Day 3
Day 3
The clouds were coming in again in the evening but we woke up to blue sky and no condensation. Our plan was to do the trip we did in 2011. A trip through Foam Basin then over the ridges and into the moraine. I had read more reports of going over into one more moraine and brought it up as an Idea. We headed out with lighter packs at 7:54 am. We climbed up to the PCT and quickly turned off on the Foam Creek Trail. White Mountain looped directly above us. The trail crossed a couple mostly dry creek beds. They were full of monkey flowers. We saw lots of pink Lewis and yellow Twiling. Lots of monkey flower. It would not be the last time we saw a lot of it this day. What looked like a vertical slope the day before is a beautiful basin with many creek beds to cross. Everything is green. We had views out to Indian Head Peak and Clark Mountain at first. Many more peaks came into view as we ascended. With few trees we could see the trail well ahead. We saw a big group. On this trail that usually means climbers heading for Glacier Peak. They were moving steadily and we kept stopping for photos.
Down the creek we could see smoke rising from the Airplane Lake fire. Not a lot but it was obvious. It did not blow our way. Pilot Ridge came into view over White Pass. The trail kept rising. We took a short and steep track up to the ridge top. On the way a mother and small marmot came into view. We had plenty of time to take photos. At the ridge top we looked down on the next basin. The track drops steeply, contours around the head of the basin and then climbs to a pass. I vaguely recalled the route from 11 years earlier. From the ridge top we had views from Mt. Stuart to Mt. Daniel, and on to the peaks just north of Snoqualmie Pass. After lots of photos, we headed down the steep rocky path. Down was a little tough. Gong up the other side of the basin was easier. Before we went down we saw the big climbing party as they headed up the other side. When we reached the other pass the big group was just getting set to head down into the moraine. We found very tame marmots at the saddle and a whole lot of gentians starting to bloom. The view was spectacular. A grassy basin behind us and a very rocky one ahead. Glacier Peak was now right in our faces.
We arrived at the top at 10:09 am and stayed until 10:46 am. When we headed down the bog group was nowhere to be seen. The drop into the moraine was easy. There is still some snow in the moraine but less than photos from our September 2012 trip show. Last time we turned left and headed down to the lake. This time we discussed options and chose to continue straight ahead and go over the next ridge for a view of the next moraine. We crossed several small creeks and headed up a slightly grassy ridge. Not a lot grows in the moraine and there are a lot of rocks. We passed a small tarn near the top and ended up with a great view. Glacier Peak and Disappointment Peak in front of us. Below was a rock moraine where a glacier sat not that long ago. Off to the right we could see what is left of the White Chuck Glacier. We also found a small bounty of wildflowers in full bloom. The Indian paintbrush were bright red and orange. Mixed in were penstemon, small yellow daisies, either dwarf fireweed or red willowherb, and a whitish yellow paintbrush. We saw the latter in many places on our trip.
The flower show was small but right at its peak. The view of moraines in all directions was pretty spectacular. After quite a few photos we started back. So far we were only about a third of the way around our loop and the next part would be entirely cross country. Though it was sunny and we had almost zero shade the entire day, it was not painfully hot. Much better than the trip 11 years earlier. We headed back and down to the lake. Along the way we had another stop for food and water. It was right along a cascading creek with snow lining one side. Another really neat spot. After that we dropped to near the lake and around the left side. It was a bit marshy in spots. Last time we went around the lake and dropped down to the valley floor below. We did the same this time. The first part was easy. We crossed the creek where it was still small and worked our way down the rocky terrain. Much of the way we could see Portal Peak and Red Pass. We were aiming to reach the PCT and follow it to Red Pass.
We saw cascading creeks dropping into the valley. One we followed down. Part way down one of my pole broke off near the bottom. After many hundreds of days out it just broke. Getting jammed between rocks and not pulling out easily in the moraine did not help. I was left with one pole for the rest of the trip. We reached a valley floor and a sea of color in one spot. We headed over to fine a mix of yellow monkey flower and pink alpine willowherb. They are very small flowers and there were a whole lot of them. It was along a braided drainage. It was quite a site. More yellow monkey flower than I expect to see in one place again. We saw a trail heading downhill next to this branch of the White Chuck River. Last time we went up and over a grassy rib to reach the real valley bottom. This time we tried following the trail. The idea was to drop to an easier place to pick up the PCT. After pushing through trees and dropping quickly, we decided our route last time didn't seem so bad. We headed up through tome trees to the ridge top.
