica Lake. Grassy Point in the distance.

Looking northwest at small unnamed pond above Mica Lake.

Looking northwest at small unnamed pond above Mica Lake. Sulphur Mountain in the distance, Grassy Point in the distance at the right side of the frame.

Looking southeast at lake at Milk Lake and Glacier Peak from ridge southeast of Mica Lake and PCT. The Milk Lake Glacier, now gone once occupied most of the basin of the lake.

Looking northwest from ridge southeast of Mica Lake and PCT. Mica Lake is visible below center of frame.

Mountain goat track in snow on ridge southeast of Mica Lake where previous two photos were taken.

Looking southwest at Milk Lake.

Looking southeast at Milk Lake at moraine dam that forms lake.

Looking southeast from moraine at bottom of Milk Lake.

Looking northwest at small unnamed lake/pond just below Milk Lake. Grassy Point in distance on right.

Looking northwest at small unnamed lake/pond just below Milk Lake.

Looking south from small unnamed lake just below Milk Lake.

Looking west at east end of Lime Ridge. The Promised Land. This photo was taken near the top of the gap in the rock face west of Mica Lake. There is probably an easier route to take to get to the Promised Land but the route I took got the job done.

Looking east at Glacier Peak from the west end of the Promised Land at a saddle above Lime Lake.

Looking southwest at Lime Lake. I had heard earlier in the year from some friends that there were golden trout in this lake at one time. I didn't get a single bite, which doesn't mean that there were no fish here, just that, if there were fish, they weren't biting. I did hear an osprey though, which indicates that there may have been fish present.

Looking northeast at Lime Lake from the outlet.

Small, unnamed lake on Lime Ridge north of Lime Lake.

Looking northeast from small, unnamed lake north of Lime Lake. Mount Buckindy, Downey Mountain to the left side of frame, Grassy Point to the right side of frame.

Looking east from small, unnamed lake north of Lime Lake at Grassy Point.

Looking northeast from small, unnamed lake north of Lime Lake. Mount Buckindy, Downey Mountain to the left side of frame, Grassy Point to the right side of frame.

Looking southeast at upper Milk Lake, Glacier Peak in the distance. This lake is perched nearly on the ridge top with not visible inlet streams. The only really high ground above it is the ridge to the right side of the frame and it only occupies a tiny fraction of the shoreline of the lake. Yet this lake was at nearly full pool, while lower Milk Lake below it was visibly below full pool. This Milk Lakes on Lime Ridge should be distinguished from the Milk Lake to the southeast of Mica Lake that I visited on the previous day.

Looking east at Upper Milk Lake.

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) at Upper Milk Lake. I encounter these fish hawks pretty regularly at high lakes. I later saw this fish hawk fishing or splashing into the water at Lower Milk Lake. It splashed into the water at least three times in short succession but I never saw anything in its talons. I don't know if it was seriously fishing and just unsuccessful or whether it was just playing around.

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Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis). Both Upper and Lower Milk Lakes had these fish in them. Upper Milk Lake didn't have any readily apparent spawning substrate and there were a series of waterfalls that I would think would be barriers between the two lakes. Brook trout are not native to the Pacific Northwest and are often implicated in the declines of certain populations of Dolly Varden/bull trout. Ironically, certain populations of this fish are doing poorly in its native range.

Looking west at Lower Milk Lake from spot near outlet.

Looking west at Lower Milk Lake from spot near inlet. The inlet for Upper Milk Lake flows from Upper Milk Lake which is just to the east.

Looking west at Lower Milk Lake from spot near inlet.

Looking northwest at Lower Twin Lake from ridge between Milk Lakes and Twin Lakes.

South end of Lower Twin Lake looking west.

Brook trout at Lower Twin Lake. Yellow notebook is about 6 1/2 inches long.

Brook trout at Lower Twin Lake.

Lower Twin Lake looking southwest from outlet.

Lightning struck tree clump at outlet of Lower Twin Lake. The tree clump is in about the middle of the frame. Electricity ran from this clump to the outlet stream of the lake (in the foreground) as evidenced by furrows of raw bare soil and dead vegetation. Unfortunately these furrows are hidden by shadows in this photo. I wish now that I had taken some pictures of the tree shards buried in the ground for a radius of about thirty feet around this clump. Probably my thinking at the time is that the full impact of the scene couldn't be adequately captured in a photograph, as this photo didn't capture the ground furrows.

