Six day, five night SOBO (southbound) hike from Stevens Pass to Snoqualamie, largely following the PCT.
Trail is in good condition, as the hundreds of northbound hikers along the path will report. The FarOut app is excellent for tracking water sources.
A Public Transit Through-Hike
I was able to get to the trailhead using a Northwestern Trailways bus going to Amtrak's "Stevens Pass" stop (once daily; arrives 11:50 am); I was able to get home via To The Mountain shuttle (twice a day). The shuttle stops in front of Dru Bru; it was relaxing to hang out with a beer for the late afternoon and chat with other through-hikers while I waited.
PCT Through-Hikers seem to be on a mission -- I was chatting with one who explained that he refused as a matter of principle to go more than 0.2 miles off the trail.That meant that the trail itself was busy, but lots of side-trails and lakes were wide open.
Thunder Mountain Lakes. This was a very worthwhile side trip, beautiful and precious. But clearly already in trouble from being too-well loved; the ranger note at the trailhead bemoaned the loss of biodiversity. Perhaps this will soon need a permit system like the Enchantments, and for the same reasons.
Surprise Gap - Surprise Peak. While the trail from Surprise Lake to Surprise Gap is technically marked as "abandoned", it was easy to follow. The trail to Surprise Peak is clear and easy, with no exposure at all. The view from Surprise Peak was lovely.
While I've seen trip reports suggesting that there's a trail from Pieper Pass to Surprise Peak, I wasn't able to easily find the trail down. It was an easy bushwack -- but at the bottom, it was clear that some trail went up.
Spark Plug: I didn't make it up spark plug: at some point, the ridge turned a little too narrow for me as a solo hiker; with a group, I might have made it across. The trail is much less well-developed than the Surprise Peak side.
Peggy's Pond and Circle Lake: the trail from Cathedral Gap to Peggy's Pond is precarious. While Mt Daniel climbers found it unsurprising, I saw lots of hikers rather startled by a trail that had drop-offs and a short scramble with substantial exposure. Be cautious!
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