| 2½ Warm Days on the Pacific Crest Trail...continued | |||||
The climb to Spectacle Lake begins with a definite shift in direction up a creek canyon. You climb steeply for almost two miles to the junction with the lake trail, with a better view from above. I kept climbing through here until I was almost to the high point above the lake and polished some food and water. That helped, and getting warmed up went OK so I was soon on the descent to Park Lakes. There is water on the trail a mile above the lake, the next water is Ridge Lake, nine miles which can be very hot. The valley beyond fades into Kachess valley. I climb the long traverse to a col overlooking the Gold Creek valley headwall, Chikamin Ridge.
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© Thomas Mallard, 1997 |
There is enough breeze that this hot spot isn't too hot. The view is really planetary, very alpine, and ahead is one of the most alpine of hiking trail traverses in the world for over three miles of the ridge. It's now eight miles to Ridge Lake and the entire way is a traverse of this huge valley cirque. The first part is on Chikamin, then Huckleberry Mt., a dark red rock. You go high up valley above Joe Lake, then a climb to the next traverse of Alaska Lake with Ridge Lake at its' uphill end. You can see most of this from anywhere on the trail; it's a unique visual treat on a clear day.
I was running out of gas, but after taking on water at Ridge Lake and pushing it climbing out of there and away from the mosquitos, I managed to hang on a while and finally ate my last carbos, no more food. My feet ached, legs seemed in better shape. With no desire to stop, I walked out the light and used a headlamp for only about a hour, which seemed like three, and got to the car and fig bars at 9:45pm, 14.5 hours and 30 miles or a little over. Next time I won't forget the bug stuff or more lemonade, it'll be something else.
© 1997 Tom Mallard