Upper Twin Lake looking west.

Long-toed salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum) at Upper Twin Lake. I didn't see any fish in this lake. The salamanders were readily visible just about everywhere I cold get close to shore and the water wasn't too deep.

Looking west at Upper Twin Lake.

Looking northwest at Upper Twin Lake from spot near outlet.

Salamander at Upper Twin Lake. This one was inside a balloon that had floated off from someone's party and ended up in the lake. I don't know if it was trapped but I worked it free of the balloon and had just enough time to snap this photo before it scrambled out of my hand and back into the water.

Looking west at Upper Twin Lake.

Moon over Lime Mountain from unnamed lake at 5698 foot elevation on between Rivord Lake and Box Mountain Lakes on Lime Ridge.

Sunset over Mount Buckindy from unnamed lake at 5698 foot elevation on between Rivord Lake and Box Mountain Lakes on Lime Ridge.

Sulphur Mountain, Miner's Ridge from unnamed lake at 5698 foot elevation on between Rivord Lake and Box Mountain Lakes on Lime Ridge.

Unnamed lake at 5698 foot elevation on between Rivord Lake and Box Mountain Lakes on Lime Ridge, looking west.

Miner's Ridge from Lime Ridge.

8/19 to 21/16 Miner’s Creek and Suiattle Pass

Started early Friday the 19^th. Supposed to be miserably hot-high 90’s and wanted to get good start on day. Figured I had about 17 miles to go. Plan was to go up Suiattle River Trail to PCT, take PCT to an upper crossing of Miner’s Creek, camp there Friday night. Saturday go into pond above Suiattle Pass that I had missed previous year and then drop into Miner’s Creek and go into a lake near the head of the valley and then check out some big wetlands on the way out and then start back out. I planned on finishing the trip Sunday when I would come all the way back out. It looked easy on the maps. I was a little worried about my right knee and didn’t want to overdo things, going out after only three days rest. Chafed spot on my right hip still not completely healed. Put on moleskin patch and then duct tape. Expected this spot on my hip to get really sweaty but hopefully no more chafing. Very smoky when I headed out. There was a fire over on Buck Creek on Chiwawa (Little Wenatchee) River and wind was blowing west which rolled smoke right down Suiattle River. The sun was red in the sky as I left Rockport and headed up Suiattle River Road. Hit trail a little before 8:00 a.m. It was pleasantly cool but I expected that to change. Surprisingly and pleasantly, it didn’t though. Thick smoke cover had trapped and shaded cool air from day before. A little stagnant but not hot. Made good time. Took a good nap at lunch at the junction with the trail up Miner’s Ridge. I ran into a PCT hiker headed north just after lunch who was trying to get through the area as fast as possible. He was worried about the smoke because he didn’t know where fire was. Told him what I knew and about the area that was closed by fire. He was off his maps so I showed him roughly where fire was. This seemed to alleviate his fears a bit but he was still determined to get the hell out of there. It warmed up a bit after lunch as I traveled along the Suiattle River until got around the nose of a ridge and started up into Miner’s Creek valley. Here cool wind was steadily moving down the valley. Quite nice. I understand that it was nearly 100 degrees just about everywhere else. Got to the upper crossing of Miner’s Creek at about 3:00 p.m. I was beat. I had toyed with the thought of exploring some of the wetlands if I got there early but decided not to. Both ankles had started hurting alternately. This finally settled into mostly my left ankle being sore. I knew from experience that this would probably clear up with rest. Took a nap instead of exploring. Dinner and bed early, about 7:30 p.m. It was actually pretty cold that night. I heard someone going by in dark in the morning. I loafed around until after 6:00 a.m. because I thought it would be pretty easy day. Of course it turned out differently. The day started out cool but got warmer as the day progressed. Ankles felt pretty much good as new. My right knee still felt funky, then okay, then hurt, then okay, then funky etc. but seemed to work okay. It was still pretty smoky. The fire was just over ridge from my location but there wasn’t really any danger of it burning over, lots of bare ground and rock between it and me. I was at Suiattle Pass by 9:00 a.m. Got to the pond by 10:00 a.m. The ridge from Suiattle Pass to the pond looked pretty easy on the maps and it was. I found trail that led most of the way up. Saw several spots where horses had been tied up so it must have been made by hunters or possibly originally to mine sites and later used by hunters. The pond was fairly barren. Saw some whitebark pine and a couple of Cascades frogs. From my observations this seemed pretty high for Cascades frogs if went just a little farther north along the crest of the Cascades. Interesting information. I was back down to the trail a little before 11:00 a.m. My plan was to cut off the last switchback of the trail into some large wetlands in Miner’s Creek valley and then up the valley to lake. I hit an open area a little after 11:00 where the wetlands could be seen. The smoke had cleared a bit and I could actually see the wetlands. It looked like a long way down. I was able to see up Miner’s Creek Valley towards lake. It looked like a long way up there. I got the first inkling that might have bitten off more than I could chew. I decided to go for it anyway. I had enough daylight to get it done that day but maybe not enough to get started out. That would mean a longer day to get out on Sunday than I had anticipated. I cut off the trail at the last switchback before the bottom and got to the valley floor and wetlands a little after noon. Had lunch. Black flies and mosquitoes prevented me from taking a nap and I didn’t really have the time anyway. I started up