The five of us and Evrim head to Eastern Washington for a long July 4th weekend. We’re renting an AirBnB in the little hamlet of Plain, WA. The cabin turns out to be quite nice, and is right on the Wenatchee River. Everyone’s happy to discover that there are plenty of decks and patios outside the cabin to read, either in the sun or in the shade, so it’s easy to find a good spot.
Jan, Angela, and Liya do a morning walk to the small town’s Old Mill Cafe, a 15 minute walk that runs first through ponderosa pines and then along a country road.
In the afternoon, the three go to Lake Wenatchee State Park for a swim. (Everyone else stays at the cabin to read.) The weather at the lake today turns out to be extremely windy, and the water turns out to be just above freezing. Jan and Liya gamely run in and submerge themselves, then run right back out. The little camp store near the lake has decent ice cream.
We have dinner at a pasta restaurant called Wildflour that’s near Lake Wenatchee. It happens to be the clubhouse restaurant for a golf course. The pasta’s pretty good.
We all drive down to Leavenworth in the late morning. Just north of town, we spot a flock of 12 people paragliding over one of the peaks on the edge of town. They look like colorful birds. We eat lunch on the patio at the Valley Cafe, then stop at the bookstore.
Our main reason to come into town today is to do a “Family Float” down lower Icicle Creek and a bit of the Wenatchee River. It’s quite hot today — above 100°F — so a float down the river is just the thing. We occasionally cool off by dropping over the side of the raft, or by getting caught up in the many inevitable splash fights between the rafts in the group.
Back in town, we have dinner at Munchen Haus, then head back to the cabin. In the evening, Anya teaches us how to play a board game called Mysterium.
Everyone spends the day lounging around the cabin. Jan grills chicken for dinner. We look into whether any nearby town is doing a fireworks show tonight, but everything’s been cancelled — with the weather so hot and dry all summer, there’s a complete burn ban in effect.
We’ve learned that there’s a coffee counter in the Plain Hardware store next to the town’s cafe. The hardware store’s coffee is much, much better than the cafe’s.
Jan leads Liya and Angela on a hike to Hidden Lake. The forest is a little buggy for Angela and Liya’s taste, but Hidden Lake is pretty, and there are nice views of Lake Wenatchee. Our hiking loop takes us down to Lake Wenatchee at a place called Glacier View, and indeed there’s a view to the west of snow-covered Glacier Peak.
In the afternoon, Anya wants to go back to Leavenworth to poke around the town some more, and Angela, Jan, and Evrim agree to join her.
In the evening, Liya leads Angela and Jan on a walk to the old bridge just up the river a bit from our cabin.
We head back to Seattle.
Anya has been training to bike 1000+ miles to Stanford for the start of her freshman year. Her plan is to ride with a Seattle friend who will also be starting at Stanford. This week Anya learns that unfortunately the friend needs to bow out of the plan.
Anya’s up for still going on her own, but Angela’s not excited about having her do the trip solo. Jan proposes biking with Anya, and Anya is up for the father/daughter adventure.
Jan checks the calendar and sees that he has just over five weeks to get in shape for this, as well as sort out a long list of necessary gear and a trip plan. Anya would like to do an average of 50 miles a day for about 3 weeks, with a couple of days off, and a few buffer days at the end in case there are delays.
Sabriya turns 14! We have a little birthday dinner. For some reason, Bree sits down to cake wearing a tall purple gift bag on her head. Anya says it makes Bree look like an ancient Japanese emperor.
We all agree that Bree’s best birthday gift is from Evrim: a small posable figure of Dobby the Elf from the Harry Potter series. Bree has always thought Dobby is creepy-looking (the rest of us agree), but Evrim maintains that Dobby is cute. Her claim is not helped by the creepy visage of the plastic Dobby figure, but Bree thinks it’s a brilliant gift.
Jan and Liya head to Alpine Lakes Wilderness for 3 nights of backpacking. Liya is set to do a freshman orientation backpacking trip at the start of her college school year, but it sounds like it’ll be fairly easy — so she proposed to Jan that they do a real backpacking trip this summer. She and Jan pick a 3-night trip plan out of a book that will take them on a loop near Waptus Lake in the heart of the wilderness.