From this ridge we could look across at the PCT. We dropped steeply off the ridge and traversed down through a small boulder field. This was so slow that we soon headed straight down. Now we had another climb alongside the branch of the White Chuck coming from below Red Pass. The river was in a gorge and we followed it uphill to where we could easily get across. From there we climbed to the PCT fairly quickly. I was tired from all the cross country and climbing in the bright sunshine. The smooth trail really helped. We reached the trail at 5700' and 1.1 miles later we reached the 6450' pass. I was beat but some food, water, and rest helped. Getting back to our buggy camp was not that appealing. Instead we had great views and enough wind to keep the bugs at bay. We arrived at Red Pass at 3:06 pm and stayed until 4:00 pm. While there we saw hikers coming through in both directions. A few stopped and talked. Some just kept on moving. One PCT through hiker was from Germany. Another hiker had recently moved here from Tennessee. One couple was hiking south to do the Washington State section. Long and short distance hikers enjoying a sunny but not too hot day on the trail.
We still had about 2 miles to go. The trail is very narrow most of the way back to White Pass. The steep drops off the side are impressive. We hiked slowly and took in the views. We arrived back at camp at 5:30 pm after another break before dropping down from the PCT. The day was a big success. The views were tremendous. The moraine was very interesting. We saw marmots and a few really good wildflower displays. Until we reached Red Pass we saw very few people. Hiking with day hike weight packs was much nicer. This was part of the payoff for that 5100' climb on Saturday. Hopefully, I will have at least one more day hiking the Foam Basin-Red Pass Loop. For the day we hiked only 9 miles with 2700' of gain. The quality more than made up for the short miles.
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The clouds were coming in again in the evening but we woke up to blue sky and no condensation. Our plan was to do the trip we did in 2011. A trip through Foam Basin then over the ridges and into the moraine. I had read more reports of going over into one more moraine and brought it up as an Idea. We headed out with lighter packs at 7:54 am. We climbed up to the PCT and quickly turned off on the Foam Creek Trail. White Mountain looped directly above us. The trail crossed a couple mostly dry creek beds. They were full of monkey flowers. We saw lots of pink Lewis and yellow Twiling. Lots of monkey flower. It would not be the last time we saw a lot of it this day. What looked like a vertical slope the day before is a beautiful basin with many creek beds to cross. Everything is green. We had views out to Indian Head Peak and Clark Mountain at first. Many more peaks came into view as we ascended. With few trees we could see the trail well ahead. We saw a big group. On this trail that usually means climbers heading for Glacier Peak. They were moving steadily and we kept stopping for photos.
Down the creek we could see smoke rising from the Airplane Lake fire. Not a lot but it was obvious. It did not blow our way. Pilot Ridge came into view over White Pass. The trail kept rising. We took a short and steep track up to the ridge top. On the way a mother and small marmot came into view. We had plenty of time to take photos. At the ridge top we looked down on the next basin. The track drops steeply, contours around the head of the basin and then climbs to a pass. I vaguely recalled the route from 11 years earlier. From the ridge top we had views from Mt. Stuart to Mt. Daniel, and on to the peaks just north of Snoqualmie Pass. After lots of photos, we headed down the steep rocky path. Down was a little tough. Gong up the other side of the basin was easier. Before we went down we saw the big climbing party as they headed up the other side. When we reached the other pass the big group was just getting set to head down into the moraine. We found very tame marmots at the saddle and a whole lot of gentians starting to bloom. The view was spectacular. A grassy basin behind us and a very rocky one ahead. Glacier Peak was now right in our faces.
We arrived at the top at 10:09 am and stayed until 10:46 am. When we headed down the bog group was nowhere to be seen. The drop into the moraine was easy. There is still some snow in the moraine but less than photos from our September 2012 trip show. Last time we turned left and headed down to the lake. This time we discussed options and chose to continue straight ahead and go over the next ridge for a view of the next moraine. We crossed several small creeks and headed up a slightly grassy ridge. Not a lot grows in the moraine and there are a lot of rocks. We passed a small tarn near the top and ended up with a great view. Glacier Peak and Disappointment Peak in front of us. Below was a rock moraine where a glacier sat not that long ago. Off to the right we could see what is left of the White Chuck Glacier. We also found a small bounty of wildflowers in full bloom. The Indian paintbrush were bright red and orange. Mixed in were penstemon, small yellow daisies, either dwarf fireweed or red willowherb, and a whitish yellow paintbrush. We saw the latter in many places on our trip.