the valley. Travel was quite easy. Most of the valley was tight canopy second-growth at stage before some of the more dominant trees started dying and falling so there wasn’t much brush or logs to deal with and the ground was flat. I passed several ponds but didn’t check them out. I figured to check them out on the way down if I had time. My main goal was the lake near the head of the valley. Saw lots of Cascades frogs in the woods as I traveled up the valley. More than probably anywhere else I have ever been. I got into old-growth near where the valley steepened a bit and the wetlands ended. I don’t know (didn’t really look) if second-growth stand was the result of fire or avalanches. I don’t recall many old burned snags so maybe it was from big snow slides. The old-growth forest was a little more difficult travel. More brush around canopy gaps and more downed logs to negotiate. When it looked like the forest was about to end I cut to the creek. Judging from the air photos I had looked at, it looked like the south side of valley would be best travel. Not so much. Had to get through a bunch of tag alders into some talus. The talus was definitely more open but was a size that was a little harder to negotiate-lots of deep holes to fall into if I didn’t pay attention. Also a lot of rocks in this particular slide had nasty habit of shifting underfoot. Halfway to the lake I had to negotiate band of tag alders growing along a tributary stream flowing into Miner’s Creek. I saw that the other side of valley was mostly open to the timberline where I would have to deal with a narrow strip of tag alders and brush. I decided to take that side out. Before I even got to the lake I saw that it was created by a big moraine. The outlet stream had cut down through this moraine deposit leaving very steep sides that look like they would be difficult to negotiate. So I came in above the outlet. Got into lake okay. It was pretty barren but there is always something interesting to see. There was a giant moraine off Chiwawa Mountain just up the valley from the moraine that formed the lake where I was. Actually it may have been part of the same moraine. Saw some shore birds, spotted sandpipers or something similar. The lake was green and opaque with glacial flour. There was a remnant glacier or snowfield at the head of lake. I didn’t stay long. I noted the vegetation present and headed out. I took the shorter route on the north side of the valley to go out. I almost impaled my left foot on a spike knot on small tree that had been carried to the valley bottom by an avalanche. My foot hurt for quite a while and I thought maybe the hard, sharp knot had gotten through the bottom of my shoe and into my foot but no blood on my sock that night. The north side of the valley was much better travel than the south side but it was still no picnic. Lots of avalanche debris to pick through and, lower down, a series of rock piles with tall sedges growing out of them. This created treacherous footing with lots of hidden holes to turn ankles or even break legs. I had to pick through this area slowly. Brush and avalanche debris at the timber’s edge was a pain to navigate but got through it okay and back to really good travel in the timber. I only had time to check out one small area of wetlands, a series of ponds near where I was traveling. I saw lots of Cascades frogs. The whole area was a sphagnum bog where I sank in to my ankles in wet moss with every step. The whole area was dotted with little ponds here and there. It would have been a nightmare to negotiate if I had wanted to travel quickly. I headed down the valley and hit another open wetland area that was drier. This area was actually easier to travel than the forest though I had to bash through brush and small ponds to get back into the woods when the wetlands ended. I got back to the trail just a few hundred yards from my camp at about 5:45 p.m. I decided that I had enough time to get at least get back to bottom of Suiattle Valley and camp at lower Miner’s Creek. I broke down camp, loaded up and was on my way by about 6:15 p.m. I got to the camp at lower Miner’s Creek a little before 8:00 p.m. I had wanted to get beyond the junction with the Miner’s Ridge Trail but it was too late for that. Made camp at dusk and cooked dinner by headlamp. The patch on my right hip was itching like crazy. I debated taking it off. The moleskin with duct tape seemed to have done really well up to that point. I was worried that if I took it off and then hiked the 12 miles back to the trailhead without giving it several days to harden off, it might get worse than it was when I started. Twelve miles to the next day was more than plenty of hiking for the raw spot to become real problem so decided to leave it on. I was up early the next day, just before dawn. I wanted to get early start to make up for distance that I hadn’t covered the day before. I had a number of chores to take care of at home, take the garbage to the dump, mow the lawn and hopefully start to get cows ready to move. The trip out was relatively uneventful. I only saw a few people on the Suiattle River Trail. Saw quite a few on PCT. Saw two tailed frog tadpoles in successive streams on Suiattle Trail. Lots of streams looked likely for tailed frogs so I looked at every one as I crossed. These were the first ones I had seen and then I saw one right after the other. At home I took the garbage to the dump before taking a shower and cleaning up. I couldn’t wait to get the patch off my hip. The itching was almost unbearable now. The patch was starting to smell ripe, kind of like the stage meat gets to just before going rotten. It turned out the original raw spots on my hip had been well protected and pretty much healed. These healing spots were what was itching the most. Now there were new, much thinner raw spots around edges of the duct tape. My right knee was still alternately feeling okay, funky and hurting. It might be that way for a long time to come.