They have lunch at Basecamp Books in Roslyn, our favorite place to go when we’re in that area. Then they drive north to the Cathedral Pass Trailhead. The final 15 miles or so is on an extremely rough dirt road pitted with potholes. At one point, a creek called Scatter Creek passes over the road bed, at a depth of about 6 inches. Our little 2WD city sedan isn’t exactly made for such terrain, but manages to get through.
Jan and Liya head for Lake Michael, a small lake off the beaten path. Liya’s interested in trying to do as much as possible herself on this trip, in preparation for a trip she’ll do later in the month with a friend, so she stays on top of navigation along the trail.
A cute marmot greets them from the top of a boulder when they get to the lake. They’re surprised that there’s not one, but two, other groups camping at the lake tonight — it’s a very busy year for all outdoor activities, including backpacking. They end up having to set up at the horse camp at the end of the lake, which turns out to be a less than ideal spot. Still, it’s a pretty lake, and good for a swim.
Jan and Liya in Alpine Lakes Wilderness, day 2. The two head back to the main trail, then west to the Waptus River. They have to ford the river, which is thigh-deep in places, but they make it safely across. A mile upstream, they have to ford back across the river again.
When they reach Waptus Lake around lunchtime, they find a gorgeous campsite, so decide to stop there for the day instead of continuing on to Spade Lake. (“All the good spots at Spade are taken”, some hikers who’d just come from there had warned them.) The campsite’s about as good as backcountry sites get: flat, surrounded by pretty pines, a sandy beach on the lake, with logs around a campfire ring, and a toilet not too far away. They spend a pleasant afternoon swimming, reading, and napping.
Sidewalk contractors pour our new sidewalk.
Jan and Liya in Alpine Lakes Wilderness, day 3. They make their way to the Pacific Crest Trail and begin climbing towards Deep Lake. After a while, they come upon a trail crew clearing fallen trees from the trail. Jan recognizes one of the forest rangers, a man named John Morrow. When hiking through this area on the PCT in July 2016, Jan had camped for the night along the Waptus River, and had camped near John. John had shared stories around a campfire with Jan and another hiker about working in the Forest Service. It’s fun to run into him again on the trail.
One of the rangers warns us about a gigantic pile-up of trees just up the trail: a winter avalanche had knocked down most of the trees in a large area. Jan and Liya reach this area a few minutes later, and it takes them 10 minutes to pick their way over and around the piled-up logs and branches.
They stop for lunch at Deep Lake, which is pretty, but today it’s also quite windy. They climb higher up the ridge that overlooks the lake, and eventually reach a small side trail that will take them to today’s destination, Peggy’s Pond. The side trail skirts the base of the tall cliffs of Cathedral Rock. At one point, the trail becomes a ledge over a small cliff, which Jan is none to happy to traverse — he no longer has a stomach for heights.
They eventually climb up a very steep and loose trail to reach Peggy’s Pond. It’s quite windy, so it takes a bit of time to find a campsite that’s sheltered from the wind. While Jan and Liya enjoyed swimming the past two days, a quick look at the pond tells them there will be no swimming today: the pond is still surrounded by snow, and there are small icebergs floating in the water.
Jan and Liya in Alpine Lakes Wilderness, day 4. They pack up camp, head back to the Pacific Crest Trail, and from there hike the rest of the morning along the Cathedral Pass Trail back to the car. There’s some more fun driving through Scatter Creek on the way out, a lunch alongside Cle Elum Lake, another stop in Roslyn for sodas from Basecamp Books, and then the drive back to Seattle.
Liya and Anya take guests Evrim and Katie to Mount Rainier for a walk around the Paradise area.
Jan’s Pacific Northwest Trail hike. My long-ish summer hike this summer is along a 106-mile section of the Pacific Northwest Trail (PNT) in the far northeastern corner of Washington. Mom will drop me off in a couple of days just east of the Washington–Idaho border, and from there I’ll hike into Washington to eventually reconnect with the portion I hiked last year.
We start out with a drive to Coolin, ID, at the south end of Priest Lake. In the middle of the state, there is heavy smoke from the forest fires burning near Mazama and Winthrop. Happily, there’s less smoke when we reach the tiny town of Coolin. We’ve got rooms at the Historic Northern Inn, which turns out to be an old Bed & Breakfast that is now just a Bed (no Breakfast). It’s nice enough, though, and we walk down to dip our toes in the lake.
