9/11/17 – Over Hart’s Pass

Day 139
Miles: 2,604.08 to 2,625.28

Total miles hiked: 1,984.26
It was another rather cold morning when we started with all layers on. The trail sloped gently downhill, it was easy on our legs but it did little to warm us up.

Finally after few miles of hiking we dropped to a creek and once we crossed it, our first and most intense uphill of the day started. It was a 2,600 climb, through a forest first to Granite Pass and later we switchbacked open slope with many good views.

Views continued when we crested. Amazing mountains, ridgeline after ridgeline, as far as eye can see. There was smoke too, unfortunately. We saw a huge mushroom cloud of smoke from the Chelan fire first, even from some distance it looked significant, and higher up we also got a view of the Indian Fire smoke that burns about 10 miles east of the trail. 
I’ve heard a lot about Heart’s Pass and the fantastic scenery it leads to. Today, finally, I had a chance to see it on my own eyes. Timing was good, we arrived at the Pass at lunch time, and ate enough to muster energy for the 800 foot climb that follows. 

Most of our afternoon was traversing open slopes with occasional larches dotting the hillsides. The trail alternated between smooth dirt and rocky sections and sometimes the views distracted us enough that we stumbled over a rock or a root.
Another day closer to finish line. Tomorrow is our day 140 and if things go well, we will cross our 2,000 mile mark. It still hard to believe that we walked that distance.