I was concerned about finding water on our Labor Day weekend trip from Slate pass to north of Holman pass. Shaw Creek came through for us the first night, a light flow but plenty for filtering water or filling bottles. There’s a trail down to a campsite ¼ mile before Shaw Creek and a couple campsites a half mile to the north.
Our second night we camped in the park before Rock pass. The USGS map shows a spring that really is there. It was a popular spot, with a combination of weekend backpackers and PCT thru-hikers. (They were day hiking to the border then heading back to Slate pass since Canada has closed the border because of covid.)
Our morning day hike was a trip up the south shoulder of Holman peak. We started at the lowest point of the shoulder near Goat lakes and made it to the top except for the final 100 vertical feet or so that suddenly turned technical. It was a great view on a clear September day. We could see the North Cascades through the saddle between Shull and Powder mountains. The afternoon hike along the PCT ended at Woody pass. Another 2 miles would have been great, but we were out time -- and I was out of gas. The PCT was great, and also unnerving when traversing a painfully steep slope north of Rock pass.
The next night we camped on devil’s backbone just south of Shaw creek. There are a couple campsites further out on a path along the backbone. The vantage point was handy for surveying the valley at 1:00 AM when smoke from eastern Washington fires suddenly moved in.
Two more late season water notes: There’s a small stream and some campsites a half mile north of Windy pass. The outlet stream from Goat lakes where it crosses the PCT had plenty of water. And a caveat, a low snowpack year or a dry spring/summer might make some of these sources dry up?
Comments