Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail

Born in Everson, Alan Fritzberg graduated from WSU, University of Wisconsin and Wesleyan University in chemistry, worked as a radiopharmaceutical chemist at the universities of Colorado and Utah, co-founded a biotechnology company in Seattle in 1984 and returned to Whatcom County in 2006. He’s explores our wonderful state on foot as much as possible.

This year’s backpacking trip was to have been the one for me to complete my goal of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) across Washington state. While Interstate 5 takes 275 miles to connect the Columbia River and the Canadian Border, the PCT wends its way for about 510 miles to do the same following the spine of the Cascade Mountains.

Along with a college friend and sometimes also with his brother, I have been hiking trail segments of the PCT for a number of summers ranging from as little as 31 miles from White Pass to Chinook Pass to as many as 75 miles from Potato Hill north of Mt. Adams hiking southward to the Wind River Research Station north of the Columbia River. The remaining segment this past summer, 2008, was the long one between Stevens Pass and Rainy Pass at 120 miles.

The idea of the Pacific Crest Trail has been traced back to a local student, Miss Catherine Montgomery, at Western Washington College of Education in 1926, according to Joseph T. Hazard in his book, “Pacific Crest Trails” (Superior Publishing Co.). That idea, which came from her reading of the “Long Trail of the Appalachians,” was told to Joseph T. Hazard who passed it on to the Mt. Baker Club.

The idea then spread to other mountain clubs and, in 1928, Fred W. Cleator, supervisor of recreation for Region 6 (Oregon and Washington) of the U. S. Forest Service, proclaimed and initiated work on the Cascade Crest Trail connecting the Canadian border to the Columbia River. Further efforts of Cleator resulted in the Skyline Trail across Oregon State.

The U. S. Forest Service Region 5 in California did not follow Cleator’s efforts and it remained for Clinton C. Clarke of Pasadena, California, to push for a continuous “wilderness” trail from Mexico to Canada. He became the first president of the Pacific Coast Trail System Conference representing all three states, and beginning in 1935 published a somewhat sketchy guidebook to the PCT.

It wasn’t until 1968 that Congress passed the National Trails System Act and created a Citizens’ Advisory Council for the PCT. At that time the Forest Service presented a draft trail plan, and the development of the PCT, as we now know it, came into being. In 1973 the route was published in the Federal Register.

While gaps in the trail and rerouting has since been taken care of, efforts have continued to this day to transfer remaining private land sections to public ownership. As an example, over 9,000 acres were acquired through a coalition of conservation groups in the Alpine Lakes area in 2003 and efforts are ongoing to purchase more private timberland along the trail near Stampede Pass.

Mark Larabee, writing in The Oregonian in October 2008, cited a comment attributed to Liz Bergeron, executive director of the Pacific Crest Trail Association: “While the Appalachian Trail has received $190 million in federal funds for land acquisition, the PCT has received only $10.5 million.”

Trail standards were set for the Pacific Crest Trail, which required additional effort to link older trails into one long trail. Besides staying close to the crest of the Sierras and Cascades, the grade was not to exceed 15 percent for equestrian use. Complying with the grade limitation increased the overall distance as more switchbacks or detours around ridges were needed. We experienced such a comparison where the PCT climbs steeply up Pieper Pass on an old Cascades Crest Trail section in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area south of Stevens Pass.

The final length of the PCT is 2,650 miles from Mexico to Canada ranging from a low elevation of less than 100 feet at the Bridge of the Gods crossing the Columbia River to 13,153 feet at Forester Pass in the Sierra Nevada.

Each year about 300 through-hikers attempt to hike north from Mexico starting around the beginning of April. Of these hikers, about 180 start to appear in Washington in mid- to late-August. Slower hikers have to hope they aren’t caught by early fall snowstorms in September or early October.

Scott Williamson is a “yo-yo” hiker, having twice hiked the 5,300 miles in both directions averaging 35 to 40 miles per day when not on snow. We met him on his way south after touching Monument 78 at the Canadian border. Chatting with him, I was surprised that he had time to talk with us before carrying on to Mexico.

Considering the distance covered by the through-hikers, the 450 miles and over 30 days of hiking the PCT trail that I have done in Washington seems trivial. It really has been a significant experience. My only complaint would be that our pace has been too fast thus limiting the savoring of special spots along the trail.

