The Climbing Club

For my 27th birthday weekend, Lisa and I headed out for a 3 day trip in the Rainy Pass area.

We drove out Highway 20 on a beautiful morning and pulled over on the shoulder near a sign that read "Swamp Creek," which we planned to bushwhack. My pack was even smaller than usual, and I realized I'd forgotten the tent and my hat!


After this promising beginning, we walked straight uphill and into the forest. There was no trail, but it was pretty open and we kept our ear out for the creek, following its contour but not getting too close since the brush on the banks was thick. I checked the map here and there to verify our position, and at 5000' we crossed the creek and headed upward in a steep rising traverse that led to Methow Pass.

The forest was neat, lots of mushrooms (none recognizable to me), moss, animal trails, and tracks. It was nice to get off the beaten path, so to speak.


Suddenly, we were at the pass. It was a spectacular day with views all around. We hiked the PCT a little ways, then cut uphill to reach Snowy Lakes.


Temps were really cold, probably in the 10s and 20s. The next morning we scrambled Golden Horn, almost reaching the top, but turning around because of snow on some exposed slabs. Tower Mtn, our other objective for the weekend, looked completely snowy. These are really neat looking climbs and we'll have to come back for them another year.

It reminded Lisa of the Enchantments and she took this reflection picture.


We hiked a bit down the PCT and camped again near Cutthroat Pass, sleeping on heather to add extra insulation. Everything was freezing solid, including the contact solution, so we figured it must have been about 5-10 degrees that night. Winter is coming. The larches have turned and there is a dusting of snow everywhere!



The next morning we woke up and booked it to the car via the endless switchbacks of the PCT. Lisa got us a ride from the trail head to our car, then we ate breakfast in Marblemount.

Since one day of bushwhacking wasn't enough, we decided to do more after breakfast. We explored the banks of the Cascade River in search of a good view of spawning salmon. Being from the east coast, I'd never seen this before and it was pretty awesome to see the hundreds of fish that had returned to their birthplace to lay eggs and die. It was great to get out for one more weekend before winter truly sets in!




Death.


New Life.

Thats pretty cool. On a trip in the Olympics I saw a salmon swimming in a shallow section of a stream and 4 days later on the way out it was still there in the exact same spot!

What a cool area and very accessible too! A group of us from the Mazama campout just did a hike through this area yesterday. We made it into a through-hike from Cutthroat lake TR to Rainy pass and, I agree with Lisa, it was just like a half-length Enchantments hike.

Nice guys.

Nice trip! What did you do without a tent?

for about 2 minutes, we considered whether to bail before we even started. Then we decided to just sleep out. We kept out of the wind and slept on dirt or heather for extra insulation, and used down jackets for extra loft. It worked fine, though there was frost on the sleeping bags when we woke up on the 3rd day!

Looks like good times were had all around (minus the chilly non-tent camping)

Sounds like a cool adventure. The pictures are gorgeous.

The larches, oh man! Way to stick it out without the tent.