Dead ermine or weasel that I encountered on Suiattle River Trail a mile or two west of Canyon Creek. There was no blood and no obvious signs of trauma on the carcass. It was laying right in the middle of the trail and it had rigor mortis. Maybe it had been dropped by some bird of prey or maybe it died from some disease. I didn't touch it with my bare hands and used a stick to move it around and examine it. Strange to find it right in the middle of a heavily used trail.

In the winter, these animals usually change their brown fur for a coat of pure white fur, except for the tip of the tail which is black. Very pretty in a winter coat.

Pacific Crest Trail bridge across Miner's Creek.

Plummer Mountain just northwest of Suiattle Pass. The pond I was going to is in near distance.

Looking west at Plummer Mountain from my destination pond.

Cascades frog (Rana cascadae) in the pond. A little farther north I don't recall ever seeing these frogs at this high an elevation which is about 6500 feet.

Looking northeast from the pond into the South Fork of Agnes Creek.

Upper Miner's Creek, Chiwawa Mountain to the left, Fortress Mountain to the right. The smoke is from a fire on Phelps or Buck Creek, just over the ridge.

Moraines at the head of Miner's Creek Valley. The outlet of the lake I was going to had cut down through the vegetated moraine to the right side of the frame, forcing me to go up and around to get into the lake.

Dropping into the lake from above. The lake is just out of sight behind a moraine.

Looking south from the outlet of the lake at the head of Miner's Creek, Chiwawa Mountain on the left side of the frame.

Looking northwest from the lake at the head of Miner's Creek, Plummer Mountain in the distance.

Looking east at the lake at the head of Miner's Creek on my way out. Chiwawa Mountain in center of frame.

Upper wetlands on Miner's Creek. These were typical sphagnum bogs where I sank in to my ankles in wet moss with every step, unless I stepped into a hidden hole, in which case, I went significantly deeper.

Upper wetlands on Miner's Creek.

Lower wetlands on Miners' Creek. These wetlands were still soggy but my they were significantly drier with little or no standing water and few ponds. I saw some trapper's tea (Ledum glandulosum) here which I don't encounter as much as Labrador tea (L. groenlandicum), though apparently, trapper's tea is the more common species in the mountains.

Lower Miner's Creek wetlands.