The PCT strives to follow the crest of the Cascade Mountains across Washington state. However, there isn’t a simple crest line in the Cascade Mountains.

For example, last summer we enjoyed hiking the trail traversing the base of Mt. Adams with views of the rugged north facing Adams Glacier around to the west side of the mountain facing White Salmon Glacier. The trail then turned west for about 20 wooded miles to catch another crest line running south through the mainly forested Indian Heaven Wilderness area with its many beautiful lakes and glorious huckleberry picking.

This section was mostly forest ranging between 4,000 and 5,000 feet in elevation with the occasional view of Mt. Adams to the northeast (according to our guide as we only saw gray). As we hiked higher we entered the cloud layer. The ridge narrowed in places such that when the trail was on the windward west side of the ridge, the cloud condensate rained on us and created puddles. A short distance away on the east side, the trail was completely dry.

North of Mt. Adams, the trail goes through the spectacular Goat Rocks Wilderness area reaching the second highest point of the PCT in Washington state at 7,080 feet in elevation as it traverses the Packwood Glacier. Our experience crossing the highpoint was hiking at cloud level, disappointing for long views, but memorable for walking a ridge that allowed one to see far down steep mountainsides on both sides of the trail at the same time.

North of U. S. Highway 12, the trail passes lakes and views of Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier for 30 or so miles to Chinook Pass, more if you misread a trail junction sign and don’t realize it for two off-PCT miles. Leaving beautiful alpine Chinook Pass, Mt. Rainier looms above you as you walk a ridge looking down on the Crystal Mountain Ski Area.

Only a short distance farther north the trail begins dodging clearcuts, sometimes skillfully jumping from one young forest area to another. Reaching Stampede Pass, well known for its inclusion in weather reports from the Cascades, we enjoyed some of the best huckleberry picking ever (I feel like I need to wear a rear-end sticker — I stop for berries).

Not having hiked around the Snoqualmie Pass area, I had no idea that the northward PCT would lead one up to a ridge leaving the traffic noise of Interstate-90 behind via the blasted out Kendall Katwalk ledge and into views of alpine lakes and sheer granite faces. We had entered the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area and this 70-mile stretch to Stevens Pass was one of the most scenic of the trail.

While traversing Chickamin Ridge, about 15 miles northeast of Snoqualmie Pass, we met two 79- and 80-year-old codgers having lunch along the trail. They may have been in flannel shirts and carrying Trapper Nelson packs nearly as old as I am, but I’ve not seen a couple of guys enjoying themselves more than they were. Needless to say, I’ve carried that inspirational memory with me ever since.

The PCT comes to an end with the 70 miles from Rainy Pass to the Canadian border. Although we were threatened by forest fires, the winds benevolently carried the smoke away from us. We enjoyed rugged scenery as we made our way along the east side of the Cascade Mountain divide to 6,198 foot elevation Harts Pass, just below 7,400 foot Slate Peak, both connected by road.

Just north of Slate Peak, the trail contoured along a ridge with panoramic views across the north Cascades to Mt. Shuksan, Mt. Baker and the rugged Picket Range. Once more we enjoyed miles of hiking in wilderness, this being the Pasayten Wilderness area.

Near the border we circled up and over an unnamed summit at the end of Lakeview Ridge at 7,160 foot elevation, the highest point of the Washington state PCT. From there it was down valley to Monument 78 at the border and another eight miles to the highway at comfortable Manning Park Lodge where we discovered that the bus service did not run every day.

Hiking the PCT trail for several hundreds of miles provides opportunities for the obvious appreciation of mountains for their varied forests as you plod up and up and over passes, the always amazing alpine flowers and the geological variety making up the Cascade Mountains.

There is also the challenge of planning the days that sometimes involve extra miles to water sources or campsites. Twenty-mile gaps such as between Blowout Mountain and Stampede Pass exist between reliable sources of water in late summer. There is also time to appreciate the effort our predecessors expended to create trails, link them for longer trips and finally to enable us to hike across our state, and, for those really ambitious hikers, to hike from Mexico to Canada.

The section of the PCT between Stevens and Rainy passes includes the most remote wilderness found on the three-state trail — the Glacier Peak Wilderness area.

I had wanted to hike this section earlier, but the deluge of October 2003 had dropped up to 10 inches in one day in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, washing out eight major bridges, hundreds of feet of the PCT and access roads. The damage to the Mt. Baker, Glacier Peak and Skagit River drainages in Whatcom, Skagit and Snohomish counties was estimated at over $10 million. The estimate for trail damage alone was $4.2 million according to U.S. Forest Service personnel.

