Day 144: Cutthroat Pass
Date: Sat 9/8
PCT Start Mile: 2571.9
PCT End Mile: 2598.1
PCT Mileage for Day: 26.2
Total PCT Mileage: 2598.1
The Highlights: autumn colors, Rainy Pass trail magic, and gorgeous views at Cutthroat Pass
This morning we slept in until nearly 7am, so great. The first shuttle that went to the PCT trailhead didn’t leave until 8:15am, so there was no rush. We made coffee in the room and ate our cinnamon rolls for breakfast. A little before 8am, we moseyed down to the front porch of the lodge, where hiker packs were lined up along the front rail, many hikers catching the first shuttle to the trail this morning.
By 8:15am, we were loaded up, the shuttle nearly full with hikers and a few other guests. Despite the trailhead only being 12-13 miles down the road, the shuttle there would be a little over 45 minutes, stopping at the bakery for 15 minutes and making a few other pick ups and drop offs.
The driver pointed out a few things along the drive, like the old Stehekin schoolhouse, used from the 1920s through the 1980s. The current school covers grades K-8, and after 8th grade the students go to high school in another town, where they board with relatives or other locals for the school year. She also pointed out the ranch, with cabin accommodation. Here the shuttle picked up two fly fisherman, heading down the road to catch rainbows (trout).
Back at the trail, Shawn and I threw on our packs and headed out. Homestretch!!! Let’s do this!!
We would climb gradually all day, starting through trees and bushes of autumn colors, with leaves of red, yellow, and orange lining the trail.
Around 4:30pm, we saw a sign for trail magic at Rainy Pass in one mile! Today! This was exciting, though since it was already afternoon, we didn’t get our hopes up, in case it was already over. The trail followed along Highway 20 toward Rainy Pass seemingly forever, actually closer to two miles, before it crossed the road and weaved through a dirt parking lot, where indeed there was trail magic.
The trail angel doing the magic was a man named Ed. He lived about an hour from Rainy Pass and had been doing magic here for about the past five days. He had been following some hiker’s journeys on YouTube and must have heard one or more of them mention trail magic and decided he wanted to get involved, and here he was at Rainy Pass.
Ed had a simple but wonderful spread of sodas, beer, chips, assorted brownies, candy, and cheese sticks. Shawn had a beer while I downed a Sprite, and we both shoved some of the chocolate options into our faces. I took a cheese stick to eat with my dinner later.
Still having at least 6-7 miles to go until a possible tent site, we didn’t linger long and after finishing our drinks, we thanked Ed again and were on our way. While standing at Rainy Pass, it had suddenly grown much colder and the sodas didn’t help this. Now I was bundled in my rain jacket and gloves and hiking as quickly as possible up the climbs to warm up again.
Continuing the climb, the landscape changed from the autumn colors we had hiked through much of the day to hearty green pines. The evening hiking also brought far more expansive views. Earlier in the day, the views had been a little ho-hum. Still some pretty views from time to time, but we were often in the forest or surrounded by tall bushes for much of the hike, and the skies had been kind of a dull overcast gray. Now that we had climbed higher, the trail hugged the mountainside, with wide open views to the Northern Cascades and an evening glow that lit up the sky.
Eventually, the trail topped out at Cutthroat Pass. As we approached the pass, we could see that the view on the other side was phenomenal. A stunning scene of the Northern Cascades. Suddenly all the ho-hum scenery earlier in the day had been totally worth it to climb to this point.
The trail continued to hug the mountainside, with gorgeous views at every bend. Unfortunately, as the evening grew later, it was also growing colder, and the wind along the ridges was frigid. We hurried along the trail, eventually descending along rocky switchbacks as the light began to fade from the sky.
Growing darker, we found a decent site just off the trail and hurried to set up as it grew colder. Getting into my thermals and warm layers, I ate my dinner half inside my sleeping bag in the tent. Brrrrrr…. Washington is growing very cold. I was happy to wrap up dinner so I could get fully snuggled in my warm sleeping bag. There is still a bit of wind, which I’m hoping will be gone by morning when we are packing up to head out.
The entire day was a long, gradual climb, and by the end of our 26.2 mile marathon day, we had climbed right at 7500 ft. It actually hadn’t felt that bad since most of the climbing had been gradual, and we had certainly been rewarded with some amazing views.
