Really nice Autumn hike with a dusting of snow on the ground. Not many people on the trail, a few dogs.

Really enjoyed this short trail, amazing clear views, with just one small fire down the valley.

Autumn and Winter collide!
We wished we would have brought our micro spikes and hiking poles. We were fine without them but would have made it easier hiking in some of the compact snow areas.

Snow on trail!
Bring micro-spikes and poles to help prevent slipping.
Also - we saw giant bear prints in the snow. Very cool to see that!

I have been keeping an eye on the Wildcat fire, so I decided to go see what I could see. Not much, cloudy day. I arrived at the trailhead at 7:30 a.m. to a ghost town, maybe three cars in the lot. Great day for an adventure, cold, windy, and misty, with lots of moving clouds. I had no agenda for the day, so I followed game trails to the base of Deadwood Peak, then along the ridgeline to Yakima Peak. Glorious!

Found myself in some amazing, interesting places. Lots of steeps, plenty of wet underbrush and some fun route navigation. Plenty of signs of wildlife, but everyone must have found a warm, dry spot this morning.

The parking lot was still empty by noon, but there was a steady stream of cars coming up the 410. Watch those people who are insistant on unsafe passing. 

Be safe people.

Hiking the PCT from Chinook Pass to Crystal Mtn Ski area has become a fall trek for my hiking group.  This year the weather was great except the smoky skies to the SE from the Wildcat  Forest Fire near Bumping Lake.  We dropped a car at the quite Crystal Mtn Ski area and headed up Hwy 410 to the Pass.  There were few cars on the road possibly due to Hwy 123 S being closed and the forest fire over the pass.  We did not anticipate road crews clearing debris from the road and shoulder above Tipsoo Lake that caused us a 15+ minute wait.  Two cars were in the TH lot at the pass when we pulled in at 10:00 it was 59 degrees with sunny / hazy skies.  We were in the clouds the whole drive up until we drove up from Cayuse Pass.  The vault toilets were open with no supplies and needed a serious cleaning - trash everywhere.
With the first half mile we all shed layers and were down to t-shirts. Checking weather forecasts ahead of time we thought it was going to be a high of the low 60’s. It felt more like middle 70’s when we stopped for our lunch break at 12:45. Despite heavy rain last week the trail in open areas was dry and dusty.  We crossed 50+ areas (on our 8 mile hike) where water came gushing down the hillsides creating little avalanches of loose shale rock and deep eroded areas exposing fragile roots of subalpine plants. Plant life that didn’t get uprooted was flattened like pancakes in some areas.  Trail traffic was busier than we anticipated, 2 day hikers going for Sourdough gap and 5 groups of 2 - 6 hikers completing their PCT through hikes.  All were thankful to Trail Angels who drove them from White Pass to Chinook Pass avoiding that section of closed trail. Today was not the day for extended territorial views.  Normally from Sourdough Gap you can 3 volcanoes to the south, but low clouds and hazy skies above made limited sight distance in all directions.  All the foliage and wildflowers along the trail were dried up skeletons blowing in the wind.  Chipmunks, squirrels and camp robbers greeted us throughout our hike.  On a scree slope 1 mile north of Sourdough gap a pika had a huge pile of dried plant matter built in the shape of a mound reading it’s winter midden. We took a leisurely lunch rest break on a rocky outcropping over looking Placer Lake and could see smoke curls wafting up in the SE sky. Huckleberries were ripe and sweet throughout our hike and we nibbled as we walked. At Bear Gap we headed down the Silver King trail the most direct route down the the ski area.  Loose shale combined with exposed roots had you carefully checking your foot placement in several areas for extended trail lengths.  Once we descended from Bear Gap the air felt clean work crews were er and skies more blue overhead.  We walked up Crystal’s main lodge just before 3:00 and only insight.  The Gondola was not operating and no real visitors anywhere in sight.  The bathrooms were open and we used those before heading out to drive back up to Chinook Pass to retrieve our dropped vehicle.  Another fantastic day out in nature with friends.