Aug 1 - Backpacking in Washington state Photo Gallery by Bryan Murahashi at pbase.com

Aug 1 - Backpacking in Washington state

Eight of us would fly from the San Francisco Bay Area to Seattle, Washington to backpack a section of the Pacific Crest trail to the Canadian border.

We would start on Hart's pass and hike the Buckskin Ridge Trail. Then meet the PCT and hike to and from the Canadian border. Then hike the PCT back to our vehicle.

Well, that was the plan......;-)

Back at Terminal B at SJC	A nice early morning in San Jose	A view of Apple Park
Over Seattle	Approaching SeaTac	Touch down
Rearranging the luggage	And making sure everything is good on the roof	Recreational Washington
Lunch in Arlington	Stop at Cascades National Park Visitor Center	A bit smoky at the Diablo Lake Vista Point
A bit smoky at the Diablo Lake Vista Point	And a Smoky Sunset at Winthrop	Last real meal
And a Smoky Sunrise in Winthrop	Smoky drive to Hart's Pass	Narrow mountain road
Going to Hart's Pass	Unloading at Hart's Pass	And the group shot
Starting our hike on the Buckskin Ridge Trail	And a lot of of downhill	And a long downhill
First wild flowers	A bit of smoke	Wildflowers
West Anemone flowers	On the Buckskin Ridge Trail	Paintbrush
Lupine and Daisies	On the Buckskin Ridge Trail	On the Buckskin Ridge Trail
Still going downhill	First stream crossing	Crossing a rock slide
Hazy	Another stream crossing	And camp at Silver Pass
A Smoky Sunset	Day 1 map and profile	Day 2 - A colorful (smoky) sunrise
Breaking camp	Packs on	A Clean camp
Down the Silver Pass	Nice view	Daisies
Still going downhill	In the forest	Clearer skies in this direction
And then going straight up the ridge	And a little break at the top	Peggy
A nice stream	Crossing the Buckskin Ridge	Hazy view
Packs on, again	And down the other side of the ridge	Buckskin Ridge Trail
Filling our water at Buckskin Lake	Buckskin Lake	Hazy view
A Grouse and young ones	Day2 - Map and Profile	Day 3 - The Robinson Creek Middle Fork by our campsite
Smoky colors	Group meeting	The Original Route vs the Return trip
Then there were five PCTers	Following the PCTers	John's arrows to camp
Red sun	Lots of dead trees	Trail closures due to the local wildfires
A neat log bridge crossing the Western Fork	Western Fork	Red sunlight
A ripe HuckleBerry	Crossing another river	River crossing
Arrival to the Air Field	Arrival to the Air Field	A Forest Service Cabin by the air field
Susan and Sherri	Saying farewell to the PCTers	Red Berries
More berries	Back to camp	Sharing the trail
Old Miners Cabin	Stop at the Western Fork	Forest greens
After lunch Siesta	A hot meal	Hanging everything
Sunset light	Day 4 - Breaking camp	Another colorful morning sky
Trail Crew Tools at camp	Clean Camp	White Berries
Returning on the Buckskin Ridge Trail	Crossing fallen Trees	Back on the Buckskin Ridge Trail
Fireweed	Buckskin Lake	Larkspur
Corn Lily	Lots of Bee action	Lots of Bee action
Lots of Bee action	Daisies View	Getting ready for Dinner
My tent	Still Green Huckleberry	Smoky sunset
Day 4 Map and Profile	Day 5 - Smoky Morning	Red Sunrise
Back on the trail	Smoky Trail	Wildflowers
Returning on the Buckskin Ridge Trail.	Another long climb to the top of Peggy's Pass	View from Peggy's Pass
And down the other side of the ridge	Buckskin Ridge Trail	Clouds at the top of Silver Pass
Arrival to Silver Lake	Our campsite	Day 5 Map and Profile
Day 6 - Morning at Silver Lake	Daisies	Corn Lily
Empty Camp	Back on the trail	Smoky Trail
Hat soaking stream	The last long climb	Looking back at the last long climb
Smoky	A white search and rescue helicopter	And back to the SUV
Day 6 Map and Profile	Day 7 - The PCTer's with cold drinks and snacks	And the group with smiles
Lunch in Winthrop	Sunset at Wintachee	Looking for dinner in Wintachee
Next morning - Loaded everything inside the SUV	Stopped for some fresh Fruit	Apple Trees
Live video of Peggy's newborn grandson in Sweden	Arriving in smoky Seattle	Seattle Skyline
The Space Needle	Seattle skyline	View from the Space Needle
View from the Space Needle	At the Space Needle	Under the Monorail tracks
Lunch view	Long line at the First Starbucks	Pike Place Market
Pike Place Market	Traffic to Fife	The boys playing Billiards (badly)
TravelLodge in Fife	Driving across the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge	Driving across the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge
Port Defiance Rose Garden	Port Defiance Rose Garden	Port Defiance Rose Garden
Port Defiance Rose Garden	Dhallias	Dhallias
More Dhallias	At the Pagoda Gardens	JellyFish at the Marina
Port Defiance Visitor Center	Marina	Port Defiance Promenade Lane
Port Defiance Promenade Lane	Lunch	Back at SeaTac
Leaving Seattle	Leaving Seattle	First Blue Skies in ten days
Over Angel Island	And Skyline Ridge	The 280/87 interchange
And back at SJC