PCT Section J

70 miles, 16,000 ft of elevation gain, 4.5 days

8/28/2024 - 9/1/2024

My second thru-hike and Meredith's first! We hiked from Snoqualmie Pass to Stevens Pass!! It has been a couple of months now, and yet that sentence still feels unreal.

Day 1: marmots & meadows & mountain goats

Snoqualmie Pass' Commonwealth Basin Trailhead to camp at a pond

15.79 miles, 4,200 ft gain

It was a chilly morning, starting our hike at 8:40AM. We hiked through the old growth forest, talus fields, and meadows before taking a break at the famous Kendall Katwalk.

Tragedy struck here, when I attempted to take a whole family-sized bag of BBQ chips out of the bear can and popped the bag. Orange chips exploded into the can and we ate chips straight out of the bear can for the rest of the trip.

Not far past Kendall Katwalk, we were treated to beautiful views of Alaska Lake. I had hiked and run to the Kendall Katwalk area three times before, but we were now officially the furthest either of us had ever been on this trail!

Some of the switchbacks were pretty steep, with exposure that might stress out someone afraid of heights. Luckily Meredith and I are brave now.

The wildlife in this zone was abundant: marmots, pika, and even mountain goats! We didn't know mountain goats could even be found this close to Snoqualmie Pass. We stumbled upon a whole family of them! This was Meredith's first time seeing a mountain goat, which made for a spectacular morale boost.

The terrain was gorgeous, but the last few miles were very rocky and tiring. We originally wanted to camp near Spectacle Lake, but stopped at a convenient pond to end our first day in the daylight. This was a good decision, because though gorgeous, the descent to Spectacle Lake is quite steep. This side trip is not worth it, in my opinion, unless you take some time off hiking to enjoy the lake and make the elevation loss worth your time and effort.

Crazy day 1!

Day 2: despite the stats, this was the hardest day

Pond camp to pond camp

12.49 miles, 2,884 ft

We had a peaceful, leisurely morning... which meant we didn't start hiking until after 10AM... which meant we did the climbs in the heat.

Spectacle Lake was absolutely gorgeous. I'd love to come back to spend some time down at the lake itself!

We had an early lunch at lovely Delate Creek Falls, chatting with fellow hikers. One of them warned that the next section was a burn zone which could get pretty hot. That got us moving again soon after!

The burn zone was pretty, but it definitely was warm.

We really lucked out with weather during our trip. The berries were peaking and no rain!

Another day of nonstop views.

The dry, steep switchbacks up to the pond were really, really hard in the heat. We debated continuing on to push our mileage for the day, but we were feeling pretty beat and wanted to set up camp in the light. Camping was prohibited for the next couple of miles after the pond due to the fragile alpine zone of the ridge.

As a result, camping at the pond was by far our busiest campsite of the whole trip. Even midweek, every single site was taken. There were definitely more people camping there than was probably sustainable for the site, but the location is simply a bottleneck– the pond is located right after a difficult climb and right before a camping ban. We did our best to choose a sustainable site and follow all Leave No Trace Principles.

Though crowded, the site was absolutely gorgeous. The sky was a beautiful blue and pika were squeaking from the talus behind the pond.

Meredith and I would wind down by reading every night, which was really lovely! A bit of extra weight, but I appreciated having a physical book to relax with.

Crazy day 2!

Day 3: ridge camps only

Pond ridge camp to ridge camp near Cathedral Pass

18.24 miles, 3,214 ft

We woke up early, learning from yesterday's folly, and were treated to a spectacular sunrise. The sunlight glowed on the cliffs behind our campsite. We packed up quickly, eager to start moving and beat the heat of the day. It was going to be warm!

The ridge was beautiful and passed quickly.

We hiked down a valley where we took a brief food break. Meredith opened a new knife that neither of us could figure out how to close. We ended up wrapping it in a bandana and putting it in the bear can to deal with later...

We hiked back up to another ridge to camp. This site was gorgeous, but had no water. We were already at 18+ miles for the day and water was 3.5 miles away, downhill. We decided to call it here and enjoy another beautiful ridge camp.

Crazy day 3!

Day 4: fell in a stream (that's showbiz, baby)

Ridge camp near Cathedral Pass to meadow camp

18.20 miles, 3,457 ft

After another early start, we hiked towards water. Since our supply was limited, we would wait to make breakfast at the stream. We thought this would be fine since it was 3.5 miles downhill, but we still managed to bonk. The previous days' cumulative efforts seemed to be taking their toll.

We finally made it to the stream, after what felt like a million years. We crossed easily. Then, when I went back down to fill up a pot for breakfast, I stepped on a slippery rock and manage to douse myself up to my ribs.

It felt kind of refreshing, but I did land hard on my dominant hand which made holding heavy items difficult for about a day.

We ate breakfast, chugged water, and I dried off. We sent a few inReach messages to our partners and then it was time to move again!

We had a snack break at a sparkling lake and met a couple that was starting their hike from Stevens. They overpacked on food and offloaded some extra freeze dried meals to us. This was a nice morale boost, because we were a little worried about running out of food. We ended up not needing the extra meals and just making it, which I guess means we had packed perfectly!

We got a really good view of Glacier Peak from the trail. It was fun to see, especially because Glacier is a remote peak and not as easily viewed as Rainier or Baker. And it's always exciting to see a mountain you've previously climbed.

Terrain is starting to look more Stevens-like!

Beautiful sunset at this busy camping lake.

Lots of squeaking creatures in these rocks.

We left the beautiful open scenery to a peaceful, quiet meadow camp. This was our last night and the first campsite we've had totally to ourselves all trip!

Crazy day 4!

Day 5: I can't believe we walked from Snoqualmie to Stevens Pass

Meadow camp to Stevens Pass Ski Resort!

11.23 miles, 1,955 ft

Meredith and I were zooming today! We were very, very excited to be done with freeze died meals and running blocks and to have lunch in Stevens Pass.

It was so exciting to see the lifts!

It felt we were running up the switchbacks. We got service near the top of the ridge and let Greg and Alex know we were getting close!!

The sign!! We made it!!!

Gotta say it... 4.5 crazy days!

I'm so grateful to experience these beautiful places, for Meredith's partnership (so encouraging, so strong!), for our supportive partners Greg and Alex, the unconditional love of my dog Max, and the time to experience trips like these.

Months later, my brain still has not fully processed this incredible trip.

Tips:

• Plan your days based around elevation gain rather than mileage. Hiking PCT Section J feels like you're constantly either going up or down a mountain pass. The trail is very rarely flat for long. You'll want to find a campsite that makes the most sense based on the terrain, and not just reach your arbitrary daily mileage goal halfway up a steep climb with no water.
• The FarOut/Guthooks app is extremely helpful and worth the cost. It was really nice to be able to plan campsites around how we were feeling based on the app's elevation maps and water source locations.