Start: Escondido Ridge
Finish: Trap Lake
Daily Mileage: 30.2
PCT Mile: 2455.5
Another quiet night on trail and up and out as always. We camped near the top of a ridge, so nice easy downhill in the morning. Still a bit rock which is harder on our abused feet, but we can make it work.
The trail was mostly treed today, and the mountains continued to be spectacular. However, we had only occasional glimpses of them through the trees for much of the day. I don’t take pictures of these since they don’t turn out well, so it is only in my memory. I did get a few shots on the way down though.
Traveled some low terrain densely packed with various berry bushes. We had these often throughout the day as well. You could stop and eat your fill, but you wouldn’t make any progress down trail, so our berries were mostly limited to those we could grab on the move or quick stops. Thimbleberries, my favorite, salmonberries, huckleberries, blueberries, and a few other cluster berries I don’t know but we ate them anyways.
Crossed a river to the other side of the valley and had a long traverse down the valley and up a stream as the start of the next climb. At times, the trail seems to hide these features as it did today. We traversed above a big lake, but didn’t have a single view of it. There were cascades on the stream, but they could only be glimpsed in the distance, and barely at that. I don’t know why trails take lengths to avoid some of these features, but there is nothing to do about it.
The clouds continued to build as we booked it down easy trail. We felt some sporadic drops for a while, and then it decided to dump on us. I had no idea rain was even in the forecast, so I had not packed my backpack in a way to maximize waterproofness. We decided to find a good fir with thick branches to huddle under as the rain started, figuring it wouldn’t last too long.
We dug out our raincoats and draped them over us for the drops that got through the trees as it started pouring. Some other hikers passed with and without rain gear. We ended up staying mostly dry under our makeshift shelters and had second lunch while we waited our the rain. We were climbing, so it is not as much fun in hot rain gear.
The rain did settle down, though thunder continued around us as we moved on. We only saw a couple bolts of lightning, but with the amount of thunder, I really hope there aren’t too many more fires ignited. There are way too many around already.
We climbed, putting on and taking off our raincoats several times before the rain appeared gone for good. At Pieper Pass we had more great views of the next layer of mountains and lakes. It just keeps going on and on for this section of trail which is incredible.
We were going to stop at the next lake, but we still had some time in the day so decided to press on to Trap Lake, another 3 miles further. We traversed many giant boulder fields with masses of rock fallen from the peaks above before climbing steeply to Trap Pass. We caught Yeti and Spätzle for perhaps the last time of the hike and said our goodbyes which will be happening a lot now. Too bad, but something that just has to happen with these things.
An easy descent to Trap Lake where we found a nice spot overlooking the lake and the bowl it is in. Quite the fitting end to the day to be in a scenic campsite on a lake surrounded by the beautiful mountains we were traversing. There is even a privy with a view, one of my favorite backcountry pleasures. I think actually the first campsite on the trail we have had with a privy.
