Park Lakes Backpacking Trip: September 1-2, 2012

I finally finished processing my first set of photographs. I started with close to 300 photographs, parsed that down to 26 that were even worth saving (I think I need to learn to shoot better shots) and out of that about 10 or 11 worth spending post processing, or as I shall refer to from here on out. . .making pretty. 

In a future post  I may take a few of the processed shots and post the RAW formats (if I still have them) and explain what I did and why I did it. It would also be nice to get the advice of a few people to tell me what I did right or wrong with some of these shots. 

This was a Labor Day weekend backpacking trip that I actually spent a fair amount of time freaking out about. My wife wanted me to organize a backpacking trip over Labor Day weekend. That is not as easy as it sounds. The hike cannot be too difficult because Kyra is a fairly strong hiker, she can't carry much weight  or over steep terrain and last time I went backpacking with her (Bean Peak) my pack ended up being around 70lbs. So what if there was a 12" cast iron skillet and five pounds of cookie dough. The point is, it was heavy.

My biggest fear about planning this hike was that no matter where we went it would be crowded as hell because of the holiday weekend. Que fights, cursing, hiking books being tossed, and TOPO software being abused. After several days of research I realized that I had the answer all along.

Some history first

In 2009 I joined up with a subgroup of the Seattle Mountaineers called the PCT Series. The goal of the series is to day hike all of the sections of the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington State. To accomplish that goal required some funky logistics. We would meet on some random forest service road at 5:00AM. Figure out car shuttles which involved following one car further into the middle of nowhere where the PCT intersects random forest service road. After dropping off our pickup cars we would all pile into the remaining cars and head off in the other random direction, driving for an hour or more until we came to another tiny intersection between trail and road.

After all of this, we would start hiking around 8:00 or 9:00AM. Even then, half the time we weren't on the PCT yet. More often than not we would  hike for a few miles along some spur trail that would eventually intersect the PCT. Then we would book it along the PCT for 10ish miles toward the cars.

While often exhausting, these were some of the most rewarding day hikes I have ever done. The Pacific Crest Trail is magnificent. Some of the best views in the state, dare I say in the country, can be found here. For those of you not familiar with the PCT, the basic idea is you hike along the crest of the Cascade Mountains (a sub-chain of the Rocky Mountains) from Mexico to Canada. This means that you are nearly always at the top of the specific mountain you happen to be hiking on.   This allows for nearly constant 360 degree breathtaking views.

The PCT group at Mineral Creek Trailhead (2009)

One time we decided to get a bit rambunctious. We wanted to do a 20/20 weekend; that is two 20 mile days back to back. The plan was to park one set of cars at Snoqualmie Pass (the trailhead for Kendall Katwalk) and then drive east on I-90, through Roslyn, around Cle Elum Lake AND Little Kachess Lake to a little known, and little used trail called Mineral Creek. All-in-all, it was about 60-70 miles, most of which was done between 30 and 40 mph.

From left to right, Chris Caviezel (a.k.a Hummingbird), Joel, and Beekeeper.

It had rained the night before, and the forecast called for more rain later in the day so we were in a race against the clock. The 90 minute car shuttle didn't help. Neither did the fact that to the best of my knowledge, the trail had never been maintained after the first mile or so. We bushwhacked through wet, dense foliage for nearly 5 miles before we intersected with the PCT, and coincedently, saw the sun for the first time. After drying off a bit and changing shoes (I changed into sandals) we commenced our official trip along the Pacific Crest Trail!

No Pants, a PCT thru-hiker who did the entire thing in a skirt

This part of the PCT meanders around a beautiful mountain basin beneath Four Brothers, Chikamin Peak, Huckleberry Mountain, around Joe Lake, Alaska Mountain and Alaska Lake and then finally crosses the Kendall Katwalk before entering a knee jaring 3,000ft descent over 5 miles.

I'm pretty sure this is Alaska Mountain, but it's been 3 years.

We made it to the Katwalk just in time to see the storm clouds approach and slam into the mountainside. It was pouring rain, getting dark quickly and we still had about 7 miles to go. The trip down was more a controlled slide than an actual hike. To make matters worse, the last part of the hike was a giant switchback. So while you can hear I-90 and the GPS says you are only a mile or so away (as the crow flies) you really have 3-4 miles to go. After what seemed like an endlessly muddy slip 'n' slide in the dark, we made it to the cars. We then  to Chris' house where we hung up our clothes and passed out.

