Page 3
Day
3
After two great days exploring a seldom used route and climbing a 7400'+ mountain it was time to head down. The shortest route down would be via Meander Meadow. The downside is no views and legendary brush. We chose the longer route down via Cady Ridge. It includes a nice section of the PCT and more flowers and views from the ridge. We were up earlier and broke camp and headed out at 8:15 am. The first order of business was to drop our packs at the PCT junction and climb 500' up to the 6121' summit of Kodak Peak. The short steep trail quickly brought us to the summit. Yawn, more flower fields on the way up. Would they ever end? We only had a short stay on top before the bugs really zeroed in on us. This day the view to the north was crystal clear. No more smoke. We headed back down, grapped our backpacks, and headed south on the PCT. It was the third straight day of blue sky and warm temperatures.
We passed a number of day hikers heading north. There is virtually no snow left on the entire route we hiked. A few small patches remain but are no problem at all. The Crest Trail winds around from eastern to western Washington. It was rapidly warming up. I hiked in shorts and short sleeves all three days. South of Dishpan Gap it was all new to me. I especially liked hiking over Wards Pass. We dropped down to the junction with the Cady Ridge trail. Time for even more wildflower covered meadows. Unlike the Little Wenatchee trail down through Meander Meadow this trail was not straight down. There are lots of ups and downs along the way.
We made slow progress as we kept stopping at the next colorful meadow. The route was largely on he south side of the ridge. Occasionally we went over to the north side and had nice views over to our route up along Poet Ridge. Not great lighting but it was fun to see just where we had been. Two groups passed us by at a food and photo break. Soon after the meadows began to give way to forest. It was time to put away the cameras and pick up the pace. We had about 11 miles to cover with the Kodak sidetrip and we were ready to finish the trip. The nicely graded trail suddenly turned into a dusty rocky steeper route. We dropped elevation very fast. We soon repassed one group and eventually the other one too. Those folks were moving at a good clip.
Just as we figured we were rapidly reaching the valley bottom the trail changed character once again. Now we had long very gentle switchbacks. It was getting hot as we descended. I was a little surprised to see several groups heading up in the afternoon heat. At long last we reached the bridge over the Little Wenatchee River. Not done yet, the trail climbed 70' up the other side. It was not far from there to the trailhead. At 1:30 pm we reached the car. The lot was half full but there were a dozen cars parked down the road. The drive home was not easy but the holiday slowdown on Highway 2 "only" added about an hour to our drive home.
This was a really spectacular trip. Summits of Poe, Indian Head, and Kodak Peaks along with some interesting route finding on the Poet Ridge route. It was unusual to have a route none of us had done and almost no published information. All in all, it worked out fine. Meander Meadow had a lot of campers and the PCT had many folks but no crowds at any one place. Almost the entire route was lined with peaking wildflowers. What a great treat. I have seen a number of great meadows at Mt. Rainier and the North Cascades but this route had more acres of meadow than any other trip I have done. Even with the bugs it was a fun time for all three days. For day 3 we hikes about 11 miles with 1500' of gain.
After two great days exploring a seldom used route and climbing a 7400'+ mountain it was time to head down. The shortest route down would be via Meander Meadow. The downside is no views and legendary brush. We chose the longer route down via Cady Ridge. It includes a nice section of the PCT and more flowers and views from the ridge. We were up earlier and broke camp and headed out at 8:15 am. The first order of business was to drop our packs at the PCT junction and climb 500' up to the 6121' summit of Kodak Peak. The short steep trail quickly brought us to the summit. Yawn, more flower fields on the way up. Would they ever end? We only had a short stay on top before the bugs really zeroed in on us. This day the view to the north was crystal clear. No more smoke. We headed back down, grapped our backpacks, and headed south on the PCT. It was the third straight day of blue sky and warm temperatures.
We passed a number of day hikers heading north. There is virtually no snow left on the entire route we hiked. A few small patches remain but are no problem at all. The Crest Trail winds around from eastern to western Washington. It was rapidly warming up. I hiked in shorts and short sleeves all three days. South of Dishpan Gap it was all new to me. I especially liked hiking over Wards Pass. We dropped down to the junction with the Cady Ridge trail. Time for even more wildflower covered meadows. Unlike the Little Wenatchee trail down through Meander Meadow this trail was not straight down. There are lots of ups and downs along the way.
We made slow progress as we kept stopping at the next colorful meadow. The route was largely on he south side of the ridge. Occasionally we went over to the north side and had nice views over to our route up along Poet Ridge. Not great lighting but it was fun to see just where we had been. Two groups passed us by at a food and photo break. Soon after the meadows began to give way to forest. It was time to put away the cameras and pick up the pace. We had about 11 miles to cover with the Kodak sidetrip and we were ready to finish the trip. The nicely graded trail suddenly turned into a dusty rocky steeper route. We dropped elevation very fast. We soon repassed one group and eventually the other one too. Those folks were moving at a good clip.
Just as we figured we were rapidly reaching the valley bottom the trail changed character once again. Now we had long very gentle switchbacks. It was getting hot as we descended. I was a little surprised to see several groups heading up in the afternoon heat. At long last we reached the bridge over the Little Wenatchee River. Not done yet, the trail climbed 70' up the other side. It was not far from there to the trailhead. At 1:30 pm we reached the car. The lot was half full but there were a dozen cars parked down the road. The drive home was not easy but the holiday slowdown on Highway 2 "only" added about an hour to our drive home.
This was a really spectacular trip. Summits of Poe, Indian Head, and Kodak Peaks along with some interesting route finding on the Poet Ridge route. It was unusual to have a route none of us had done and almost no published information. All in all, it worked out fine. Meander Meadow had a lot of campers and the PCT had many folks but no crowds at any one place. Almost the entire route was lined with peaking wildflowers. What a great treat. I have seen a number of great meadows at Mt. Rainier and the North Cascades but this route had more acres of meadow than any other trip I have done. Even with the bugs it was a fun time for all three days. For day 3 we hikes about 11 miles with 1500' of gain.
 Kodak Peak |
 Crest Trail Below |
 Flowers On Kodak |
 Glacier Pk From Kodak |
 Johnson Mountain |
 Gary & John On Kodak |
 Trail Cuts Across |
 Skykomish Peak |
 Monte Cristo Peaks |
 Snow On West Side |
 Wards Pass |
 Flower Lined Trail |
 Cady Ridge Junction |
 Glacier Over Ridge |
 Even More Flowers |
 Gary On Trail |
 PCT On Ridge To West |
 Lupine |
 Cady Garden |
 Elephant Head |
 Yellow Mixed In |
 Doughnut Hole |
 Sea Of Lupine |
 Poet Ridge |
 Glacier Over Lupine |
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Poet - Cady Ridges Loop Report
Trips - 2011
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