Monday, September 7, 2020
We left junction camp at 8:30 am and stopped by a stream to fill up water. The forest is dark and cool as a breeze lifts off the stream. It’s a nice refuge from the sun where we will likely emerge as we begin today’s large ascent over Park Pass.
It’s our first large pass, and the largest pass we’ll do on this trip. From our camp at Junction, it’s about a 3,000 ft gain to the pass.
After just one day on the trail, our legs are still feeling fresh. That’s about to change.
We cruise through the mossy emerald forest, silently in absorption mode, acclimating back to nature. There’s chatter of family, and religion, as we turn over thoughts as they arise like stones along the trail. We discuss and explore ideas, that eventually we won’t recall.
We take a break as sweat begins to cool our backs. I change from my long sleeve and wind breaker into a nice blue button up, dressing for success along the trail.
Rachel fills her water bottles as I smash some words into my phone journal. The sound of the stream crawls into my mind, carving my attention back to the trail. Our map crisply crinkles as Rachel folds it into her pack. Now we begin to climb.
The trail to Skagit Queen is steep but nicely shaded. It takes us longer than expected and stop for lunch at 11 am, along the river at Skagit Queen. It feels like we are on an island in the stream. It’s as if all of the creeks of the North Cascades coalesce and cross right here.
We eat salmon and lentil soup with rosemary crackers. Streams are all around us, and huckleberries bob in the wind, begging to be eaten. I pick some huckleberries to share with Rachel.
A waterfall sits above us, a smaller one to our side.
Further down the trail, we stop again to eat at Thunder Basin. Our climbing has made us hungry. Park Pass sits high above us, peeking out behind the bushes. We know it sits in front of us, but rarely can we see it.
It takes forever for us to get there. The brush is thick, and we gasp as we emerge onto a boulder field, Park Pass still in the distance.
We climb, switch back, then climb. We do it all again. Walk, sweat repeat. Check the map, and gasp as the hills grow more massive.
We climb above the brush, and it’s hard to believe we are escaping it. I expect my ankles to be wrapped in branches, and my body tugged back into the thick.
As we near the summit, I look back, take a breath trying to pull the beauty of where we’ve been, deep within my lungs. Then I must let go.
In a minute it’s all behind us. Another valley is before us, immense, and inviting. Sun bounces off the boulders as Rachel descends along the trail.
The sun descends, as so do we, as we see a party of two, then three climbing upward toward the pass. After months in Covid quarantine, it’s weird to see people in the wild. They say they’re looking to camp at the pass. Inside my mind I judge them, thinking “that’s not a permitted location.”
The alpine at these elevations can be fragile. It’s why the park has a permit system. Yet, as humans, we each believe we’re an exception. “Well, it’s just this once, and it’s just me… what difference can it make?” Quickly the pristine beauty can erode, beautiful green alpine meadows turn bald and brown, then disappear.
We descend the trail quickly, eager to set camp and make our dinner. Our legs fatigue as the gravity pulls us into the valley. Eventually we arrive at 5 Mile Camp. It’s about 7 pm. Rachel embraces the camp sign, excited to rest for now.
After dinner we have raspberry crumble for dessert. Our tent sits next to the river with an open view to the pass, summits sitting over head.
As we sleep the sound of the creek drowns out any mischief of critters in our camp.
Today’s Steps: 23,878 steps
Today’s Calories: 3,736 calories (2,045 active)
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