For dinner, we skip the nearby Moose Knuckle Bar and Grill, and opt instead for Cavanaugh’s Restaurant a few minutes away. The food is fine, although the restaurant clientele makes this easily the whitest place I’ve ever been.
In the evening, I read that the forest fires have caused the Washington Department of Natural Resources to close all of their lands to recreational use, including land parcels that aren’t actually affected by fires. The DNR turns out to own a tiny bit of land on Abercrombie Mountain, which I’d expected to cross in a few days. Because the DNR land is now closed, the trail over Abercrombie is now closed, which means I’ll have to detour around it. I’m hoping that the fires don’t cause too many more problems or force an early end to the hike.
Jan’s Pacific Northwest Trail hike, day 2. Mom and I eat breakfast at Addie’s Cafe, then afterwards have coffee at Tyee Coffee down by the marina.
We drive a short distance up the east side of the lake to the Indian Creek area of Priest Lake State Park. The water’s nice, and we spend the morning swimming and lying on the shore. The sand has shiny bits of silica in it that catch the sunlight. The small camp store has just enough food options that we cobble together a picnic lunch to eat at a shaded picnic table by Indian Creek.
We’re still not willing to gamble on the food at the Moose Knuckle, so it’s back to Cavanaugh’s Restaurant for dinner.
Jan’s Pacific Northwest Trail hike, day 3. After breakfast and coffee, we head off into the wilderness. I’ve picked a drop-off spot on the PNT that’s as close as possible to the Washington–Idaho border. To reach it, we follow a road up the sparsely-populated west side of Priest Lake, eventually turning onto a long dirt road, and finally onto a thin, grassy dirt road that clearly doesn’t see much traffic. Mom and I hug goodbye, and then she drives off. I start walking west on the PNT.
The Selkirk Mountains in this part of Idaho are home to a small population of grizzly bears. This is my first time solo hiking in grizzly bear country, so for the first time I’m carrying bear spray: essentially a giant can of mace pepper spray. I’m also taking care to occasionally make noise as I walk so I don’t surprise a bear. The trail starts out crossing a valley with dense underbrush, including huckleberries and other bear food. I spot plenty of bear scat on the trail. Happily, I don’t see any animals bigger than chipmunks.
There’s a long steady climb from the valley floor to a ridge, and halfway up the climb I cross into Washington State. The lower forest is unremarkable, but once I reach the top of the ridge, it’s quite beautiful. Although the temperature today is in the 90s, up here it’s not too bad. The smoke casts a pall of haze over the landscape, so I can’t see too far into the distance, but at least the air quality is fine.
By the late afternoon I finish a long waterless stretch by reaching tiny Pass Creek. I take a break from hiking to have an early, cold dinner, then hike a few more miles before reaching a meadow that’s flat enough for me to pitch my tent. Eating long before I camp lets me completely avoid having any food smells in my campsite, which in turn helps avoid attracting bears. For good measure, I hang my food a long way off from my tent — there’s nothing like the threat of a bear visit to motivate one to do an extra-good job of securing one’s food.
Not far from my tent, there’s a tree with a small box strapped to it. This is a camera trap: a motion-activated camera that’s placed in the wilderness to collect images of the animals that pass by. The camera is pointed in the direction of my tent, so some researcher will end up with pictures of me camping. When it’s time to use the bathroom before bedtime, I take care to walk to the other side of the tree with the camera. I find what looks like a good spot — and then notice another camera trap. Glad I spotted that one, or the researcher would have had some more fun images.
The presence of the camera traps suggests the meadow I’m camped in gets a fair amount of animal traffic. Indeed, at a number of times in the night I’m woken up by noises, but nothing that bothers me.
I‘m hiking with an extremely light pack this trip, with a base weight of just 8 pounds. I’m generally happy with the weight trade-offs I’ve made, although overnight I discover that the inflatable pillow I’ve brought is very light but not very comfortable.
Jan’s Pacific Northwest Trail hike, day 4. I’d hiked longer than planned yesterday, so today I’ve got a shorter distance to cover to a campground at the south end of Sullivan Lake. Along one bit of the trail, there are butterflies that fly up the trail ahead of me. Later, after I descend to a creek, I startle three wild turkeys that make a lot of noise as they move off. There are also plenty of grouse on the ground alongside the trail, waiting until I’m almost on top of them before exploding upward in a loud flutter that never fails to freak me out.
