Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) Section J - Snoqualmie Pass to Stevens Pass — Friday, Aug. 1, 2025

“It’s never the top and the rocky terrain doesn’t stop.” 

My husband and I spent 5 days hiking the PCT section J. We started at Stevens Pass on Friday, August 1st and ended today at Snoqualmie Pass. 

Day one-Stevens to Glacier Lake. Lots of mountain blueberries to pick for miles and miles. The trail is pretty nice all the way to Glacier Lake where we stayed the night. A few camp sites here. We did have some rocky terrain and overgrown trail. The hardest part this day was getting up the ridge out of trap lake. Not many bugs. Saw maybe 10. Lots of beautiful flowers!

Day Two-Glacier Lake to Deep Lake. We went up Pieper Pass early in the morning and glad we did. We had amazing views of Glacier Peak. Multiple hikers told us to avoid stopping at Deception Lakes on the way down. Mosquitos galore even when hiking. Walk quickly between here and Deception Pass. We didn’t see really any bugs after Deception Pass. The ford over the creek involves rock hopping and balancing over a tiny log but is doable. Cathedral Pass was hard to get up in the afternoon and best place to get water is at the ford. 

Day Three-Deep Lake to Lemah Meadows.  Coming out of Deep Lake has some ankle twister rocks. Fill up with water at Waptus River. There is only one source of water at the top Escondido Ridge and nothing again till almost to Lemah Meadow. The trail is rocky and hot in many places. Very overgrown in places. This was my favorite campsite. 

Day four-Lemah Meadows to Ridge Lake. The day started out great! The Lemah Creek Ford has a log you can walk across. The burn area was stunning with all the fireweed mixed in with the burnt trees. It had an interesting contrast. The views at the top of the ridge above Spectacle Lake is fantastic. Absolutely beautiful. Flowers, berries, mountains, easy trail. It has it all. We took a break at Parks Lake which has nice campsites. Once we left here, it was slow going over the Chikamin Ridge. Incredibly rocky for miles. Slow going. We had fog, mist and strong winds to deal with. Once we finally left the rocky terrain, which felt like it would never stop, we spotted 2 mountain goats. We had heard there were about 20 right on the trail. The 2 we saw were maybe 30 feet away. The ups and downs in this section just felt like they would never end. It was foggy and windy at Ridge Lake but we found a nice spot in the trees.

Day 5-Ridge Lake to Snoqualmie. The trail is nice to start. The Kendall Katwalk was eerie. It was foggy, so we couldn’t see anything below us. Just some of the rocks jutting out on the side of the trail. More rocky terrain to deal with, but lots of east going trail the last 3 miles or so. 

Overall, enjoyable. Views 10/10. Trail 4/10. Just be prepared for rocky terrain that can be hard to cross. 

Animals seen: marmots, pikas, deer, mountain goats, chipmunks, Canadian jay, great blue Herron, wood duck, and so many other birds. Marmots and pikas were curious in a few places and came close. 

Flowers: the entire flower guide book. Lupine, queen annes lace, fireweed, paintbrush, alpine daisies, pearly everlasting, bluebells and so many more. There weren’t many areas that you weren’t seeing flowers.