8/26 to 29/16 Canyon Lake, Suiattle River

I started out Friday afternoon. Hot. It was in the low ‘90’s Fahrenheit at least. The total distance I had to travel was about 23 miles with lots of up and down and switchbacks. So I decided to break trip up over four days. The first day would be about 10-11 miles to get to the junction with the Miner’s Ridge Trail. Then it would be 13 to 15 miles up over Miner’s Ridge then back down, then back up to Canyon Lake. I was not exactly sure about the mileage but it was something in that range. I ran few errands Friday morning and stopped to see friend recovering from recent heart attack. I started out on the trail at about 2:30 p.m. Hot. I took off my long sleeved shirt and hiked in my T-shirt, which I rarely do and only on open trails. I saw lots of tailed frog tadpoles in several streams. One was a stream that I had seen them in on previous trip, another was new stream where counted 11. I don’t know if it was the temperature or the time of day. I had crossed these streams numerous times on previous occasions without seeing a single tadpole but this had usually been much earlier in the day. Made it to a camp spot a little before dark. This was a good spot. I had camped here the previous year on a trip up to Miner’s Ridge. The night was uneventful. Got up early. I wanted to get going as soon as possible and I had plans of being at Image Lake before noon, getting over the ridge on the trail to the Canyon Creek side and having lunch at a stream crossing on Canyon Creek. I knew the trail was going to be a slog. Lots of switchbacks. I could see where the trail had been reworked some years back and wasn’t as steep as it had been historically. I vaguely remember hearing something about this years ago. The trail was still plenty steep. The day was much cooler though I still worked up a good sweat. My right knee seemed to be at its new normal. It felt funky sometimes, hurt sometimes, felt okay sometimes but all along it still functioned. I had two songs running through head. Night Ranger “Seven Wishes” and Big Wreck “That Song”. The day started out clear but I noticed clouds rolling in when I was about halfway up the hill. By the time I was at the Miner’s Ridge/Suiattle Pass trail junction, it was completely overcast. By the time I topped out on Miner’s Ridge there was a pretty strong wind blowing and I quickly got cold when I stopped. I continued on to Image Lake. I took the lower trail to the lake and walked out to snap a few photos from the iconic spot where a fringe of trees reflected on the lake to frame Glacier Peak. I could only see the lower half of Glacier Peak, the rest was in the clouds. I could see on my map that the Canyon Creek Trail was straight up from Image Lake but the trail junction was a quarter mile or so to the east. I recalled seeing the trail junction and sign the previous year. I decided to follow the trail system out and take the trail from the junction. Above Image Lake I could see the saddle that the map said Canyon Lake Trail went through but the trail I was on was going away from this saddle. I took a high trail from the east end for a few hundred yards. I could see what looked like a trail just above me which would be the Canyon Lake Trail. Instead of cutting uphill to it, I backtracked back to the main trail and followed that for few hundred more yards. It still kept going in what seemed to be the wrong direction with no trail junction. I finally cut off that and started up the hill. I ran into the Canyon Lake Trail in less than a hundred yards. I had gotten impatient and cut off the trail I was on too soon, just a little before junction. I followed the Canyon Lake Trail and backtracked all the distance that I had come from Image Lake. Got through the saddle at about 12:30 p.m. I picked a spot out of the wind and had lunch. I continued on after lunch. I found the Canyon Lake Trail to be well traveled and easy to follow. It wasn’t maintained though and there were a few washed out gullies and slides to navigate as well as some downed timber. The trail went down about 500 feet, sidehill for a mile or two then back uphill about 1000 feet before dropping about 800 feet down into Canyon Lake. This was all clearly shown on my maps but for some reason I hadn’t expected so much up and down. Combined with the climb up of 3800 feet that morning this wore me out pretty thoroughly. If I had been a little better prepared mentally for all the up and down, I would have probably done better. It was especially hard in several spots where the trail went through some large avalanche tracks and I had to negotiate downed trees. I knew I was going to get into Canyon Lake that day but I was disappointed that I wasn’t going so slow by the end of the trip. I made it to Canyon Lake at about 3:45 p.m. That was an okay time for carrying a heavy pack I guess. I expected to get showers that afternoon or evening. The sky was heavily overcast with a fairly low ceiling. I could still see most of the peaks around lake. I set up my tent first thing then set out to explore a bit. I had broken my personal rule of not going out on cloudy days because you don’t get to see what a place looks like if it is buried in clouds. I did it on this trip because I figured the views wouldn’t be overly spectacular. I figured that I would mostly be looking at Canyon Creek valley and maybe some of the peaks around the lake but no sweeping vistas. I had gotten good views of sweeping vistas from Miner’s Ridge the previous year and some good views from Image Lake as well so wasn’t to worried about missing out on that this go round. As I was setting up tent, blue sky began appearing. At first I thought these were just sucker holes but it kept clearing up. Pretty soon could see the tops of the mountains all around the lake. They were very nice views and Canyon Lake was pretty enough spot even if it didn’t have the sweeping vistas. It looked like the lake was formed by a moraine and there was a large flat area southwest of the lake that was very hummocky, typical of moraines. There was one mapped pond in this flat as well as a mapped pond on the outlet of Canyon Lake. There were four more unmapped ponds in the flat at the lake outlet. I saw some pretty cool looking dragonflies that appeared to be ovipositing (laying eggs) and quite a few Cascades frogs. I had expected to see Cascades frogs but wasn’t sure I would see that many because the day was pretty cold. My thermometer said 51 degrees Fahrenheit and a strong wind made my fingers stiff with cold. The sun was shining a lot by 5:00 p.m. though, which helped warm things up a bit. I got back to my camp spot around 6:00 p.m. A stiff wind was still blowing but the skies were clearing. I was pretty hungry but I decided to see if I could catch some fish. In 1995, while coming out of Cub and Itswoot Lakes, I ran into a guy who told me that there where great big golden trout in this lake. One pounders, he said. Golden trout are subspecies of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss aquabonita. I think there are several different stocks of this subspecies most, if not all, are from the Sierra Nevada in California. I have run into them occasionally over the years. They are pretty fish. In my few experiences with them they were pretty finicky. It was hard to get them to bite. I rigged