Descending along the creek, I come across two women hikers, the first people I’ve seen in 24 hours. They’re day hikers, so I know I’m getting close to the trailhead. It’s quite warm by the time I reach the trailhead at noon, so I’m happy to be able to set up my camp and go for a swim. Swimming back to shore, a little stick pops up near me — and then the stick looks at me. It’s a snake.
After dinner, I see two hikers that look like long-distance hikers. Their names are Rachel and Cameron, and they’re thru-hiking the entire PNT in one season. These are the first PNT hikers I’ve met in three years hiking portions of the trail. In previous years, I’ve been ahead of the “bubble” made up of the bulk of the hikers that all started out around the same time. But this year it appears I’m just at the leading edge of the bubble.
Jan’s Pacific Northwest Trail hike, day 5. I’m up early to beat the expected heat and to get to Metaline Falls for lunch. The first four miles of the day are a beautiful walk along the east side of Sullivan Lake. It’s especially nice to be in shade the whole way. At one point I stop to look at the view, then something falls to the ground nearby. It happens a few more times. I can’t see what’s falling or where it’s coming from. I eventually spot some squirrels high in a tree, knocking pine cones down the ground.
North of the lake, I reach a paved road. This marks the end of the trail portion of this section of the PNT — from here, I’ll be walking on either country roads or forest service roads for the rest of the trip. The country roads are generally fine, with one exception: when passing a rural home, it’s not uncommon to have a large dog come running out barking. Some of these dogs are fairly menacing, so when I hear barking, I always hope there’s a fence somewhere keeping the dog in. That’s not always the case.
I make great time and get to Metaline Falls by 10:30 am, having hiked almost 12 miles in 3.5 hours. I check in at the Historic Washington Hotel, a hotel so old that the rooms don’t have bathrooms — there are shared bathrooms at the end of the hall. Needless to say, the hotel doesn’t have air conditioning either. The hotel clerk says she’s giving me a room on the shady side of the building, so it shouldn’t be too hot. I also pick up a box of food I’d mailed to myself in care of the hotel.
At the Farmhouse Cafe next door, I run into Rachel and Cameron, the PNT hikers I’d met yesterday. I have coffee with them while they eat a late breakfast. It’s fun to talk to people who are hiking the same trail, and I can share a bit of information about the portions of the trail they’ll hike over the next few weeks. It turns out the cafe is the only restaurant in town that’s open, so I head back there for lunch.
Rachel says that for the past few weeks on the trail, she’s been obsessed with finding a place to get pizza for dinner. She and Cameron are going to walk 2 miles to a neighboring town that has a pizzeria. Two other PNT hikers are up for the walk, but walking 4 extra miles today for pizza doesn’t seem worth it to me, so I head back to the cafe for dinner.
Afterwards I go for a walk to the town’s “Waterfall View Park” so I can see the falls for which Metaline Falls is named. While the wide, slow Pend Oreille River is beautiful, there are no falls to see. A little plaque explains that the town’s waterfall was inundated years ago by the creation of a dam north of town.
I’m reading in the hotel’s reading room when another PNT hiker named Jerry wanders in, and we spend some time chatting. Later, the group of four that had gone in search of pizza return. After walking all the way there, it turned out that the pizzeria was closed. The bar and grill next door had pizza on the menu, so they’d ordered pizza there — but the restaurant burned the pizza. Eating at the cafe was apparently the right call.
Jan’s Pacific Northwest Trail hike, day 6. I eat at the Farmhouse Cafe yet again, then check out of the hotel. I walk east on the bridge over the Pend Oreille River. Something about the river looks strange, and then I notice that the water is flowing north. All the other rivers in the area flow south — where is this one going? Later I’ll learn that the Pend Oreille is one of only a handful of rivers in the U.S. that flow north. It goes into Canada, then bends west before joining the Columbia and flowing south back into the U.S.
The highway along the Pend Oreille has good views of the river, and passes quickly enough. There are a couple of scenic spots: one has views of eagles’ nests across the river, another a view of a train trestle and dam spanning a box canyon. I get to the small town of Ione and buy lunch from the supermarket, then eat it in the shady city park on the river.