Each year since 2003 I have reviewed reports for repairs to the trails and roads and replacement of bridges. Funds for repairs have taken years to amass and the repair and replacement progress really didn’t start until the last few years.

In the meantime we had completed the remainder of the Washington PCT. My hiking buddy Jim and I decided to do the long section this past summer. The 2008 summer report was that the PCT trail bridge over the Suiattle River had not been replaced and that trail washouts still existed south of the Suiattle River.

Our late spring and the late melting of the snowpack in 2008 delayed setting a date for the hike. Additionally, a major bridge over Agnes Creek near High Bridge at the end of the road connecting the trail with Stehekin had yet to be completed. That critical connection was completed by August.

Following the damage of 2003, the forest service had designated a hikers’ detour route east of Glacier Peak, which we were resigned to taking (http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/wenatchee/conditions/pct/PCT-trail-detour.pdf.) Hiking south, the detour began south of Suiattle Pass and just beyond Miners Creek. It went over Buck Creek Pass and down to the end of Chiwawa Road at Trinity, an old mining town.

Then after three and one-half miles of walking on the road, the detour crossed the Chiwawa River and climbed over Little Giant Pass, down to Napeequa River, up and over Boulder Pass and across the south side of Glacier Peak to Indian Pass to meet the official PCT. The detour distance totaled about 50 miles.

We left Rainy Pass heading south as another August storm ended. As we dropped down toward High Bridge north of Stehekin the vegetation dried off and we enjoyed tasting ripe serviceberries as we crossed avalanche chutes. We were taken aback by the sound of a black bear and her cub going up a tree along the trail when they were surprised by our sudden presence. After backing up and waiting for what we thought was a safe time, we continued on and camped by the Stehekin River near the end of the road from Lake Chelan.

Early the next morning we crossed the brand new bridge across the Agnes Creek. We encountered through-hikers who said they had been able to negotiate the original PCT along the west side of Glacier Peak. This raised the question of taking the detour vs. the official route.

These hikers had negotiated the unrepaired trail washouts, two to three miles of windfall trees (211 by one hikers’s count), and a crossing of the rushing glacial Suiattle River on a log. Brave or foolish hikers claimed to have walked the log across the river while others said they sat on it and scrunched their way across it, like an inchworm. That method appeared manageable except for the broken limb that required getting one’s leg over it while wearing a full pack and listening to a roaring river underneath.

As we passed Suiattle Pass and approached the junction of the detour and official PCT, Jim declared that negotiating the log and limb over the Suiattle River was too risky for him. We climbed the 3,000 feet of Buck Creek Pass seeing only enough of Glacier Peak to imagine the spectacular view possible of the mountain from the pass.

After an easy descent to Trinity, the road walk and fording of the Chiwawa River, we began the 3,800-foot climb of Little Giant Pass. After an initial climb via switchbacks, the trail dispensed with such ways of gaining altitude more easily with a backpack and climbed mostly straight up the mountain. Further up we negotiated trail with overgrown alder and a rock face guided by cairns. The last stretch to the top of the pass was along a trail that was more of a trace than one usually cut out of the side of the hill.

We camped at the top of the pass at 6,500 feet with scenic views of the 8,602-foot Clark Mountain and Napeequa Valley below. Before going to sleep I read outloud a description of the next trail section from the PCT detour handout. “This is the most difficult trail on the detour. Climbing out of the Napeequa is steep, rocky and rough. Some sections have very narrow tread with steep side hill exposure … .”

In the morning, Jim said that he hadn’t slept and that he was “outta here,” a disappointing finish to our trip about half way through our distance to Stevens Pass. I couldn’t argue with his decision, as there were real factors of exposure and risk on the detour trail.

Affirming Jim’s decision was the description given by Joe Swank from the journal of his hike through this section in 2007 from the PCT Association Web site:

“The hike started with us finishing off the climb up Boulder Pass and then we dropped down to the Nepeequa River. This was followed by hands down the most challenging climb of this whole adventure up Little Giant trail. We are on an alternate to the PCT and therefore it does not have to meet the PCT’s 15 percent grade required for equestrians. This trail was steep, narrow and exposed the whole 2,500 feet, and definitely more than 15 percent grade! It kicked my butt and I have been out here doing this for five months!”

