This was a rather crazy idea, but, after trying last year I had to try it again. The idea was to hike this section of trail in two days. The first try attempted to use buses for both start and finish, but getting home by bus was a loser, so I drove my car to Snoqualmie Pass, parked it and rode a bicycle back to Seattle on Saturday. Then I took the only bus to Stevens Pass on Sunday and began hiking around 1:30pm, it was warm and nice. So last year, 1998, I again did the hike, never ran out of lemonade and generally knew the trail better so finished feeling less trashed than the year before.

It was a beautiful afternoon, it wasn't too hot, yet stayed warm all the way to Deception Lakes, 18miles(29km), where I spent the first night. This took seven hours, and I arrived tired but not toasted. I trotted downhills most of the way, which is why it didn't take very long. There were two climbs, with the last at the very end of the day under an almost cloudless sky. You first hike climbing up and over the ski resort, but it hardly spoils the view. The next valley had power lines, but these are soon gone around the corner as you gain a ridge and hike westerly toward Surprise Lake. This time I jogged less, learning from before that it costs you late in the day, and how the legs feel in the morning, instead, I developed a stride with less impact but still fairly fast, I also took ski poles, which help balance through the territory so add another quarter mile per hour to your speed.

Josephine Lake, on the right, is first to let you know the country ahead, deeply set in a steep walled valley, yet the forest is thick at this moderate altitude. It's deep blue and transparent near shore. The trail then meanders in forest for a few miles coming to Mig Lake, below, a gathering of small lakes and meadows set on top of a saddle; very much the alpine zen garden. Then begins a long valley to Trap Lake. This climb was mainly in forested trail, with great views as the miles went on toward the col overlooking Surprise Lake. After the col, the downhill is steep and loses 600feet of vertical before turning south to Pieper Pass.

Surprise Lake fills almost a mile of valley, and as you climb around the valley wall, you gain a view of Glacier Lake. This was a quiet part of the valley, just birds, insects and the wind. Climbing up from the lake you get full views to the north for miles, with Thunder Mt. stealing your eye with its powerful shapes near twilight. Then two quick miles downhill with a bit of time using the headlight. By the time I had purified some water and eaten I remember nothing else. Bang, out like a light. Woke up around 6am but of course couldn't just get up. So, I left by 7:10 or so. Last year the camping spots were all full when I got to Deception Lakes, so kept wandering down the trail next to the outlet stream until I found a place to purify water and where it also had room to camp. This spot was a little cooler because it was closer to the creek.