PCT Hiking: Stampede Pass to Blowout Mountain
Oct 13th, 2008 by Sarah
My good friend Steve (Hoosierdaddy) and I did the section of the PCT between Stampede Pass and Blowout Mountain – leaving me with about 10 or so miles left to do of this section. Will I be able to do it this year? Most likely not – it is cold up there, the ground is already frozen in many areas. Still, it was a pretty cool feeling to know how close we are to being done.
Steve and me at Stampede Pass. It was 29* out.
As always, this section of the PCT (from Chinook Pass to Snoqualmie Pass) has some awful trail markings. This lovely one? Well you couldn’t miss it.
As we climbed higher, heading South, behind us the views got better of Mt. Daniel and Stuart Mountain. The Huckleberries in this area were well over a month behind schedule and had frozen – but still tasted great. Slushy fruit bites indeed…….
Loved this “sign”:
Well…..about there I quit taking photos. To be blunt this is not a section one does for scenic value. You do it so you can simply say ‘I have done this section’. It is of course the well known section of flittering back and forth from old forest to raw clear cuts, to clear cuts 20-30 years growing back to forest so stacked with regrowth that a spark would set the whole forest off.
We hiked a shy 18 miles to Blowout Mountain for the day, then hooked off onto trail 1318, then onto 1388 and headed down. Our goal was a spring on the backsid, which we found. We made camp in a copse of trees on the edge of a meadow. Farther down/up 1388 was another water source – a spring and a meadowy pond. The camp there was even nicer. The moon came out that night and it was so bright one could lay there and read with it. It was also very cold. I was happy I had a very good sleeping bag with me. We walked about 18 1/2 miles and gained maybe 4800 ft gain. It was a long day indeed.
Steve in camp in the morning after we broke camp.
The meadow/bench below our camp. The ridge to the right was covered in snow. We encountered snow periodically above 4500 ft or so. More icey than snow – it is cold enough now that the snow does not melt.
Trail 1388 taking off from camp – it heads to the low gap.
At the gap is a multi intersection. Only 1388 and 943 are marked. Hiker beware here – if one wants to get back to the PCT they do much better to turn around and go back to Blowout Mountain junction. The trail 943B mentioned on Green Trails map Lester 239 is NOT accurate. It is out of date and the trail has changed.
We decided to take 943B, Little Bear Trail. The trail goes down then up to another gap. It then shoots down and down to the valley floor where one encounters this old cabin (fully stocked inside…..well, if it had a roof it would be ok……)
I did not care for that cabin at all. As we were looking around I nearly stepped on a large rabbit. That was headless. Most likely Steve and I interruppted a coyote having breakfast.
The trail shoots back up and then traverses the hill side. It eventually reaches an old logging road that then promptly connects to FS 784 coming up from Eastern Washington. If one wanted they could take a right onto 784 and reconnect to the PCT not far up (At the junction of 784 and FS 7038).
This is where we ended our hike though – we had done what our goals were with our time we had alloted. I will come back up here and get dropped off at some point and finish my walk to Goverment Meadows. It was a good walk and a workout indeed!
~Sarah