Many PCT hikers have been left with questions about how, five years after the heavy rains of fall 2003, the official trail hasn’t been repaired or improvements made to the detour trail. Why are we still waiting? What are the issues on funding the repairs? Who is making the decisions?

Mike Dawson, trail operations director for the Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA), explained that multiple factors have been at work. Over many years, USFS appropriations have been dropping. Simultaneously, the forest service budget has been consumed more and more by fighting forest fires, now estimated at 50 percent, up from 20 percent 20 years ago. They no longer have in-house capabilities for efforts such as bridge building, and time and money are spent letting contracts and doing environmental reviews.

More recently, progress is being made with additional funding for repairs of both roads and trails in the area that has been secured by Senator Patty Murray through the ERFO (emergency relief of federally owned roads) program. Dawson added that his PCTA organization and Washington Trails Association are helping to pick up the slack on much trail maintenance with the PCTA contributing 60,000 hours per year and the WTA 75,000 hours per year.

Gary Paull, wilderness and trails coordinator for the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, agreed with Dawson that funds have been a major factor, although saying that they do have the needed money now. He outlined the timeline: getting authority to apply for ERFO funds in 2004, submitting applications in 2005 and getting funding in 2006.

While Mt. Rainier National Park damages from the 2006 floods were repaired with appropriations money, the USFS has not had any funds from that source. He indicated that Congressman Norm Dicks has also been helpful in awarding of the ERFO funds. Paull noted that these funds are limited to bridges, new trails to the bridges and access roads and would not cover trail cleanup and repair.

Paull described the replacement of the Suiattle River bridge as particularly complicated. A new site had been determined and a new bridge built to bring into that site. The bridge was completed in December 2006, but the flood of November 2006 washed the site away. However, the 2006 flood also washed out trees down to bedrock revealing a better site that’s much more likely to be flood-proof.

Moreover, the pre-built bridge will fit the newest site. An environmental study is being done now with a plan for installation of the bridge next summer. Besides the bridge work, three and a half miles of new trail is required for connection to the bridge. A benefit of the new trail is that it avoids Vista Creek, another trouble spot. Paull indicated that the new Suiattle River bridge is likely to cost about $500,000.

Meanwhile the replacement of the bridge across Milk Creek is in process. With a history of wiped out bridges, including a pre-1993 bridge destroyed by the weight of snow and a 1993 new bridge destroyed by the 2003 storm, the installation of the latest bridge is underway and will be finished next summer.

Peter Forbes, district ranger for the Darrington Ranger District, indicated that access is complicating the work because several of the roads approaching the Glacier Peak Wilderness area including Suiattle River Road and Whitechuck River Road are still washed out in multiple places.

Both the bridge replacement and the removal of windfall logs will be a big task complicated by the requirement that the use of power tools is prohibited in wilderness areas and much of the windfall is old-growth large diameter logs. Variances are being sought for rock drills and helicopter delivery of the new larger bridges. Use of chainsaws and a trail machine are also being considered for cleanup of the worst trail section of windfall logs.

Warning us in the guidebook, The Pacific Crest Trail — Volume 2: Oregon and Washington (Wilderness Press, paperback, 2000) by Jeffrey Schaffer and Andy Selters, are multiple accounts of lost bridges in the Glacier Peak Wilderness area as exemplified by the lost bridge over Milk Creek northwest of Glacier Peak: “A log crossing existed in 1973 but was replaced with a $40,000 ‘permanent’ bridge in 1974. This bridge, however, was wiped out by an early-summer avalanche in 1975. Another bridge was built, but there’s no guarantee that a bridge will be there when you reach the creek.”

As mentioned above, there now have been two more bridges in that location since the time referred to by Schaffer and Selters in their PCT guide.

I did not complete the Columbia River to Canadian Border PCT this year as I had hoped. In my disappointment, I felt there must be someone or the government to blame for not getting repairs completed to the iconic PCT trail in the Glacier Peak area in the five years since the major flooding.

In follow-up discussions with people in charge of the area and responsible for restoring the trail, I now better understand the extent of the damage, the difficulty and scale of the repairs and the steps the USFS Darrington has had to go through to fund and carry them out. I have also come to appreciate that in the Glacier Peak Wilderness area, nature is the final determining factor. §