The afternoon is a long walk on a dirt road up a gentle but constant uphill grade into the Colville National Forest. The forest isn’t particularly pretty. Much of it is densely overgrown and dark. Worse, huge logging trucks that use the road kick up giant clouds of dust that settle on the verge of the forest, giving all the trees visible from the road a dull gray cast.
I’m happy to finally reach Big Meadow Lake Campground, a little oasis in the middle of the forest. There are loons calling on the lake, and deer in the woods on the shore. (There is also a herd of cows mooing on the opposite shore.)
I set up camp next to a couple that have a pop-up camper. The husband, Steve, introduces himself and, when he learns that I’m a backpacker, asks if I’d like a beer from their cooler. Yes, thank you! His wife Angela returns from a bike ride around the lake, and the three of us spend time talking at the picnic table in their site. They ask if I’d like to join them for dinner, and I’m happy to set aside my planned dehydrated backpacker meal in favor of something cooked fresh from raw ingredients.
The only other person at the campground is the camp host, an elderly man named Bill. He’s out walking his little dog, Jake, when he stops to talk. He’s surprised anyone would want to walk through this forest. He says he has to go to town tomorrow, and offers to give me a ride in. He’s baffled when I politely decline his offer.
In the evening, Steve shows me the large meadow next to the lake. On one side of the meadow, the Forest Service has reconstructed a decommissioned fire observation platform, turning into a good platform for viewing wildlife in the meadow below. This evening there isn’t much to see in the meadow, although the sky is full of birds hunting insects. Steve says these are nighthawks.
Angela insists I have some cookies for dessert, and then the two of them press me to accept the loan of two bench seat cushions from their camper to sleep on instead of my usual air mattress. I tell them they’re like magical backpacking fairies.
Jan’s Pacific Northwest Trail hike, day 7. I’ve got a very long way to go today — 24 miles to Northport, WA — so I’m up before 6:00 am and on the road as quickly as I can manage. The forest service road is busy with logging traffic this morning. At one point, Bill from the campground comes by in his truck, and he once again offers a ride into town. I decline his generous offer once again, and he’s again baffled by why anyone would be walking out here.
I walk out of the forest onto a paved road that’s heading north. For the rest of the morning, the temperature slowly climbs. I’m glad I’m carrying enough water to stay hydrated, as there’s no place to fill up here. There is, in fact, a river flowing near the road, but all access to the river is constantly blocked by barbed wire and “No Trespassing” signs. Some of the signs are decorated with pictures of guns.
As I walk north, I notice that a valley ahead is full of smoke. A small forest fire has broken out near Deep Lake ahead. All morning long, trucks carrying firefighters pass me, and firefighting planes fly overhead on their way to drop water or retardant on the fire. Luckily, the road turns west before reaching the valley of smoke.
The afternoon drags on. I’m happy to finally see the town of Northport below me when I notice a hiker coming up the side of the road. He introduces himself as “Sandman” (many long-distance hikers have trail nicknames). He surprises me by saying that he’s not just hiking the Pacific Northwest Trail, he’s hiking a far longer route called the Great Western Loop. This loop connects a chain of long-distance trails to form a giant 6,800 mile loop around the western United States. Only two people have ever hiked the route before, but it appears to be getting more popular; Sandman tells me he’s one of four people hiking the loop this year. He started hiking clockwise months ago in the Grand Canyon, so he’s roughly halfway done.
The air gets hotter and hotter as I drop into Northport. I find a little supermarket and buy a soda to parch my thirst. I’m supposed to call an AirBnB host so I can check into a tiny cottage I’ve rented for the night, but my phone company has no service in this town. I find a gas station and ask to borrow their phone, and manage to get the address and door code for the cottage. The cottage is thankfully air-conditioned, and I take a nap to recover a bit. Later, I walk a few blocks in the baking heat to the town’s post office, where I pick up some food I’d mailed to myself.
At dinnertime, I walk a block to the Riverside Grill to meet up with a couple, Tim and Gail. Tim is the writer who compiles a databook about the Pacific Northwest Trail each year, and I’ve corresponded with him several times. Since he lives not too far from Northport, he volunteered to drive up with his wife to have dinner with me.
