Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) - Chinook Pass to Snoqualmie Pass, Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) Section I - White Pass to Snoqualmie Pass, Sheep Lake & American Lake — Friday, Jul. 5, 2024

This is the 8th year my daughter Evie (age 10) and I have gone on an overnight backpacking trip. This year we went for 4 nights on the PCT from White Pass to Chinook Pass. It was an amazing time! The PCT never disappoints, and this is a great section.

Evie-Daddy Backpacking Day 1: White Pass to Snow Lake

Conditions:

• Mostly snow free
• Water easily available
• Tons of mosquitos
• Trail in generally good condition but with frequent water on trail
• Many hikers within 2 miles of the trailhead, almost none after that

Amazing father in law Kevin dropped Evie and I at the White Pass trailhead at 11:30 after leaving a car at Chinook Pass. In the car we stashed a cooler and a resupply bag, which we planned to hit on night 4. Evie quickly decided her goal was to make it to the car by night 3. So off we went on a 10 mile day, one of her longest ever. We eventually camped next to beautiful Snow Lake. The mosquitoes were awful. Evie got over 240 bites (she counted) even though we were both slathered in 100% DEET. I also realized that I brought one too few dinners and we really do need to make it to the car by night 3 or we won't have anything to eat. Oops. The frogs were incredibly loud. It was amazing - so much life. 

Evie-Daddy Backpacking Day 2: Snow Lake to American Lake

Conditions:

• Tons of snow, especially on the side trail to American Lake. It was always passable and had a boot track, but some sections were slanted and slippery.
• Still lots of mosquitos
• Few other hikers, but 2 other parties were camped at the lake

We got up and out of camp quickly to escape the bugs, leaving around 9. We just trucked all morning long, admiring the many views of Tahoma. We broke for lunch of bread, cheese and salami around 11:30. There was a ton of snow and it was sometimes tricky to avoid slipping. We still made it to about 5 pm before Evie felt like she wanted to stop, so we took a half mile detour off the PCT to camp at American Lake. We had only seen one person in days, but there were two parties camped at the lake already. American Lake seemed very appropriate for 4th of July weekend. Bugs were bad here too. But it was so beautiful! The drainage from the lake made a lovely background. This has been a tour of white noise machine settings, after last night's swamp sounds.

Evie-Daddy Backpacking Day 3: American Lake to Sheep Lake

Conditions:

• Less snow once we got a bit lower.
• Not as many mosquitos at Sheep Lake
• Much more traffic, including 3-4 other parties camped at Sheep Lake

We left American Lake and trudged back through the snow to the PCT. Heading North, we passed many beautiful lakes and valley and mountain views. At noon, we reached our car at Chinook Pass, where we got fresh clothing, a resupply of food, and a beer. The cooler was still full of ice and the fresh food was cold. We hiked to Sheep Lake, another 2 miles, and made camp. I improvised a double boiler to melt chocolate to dip marshmallows in, which worked well. Continuing the white noise theme, at Sheep Lake it was very windy. It was the first time I felt cold on this trip.

Evie-Daddy Backpacking Day 4: Sheep Lake

Conditions:

• Seriously people, if you’re going to walk through someone’s campsite at 8 am, at least stop your conversation.
• No significant snow on this section, though there were patches off to the side that we used to stay cool.

The nearest water source was 8.6 miles away, so we decided to keep our camp at Sheep Lake and do a day hike up to Sourdough Gap, planning to go 8 miles. It felt really nice having packs that weighed nothing. I used my bandana to carry snow down from higher elevation, which I used to ice my beer, quite effectively. We got back to back early and both took a nap, and then also went to bed early.

Evie-Daddy Backpacking Day 5: Sheep Lake to car

Last day! A short 2 miles downhill back to the car, and we were off to Mod Pizza to celebrate Evie’s first 4 night trip (mine too), her first overnight on the PCT, and our 8th awesome trip together! At 44 miles, this was also her longest trip by far, and our 14 mile day on Tuesday was her longest single day ever. And she read her book cover to cover - twice. What an amazing kid!