8/30/17 – Glacier Lake
Day 128
Miles: 2,425.33 to 2,447.70
Total miles hiked: 1,806.66
The smoke lifted overnight and for a change it was easy to breathe. I appreciated the clean air, we had 6,000 feet to climb over the course of the day, and it was much easier task without the wall of smoke surrounding us. Not only was breathtaking easy but finally we had a chance to appreciate the beauty of our surroundings.
Views returned
Today the trail took us to several places we visited before like Cathedral Pass which we hiked to when climbing Mt. Daniel, or the intersection with Marmot Lake where we took a quick break last year on our way to Jade Lake. It was nice to connect the dots though on the PCT as the previous times we arrived to them on different trails.
Fabulous lunch spot by a waterfall
The last stretch of the day was especially beautiful. Hiking down from Piper Pass was painfully slow due to the terrain but we were walking in the middle of alpine beauty with tall walls towering directly above our heads and a view of Glacier Peak in the distance.
You can see the cloud of smoke from Jolly Mt fire. Very sad.
The site where we wanted to camp was a bust. Seasonal creek that we relied on for water was not quite running and the only good site was already taken. So we pushed little further and camped at Glacier Lake which was much more attractive destination.
Little buddy that hanged out with us at Glacier Lake