Gail’s nice, but almost immediately after we sit down, she begins to nod off. Maybe our conversation isn’t that interesting? She comes to and apologizes: the forest fire smoke exacerbates her allergies, so she’s just taken some allergy medicine that makes her very sleepy. She fades in and out during the rest of the meal.
For his part, Tim’s happy to talk about the PNT, his work on it, and on various bits of local history. Both of them are sad that it’s been so dry this year. They have a small ornamental pond on their property that appears to be the only open water in the area. This year, they’re seeing nonstop visits from wildlife desperate to get some water.
Jan’s Pacific Northwest Trail hike, day 8. The temperature is expected to climb above 100°F today, so once again I’m up early to try to beat the heat. I get a latte from a roadside espresso stand that’s just opening up, along with a fruit pie — or “fruit” “pie” — from the gas station. I regret choosing the pie.
I walk across the bridge over the Columbia River and reenter Colville National Forest. It’s a long, dusty road walk, but a fair portion of it is in shade, and some of it is along pretty Sheep Creek. The dusty roadbed holds many cow hoofprints, as well as what look to be bear tracks.
At noon, I reach Elbow Lake, the site of a small, seldom-used campground. No one else is here. I could walk further today, but the next campground is far away, and for the rest of the day, the heat on the road will be miserable. It seems better to spend the afternoon by the lake, so I set up my tent. I spend the afternoon swimming and reading. During the times when the tent is in the shade, I nap.
Waking up from one nap, I see another person exploring the campground. He’s a hiker named Jacob (trail name: “MacGyver”), and we talk for a bit. He’s waffling over whether to press on or stay here for the night, and eventually decides to stay. We pass the afternoon sharing stories.
Jacob turns out to be another person hiking the 6,800 mile Great Western Loop. Yesterday I met “Sandman” hiking the Loop clockwise; Jacob is hiking it counter-clockwise. The two hikers have just missed the chance to meet: Jacob hiked the closed trail over Abercrombie Mountain, while Sandman hiked the detour around the mountain that I’d taken. I think it’s a little sad the two didn’t get a chance to meet on the trail.
Although Jacob’s only 21 or so years old, he’s hiked many thousands of miles, completed all three of the country’s marquee long-distance trails, and is on track to be the youngest person to hike the Great Western Loop. At this point, his hiking gear is as minimal as it gets. Since my campsite is huge, I tell him that he can set up anywhere he likes. He replies that he doesn’t really have much to set up: he tosses a bivy sack (a waterproof bag for a sleeping bag) on the ground, and a sleeping bag on top of that, and he’s done. No shelter, no mattress; he’s just sleeping on the ground.
When I cook my dinner, he explains that he doesn’t have a stove. I ask whether he cold-soaks his meals (a method of rehydrating meals that doesn’t require a stove), but he says he just eats cold snacks for dinner.
Later in the evening, I point out a pair of socks that he’s left on the ground some distance away. The brown-gray socks happen to blend in with some brown-gray lumps of moss nearby, and I thought he might overlook them. He explains that there’s no chance he would have forgotten those socks — they’re his only pair.
Jan’s Pacific Northwest Trail hike, day 9. Today Angela is picking me up at a bridge over the Kettle River, a little over 13 miles away. I suggest that Angela and I could give Jacob a ride into town so he can pick up more food. He says it’ll take just a few minutes to get ready, and indeed that’s all the time it takes for him to stuff his sleeping bag and bivy sack in his pack and put on his shoes. The morning’s forest road walk isn’t very pretty, but talking with Jacob passes the time.
Angela is waiting for us at the Kettle River. By stepping onto the bridge, I connect my footsteps from the Idaho border to the footsteps I’ve made over the last few years. There is now a trail of my footsteps leading from our home in Seattle to Idaho.
After snapping some photos, we pile into the car and drive half an hour to Kettle Falls. We head to Meyers Falls Market so Jacob can buy food, and the market turns out to have a small cafe that sells crepes, so we buy lunch as well.
When Jacob’s done with his shopping, we drop him back off at the Kettle River bridge, then begin our drive home. As we cross a bridge over the Spokane River, we can see people splashing in the water at Fort Spokane Park, so we decide to pull into the park and go for a quick swim ourselves. At dinnertime, we make a stop in Cle Elum for pizza.