The main event

Fast forward three years. I'm looking for some place to go backpacking that isn't 500 miles away, won't be overly crowded, and should be a relatively easy hike (in good weather) to some place worth packing into and spending the night. After days of soul-sucking searches I remembered Mineral Creek. We would set up camp at the lakes, and take a summit pack to the PCT to soak in some views (and some photo's, after all this is SUPPOSED to be a photography blog right?).

Sadly, only dudes signed up and my wife really didn't feel like attending a sausage-fest backpacking trip (who would blame her) so it ended up being the four of us: myself (a.k.a. Stumbler), Matt, Andy, and Daniel.  

Dan, looking at a mountain (or posing for a profile shot?)

The trip up was steeper than I remember (well, I was carrying about 30 extra pounds of gear this time), but no other surprises. It was still overgrown (at one point we all wished for a machete), but it was a warm summer day and we had no  complaints. While we were under cover for most of the hike up, every once in a while we would pop out from the brush and be graced with views of the valley and surrounding mountains.

We arrived at the lakes around noon and were surprised to find another tent set up already. Oh well, it's solitudeious enough. After setting up camp we donned summit packs and hiked up to the junction of the PCT.

Andy & Matt first steps (on the PCT that is)

"Camo" Dan

Matt wanted to take a side trip to check out Spectacle Lake, and while I had a few reservations (I had never heard of lake and wasn't sure how far this side trip was going to be. Plus I knew that there were some awesome views up at the pass just south of Four Brothers) I figured that we could go check it out. After all, we had all afternoon.

DAMN! was I surprised! It-was-amazing!! It was better than he saddle I had been pushing for all along. It was a near panoramic view of Four Brothers, Three Queens, Chikamin Peak and even Mt Stewart in the distance. I am very glad Matt wanted to do this. We admired the view, ate lunch and identified a few peaks for nearly an hour before deciding to continue up to the saddle below Chikamin Peak.

Cresting the ridge to reveal the view.

Looking down on Spectacle Lake with Stewart in the background

Mt Stewart with a telephoto lens.

180 Panorama from our lunch spot

The view wasn't as fantastic as Spectacle Lake, but it was impressive none the less. We did a bit of scrambling up the ridge line to get a view of Gold Creek valley to the west and Park Lakes basin to the east.

Joe Lake with Alaska Mountain left of center and Huckleberry Mountain to the right. 

Matt & Dan admiring the view from atop the ridge line. 

See the line in the mountain over there? That's the famous Kendall Katwalk

Park Lakes. Our camp was set up on the right side. If you look real close you can see my blue tarp.

Finally, we hiked back down to camp to relax, eat some dinner, and have a few beers (yep, we packed some good beer in a can). We talked, ate, and had a good time. As the sun was going down I thought I would try some sunset/reflection shots of the mountains around the lake.

Hey, we were just up there! We hiked up to the left side of the peak. The trail cuts across the face of the mountain. If you look real close you can see a few people (in a red and white shirt) coming donw the trail.

Some other little mountain across the lake. I was going for the "awesome reflection" look in this shot.

Lets meet the players. This is Dan. He recently moved to Seattle and this was his first summer here. We like Dan because he is the one who brought the good beer (Old Chub is anyone is interested)

Here we have Andy. He underwent an amazing transformation and recently lost a lot of weight. The guy was amazingly strong hiker. Probably the best one in the group.

Here is Matt. He has been on a few hikes/backpacks with me.

The only problem with backpacking with Matt is he has NO sense of humor and never does anything spontaneous or fun. He doesn't like to make a fool of himself and I think that he needs to get a sense of humor.

/sarcasm

We managed to stay up for quite a while, almost made it to 9:30! But alas, when the sun went down we got tired and went to sleep. 

I woke up in the middle of the night to try some night photography and I have to say that night photography is a whole different ball game. There is a fine line between not enough light and way too much light. I did not find that line. Out of about 100 shots only one came out halfway decent. It is a moon rise over a small mountain as some clouds are passing by. Personally, I think it's rather dramatic.

The next day was rather uneventful. We woke up sometime after sunrise, lazily ate breakfast, packed up then hiked out. In the end I'm glad that I chose this trip. We had solitude, great views, and a good time. I am now inspired to go to Spectacle Lake. I will look into doing that as a snowshoe or cross country ski trip this winter. If it isn't possible then I will put it on the list for late January or early July.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the stories as much (if not more than ) the photographs. I have been working on another set from a recent trip to Summerland in Mount Rainier National Park. Here is a preview of that trip.

If you want any of these pictures in full resolution comment below or shoot me an email (nathanwiggin@live.com). I'm not charging or anything. All I ask as that you give credit if you choose to share them.