my pole and went to the lake near my camp at the lake outlet. I saw a larger Cascades frog which proceeded to hop into lake and come up to watch me. I hadn’t seen any sign of fish. Of course the wind was blowing hard so it would have been difficult to see signs like fish surfacing. For some reason I was skeptical that there were fish in lake. On my first or second cast I got a bite but missed setting the hook. On the next cast I hooked one but it got off just before I could land it. Several more casts resulted in nothing. I moved around the lake a little bit and missed one or two more fish. I finally decided to eat. I would try again in the morning. The bite is often pretty good in the morning. I went over the edge of a small terrace between my tent and the lake to get out of the wind to cook dinner. This was within a few feet of the lake, right where I first started fishing. When I went to get water from the lake I saw that the frog I had seen earlier was still in the same spot. It had been there for over an hour. After dinner I crawled into my tent and sleeping bag. I fleshed out my field notes by headlamp and went to sleep. I expected to get some rain or showers overnight. The weather forecast I had seen called for a chance of showers. The next morning I woke up around sunrise and crawled out of tent. I saw that the sky was pretty much clear, just a few clouds to catch the sunrise. I took some pictures and made breakfast. I Wanted to get a pretty early start but I also wanted to see if I could catch some fish to see what species was in lake. The lake was calm and I saw few fish rising. I got few light bites but nothing. I went over to the northwest shore and started getting more bites. I finally got good bite and set the hook. The fish jumped clear out of water a few times. Then, just as I was pulling it up to the bank it fell off the hook. I was really bummed but figured I would probably get another bite. Got a good glimpse of a large red stripe along lateral line of the fish, typical of rainbow trout. I was thinking at least this fish was probably a rainbow trout. Since golden trout are a subspecies of rainbow trout, they quite often have a prominent red stripe on their lateral line as well. The ones I have seen usually have a darker or golden hue and the one I missed looked pretty silvery, more typical of a rainbow but this didn’t eliminate the possibility that it could have been a golden trout. I would need to catch one and have a close look at it. One or two casts later I got a hard strike right when the spinner hit the water. I set hook. This felt like a big one. I saw it fighting all the way in as I reeled. Then, just as I was dragging it onto shore, it fell off the hook. Now I was really bummed. I was running out of time and had fished all along the easily accessible shore. In my experience, once you have fished over an area and the fish stop biting in that area, you have to give it a rest for awhile before you get many more bites. I didn’t have time to wait. I tried a few more casts then snagged the spinner and lost it. I hadn’t thought to bring my tackle box but decided it was worth it to walk back, rig up again and try a little more. At this point my curiosity was really burning to find out what kind of fish were in the lake. I re-rigged and fished a little more but no more bites. I was out of time now. It was almost 9:00 a.m. and I had had wanted to be going by at least 8:00 a.m. or earlier. I went back, packed up and headed out. I stopped above the lake to take some zoomed in photos of Miner’s Ridge Lookout with the glaciers of Glacier Peak in the background. These turned out okay but not excellent. The trip out was much better than the trip in. I was fresh and knew what to expect. I made it to Image Lake a little after noon and had lunch. I tried some more photos from the iconic photo spot but lots of clouds had rolled in, so many that the sky was pretty much blank without a lot of texture. So these photos were only so-so. I headed to the lookout. Some friends were watching it over the summer so thought I would drop in and say hello. They weren’t there so I signed the guest register and took some photos of the lookout. When I was there in 2015, the lookout had already been boarded up for the winter. I started down the trail. Eleven switchbacks to the junction with the trail to Suiattle Pass. By this point my legs starting to hurt. My right hip and knee were hurting a bit too. I figured to stop at the trail junction and rest. When got to trail junction I saw Russ one of my friends who was taking care of the lookout. He had been installing pit toilets at the camp at the junction. We talked for quite a while. By the time I was ready to go I felt pretty well rested. Twenty-six switchbacks to the junction with the The sky was heavily overcast on the way down and there were occasional light sprinkles. There was no significant rain and what fell actually felt quite good, cooling me off a bit. I got to the PCT junction about 5:00 p.m. and kept going. My goal was a camp spot that I had passed on the trail a number of times. This spot was an hour and a half to two hours from trailhead. This spot had looked very inviting every time I walked past it and I wanted a chance to use it. My legs were pretty tired and my right hip and knee hurt off and on. My feet hurt constantly. There were more light sprinkles along the way. I got to the Canyon Creek crossing and the camp there was tempting but I pushed on. I figured to reach my camp spot at around 7:30 p.m. I got there at about 7:38 p.m. I set up my tent, cooked dinner, fleshed out field notes for day by headlamp and tried to get to sleep at about 9:00 p.m. It took quite a while to drift off even though I was dead tired. The spot I picked to pitch my tent wasn’t bad but wasn’t the best either. Plus my body still needed time to cool down and unwind. This is quite common when I hike late into evening to a point nearing exhaustion. I need at least an hour, probably more for my body to cool down and my muscles to relax. Usually I can’t get to sleep because of a combination of being too hot and being unable to get in a comfortable position to sleep because my muscles are still tight. I finally dropped off to sleep and it was morning before I knew it. I was up early. Granola bars for breakfast instead of cooking the usual oatmeal because this would take more time and it would be a lot to eat for the amount of exercise I would be getting. I had probably less than two hours walking to do to get to the trailhead. I made it to my rig in an hour and a half without incident. I made it home without incident except for long wait for road construction as Highway 530 was being resurfaced. When I got home everything a little disjointed. Mom was watching the kids while Sacha was at a meeting. The kids were okay, happy to see me and I was happy to see them. Mom had the start of a cold going. Sacha wasn’t too happy when she got home. Phoebe had been sick over the weekend and Sacha had to deal with that. In the afternoon I went to mom’s to take care of some chores and walk Skyeball. Skyeball was all disjointed too and acting kind of strange, yipping and howling when I showed up. She usually doesn’t do that. Several of the cows were bellowing at me too. I had moved them from Stump Farm on the previous week.

