Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) Section I - White Pass to Snoqualmie Pass — Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010

South Cascades > White Pass/Cowlitz River Valley

When we parked at Windy Pass to begin our hike the sky was overcast and the clouds were right on top of us but it didn't take long for the sun to break through and thus began a glorious day. We hiked the PCT south to Mirror Lake on mostly good trail. There were some muddy areas and one area where it looked like the trail maintenance that some crew worked so hard on was ultimately done incorrectly as it was a muddy morass and forced us to step to the side of the trail to avoid sinking. The trail climbs up through forest and clearcuts made beautiful by the red and yellow foliage of huckleberry and blueberry bushes. It goes across rocky slopes at times but most of it is good tread as far as Mirror Lake. There are a number of campsites around the lake and we found a nice spot at the south end of the lake. We set up our tent and then began a day hike further south hoping to reach Stampede Pass. The trail immediately gets a lot worse going steeply down the ridge and crossing a creek several times. We were surprised to meet several hikers coming up from Mexico this late in the season but they assured us they were going to make it and we wish them well. We stopped at Yakima Pass to admire Twilight Lake and check out a campsite on its shore and then continued on across the valley and up the (sometimes steep) other side. The trail was in pretty good shape overall and we enjoyed lunch in a clearing while we gazed at the fall foliage and felt the warm sun on our bodies. We turned around about 5 miles short of Stampede Pass and returned to our campsite to enjoy a quiet evening by the lake and a warm night snug in our tent. Mirror Lake can be reached by a much shorter route but we enjoyed hiking the 4 miles on the PCT to our chosen campsite.