The flower show was small but right at its peak. The view of moraines in all directions was pretty spectacular. After quite a few photos we started back. So far we were only about a third of the way around our loop and the next part would be entirely cross country. Though it was sunny and we had almost zero shade the entire day, it was not painfully hot. Much better than the trip 11 years earlier. We headed back and down to the lake. Along the way we had another stop for food and water. It was right along a cascading creek with snow lining one side. Another really neat spot. After that we dropped to near the lake and around the left side. It was a bit marshy in spots. Last time we went around the lake and dropped down to the valley floor below. We did the same this time. The first part was easy. We crossed the creek where it was still small and worked our way down the rocky terrain. Much of the way we could see Portal Peak and Red Pass. We were aiming to reach the PCT and follow it to Red Pass.
We saw cascading creeks dropping into the valley. One we followed down. Part way down one of my pole broke off near the bottom. After many hundreds of days out it just broke. Getting jammed between rocks and not pulling out easily in the moraine did not help. I was left with one pole for the rest of the trip. We reached a valley floor and a sea of color in one spot. We headed over to fine a mix of yellow monkey flower and pink alpine willowherb. They are very small flowers and there were a whole lot of them. It was along a braided drainage. It was quite a site. More yellow monkey flower than I expect to see in one place again. We saw a trail heading downhill next to this branch of the White Chuck River. Last time we went up and over a grassy rib to reach the real valley bottom. This time we tried following the trail. The idea was to drop to an easier place to pick up the PCT. After pushing through trees and dropping quickly, we decided our route last time didn't seem so bad. We headed up through tome trees to the ridge top.
From this ridge we could look across at the PCT. We dropped steeply off the ridge and traversed down through a small boulder field. This was so slow that we soon headed straight down. Now we had another climb alongside the branch of the White Chuck coming from below Red Pass. The river was in a gorge and we followed it uphill to where we could easily get across. From there we climbed to the PCT fairly quickly. I was tired from all the cross country and climbing in the bright sunshine. The smooth trail really helped. We reached the trail at 5700' and 1.1 miles later we reached the 6450' pass. I was beat but some food, water, and rest helped. Getting back to our buggy camp was not that appealing. Instead we had great views and enough wind to keep the bugs at bay. We arrived at Red Pass at 3:06 pm and stayed until 4:00 pm. While there we saw hikers coming through in both directions. A few stopped and talked. Some just kept on moving. One PCT through hiker was from Germany. Another hiker had recently moved here from Tennessee. One couple was hiking south to do the Washington State section. Long and short distance hikers enjoying a sunny but not too hot day on the trail.
We still had about 2 miles to go. The trail is very narrow most of the way back to White Pass. The steep drops off the side are impressive. We hiked slowly and took in the views. We arrived back at camp at 5:30 pm after another break before dropping down from the PCT. The day was a big success. The views were tremendous. The moraine was very interesting. We saw marmots and a few really good wildflower displays. Until we reached Red Pass we saw very few people. Hiking with day hike weight packs was much nicer. This was part of the payoff for that 5100' climb on Saturday. Hopefully, I will have at least one more day hiking the Foam Basin-Red Pass Loop. For the day we hiked only 9 miles with 2700' of gain. The quality more than made up for the short miles.
 Morning View |
 Light On White Mountain |
 Campsite |
 Looking At Foam Basin |
 Lewis Monkey Flower |
 Bright Flowers |
 More Flowers |
 Green Slopes |
 Pilot Ridge |
 White Mt. & Pass |
 Mts Daniel & Hinman |
 First Marmot |
 Glacier Peak In Sight |
 Moving On |
 Steep Drop |
 Crossing Next Basin |
 Looking Back |
 Second Marmot |
 Gary At Work |
 Blooming Gentians |
 Me & Glacier Peak |
 Lake In Moraine |
 Snow In Moraine |
 Rocky Moraine |
 Crossing Moraine |
 Yellow Daisies |
 Penstemon |
 Nice Colors |
 Second Moraine |
 White Chuck Glacier |
 Great Colors |
 Heading To Lake |
 Near Lake |
 Bright Green Moss |
 Doing What I Do Best |
 Heading Down |
 Big Waterfall |
 Milky Creek |
 Cascades |
 Very Bright Red |
 Many Tiny Flowers |
 Yellow Monkey Flowers |
 Crossing Talus |
 Almost On PCT |
 Nearing Red Pass |
 Our Route |
 Hiking South On PCT |
 Late Light On Paintbrush |
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