Pacific Crest Trail - Day 180 - Glacier Peak Wilderness

Start: Mile 2503.4 - Reflection Pond
End: Mile 2524.5 - Backcountry campsite

This picture is incredible.

Oh man, it difficult to articulate, but I feel that our experiences with wildlife and nature are on a plane that represents a mutual acknowledgement and appreciation.

I feel … blessed, while also feeling that any blessing arrives because of a humility and readiness to accept such a blessing.

I can’t talk to animals, but we certainly have a channel of communication and understanding .

Dr. Suess trees.

Walking over the ridge into this basin was indescribable. The colors, the beauty, the scale.

This hedge in the middle of a barren hillside betrayed evidence of popularity.

These colors aren’t even possible elsewhere.

Literally and undeniably a home of faeries.🧚

The trail had obstacles. The trail always has obstacles.

LMAO

The PCT is just a casual hike.

Don’t tell Kristin’s mom!

This section of trail was the most disoriented I’ve been direction-wise on this entire journey. The trail went up and over a handful of ridges in a meandering circuitous route around the west side of Glacier Peak, and despite a towering peak coming into view every once in a while, losing the context of the mountain as it disappeared and reappeared every couple of hours or so made it difficult to figure out which way we were heading exactly. Even looking at Glacier Peak itself with the context of a compass and map, direction was hard to reason about - it certainly didn‘t help that the PCT headed about every direction besides North while somehow managing a northerly overall direction.

Mica Lake is easily one of the clearest and most beautiful lakes on the PCT.

All the reasons that make Mica Lake such a spectacular place are also the reasons why we chose to head down a half mile or so to the next campsite.

There were conflicting sentiments in FarOut comments about Mica Lake and Leave No Trace principles.

It‘s so pretty! Camp here! is certainly a sentiment I understand, but even applying a cursory amount of thought, you realize that sentiment is exactly how people destroy once magical places.

Total babe.

The alpenglow on Glacier Peak heading a bit farther down to a campsite was spectacular.