Tailed frog (Ascaphus truei) tadpole in stream along Suiattle River Trail. I saw numerous tadpoles on the way in on this trip where I had only seen a few on the many trips over the same ground before.

Tailed frog (Ascaphus truei) tadpole. These tadpoles eat algae off the rocks and stick to the rocks with suction cup lips. One of their nostrils is modified to provide a hole through their head to their gills.

Tailed frog (Ascaphus truei) tadpole.

Looking northeast at Canyon Lake from my camp near the outlet. I had expected to get rained on a bit but the clouds broke up. This is the start of the process. There was a strong wind blowing from the east.

Dragonfly ovipositing or laying eggs in a pond in the flats southeast of the outlet of Canyon Lake. I don't know my dragonflies very well and I don't know what species this was but I had never seen one with this coloration or pattern before.

Ridge above Canyon Lake reflected in on of the ponds in the flats southeast of the outlet of the lake.

There were at least five ponds in the flats southeast of the lake outlet and one pond on the outlet. Only one of the ponds in the flats was mapped along with the pond on the outlet. This is the one pond in the flats that was mapped.

Another dragonfly ovipositing, apparently the same species as in the previous photo.

Unmapped pond in flats southeast of the lake outlet.

Looking northeast at the mapped pond on the lake outlet.

Sunrise from my camp near the outlet of Canyon Lake.

Last photo before leaving Canyon Lake. At this point I had been frustrated by several near misses to land a fish. I never found out for sure what species was in Canyon Lake.

The lookout on Miner's Ridge from meadows above Canyon Lake. I used a telephoto lens to zoom in on the lookout and make it look like the glaciers of Glacier Peak were right behind it when, in fact, they were on the other side of the Suiattle River valley.