16.5 miles of hiking • 2250' elevation gain • 2 nights
After a complex car shuttle, we parked at Walupt Lake and hiked up the steep wooded trail on Nannie Ridge. It was ridiculously humid from a large storm the night before and we were all soaked in sweat immediately. We left our packs and hiked up the spur trail to Nannie Peak. We didn't have alot of good views due to the clouds but that would remedy itself in the following days. We continued on with plenty of black flys for company. We passed Sheep Lake as thunder sounded in the distance, heading for the PCT.
The trail joins the PCT @ Cispus Pass. We hiked up a rocky slope as clouds swirled and gathered overhead and we were passed by some thru-hikers. Near the top, we climbed over a large snowbank covering the trail and got our first views down into the enormous bowl of Cispus Basin. As we snapped pics of the giant sloped hillsides, many waterfalls, flowers, and meadows, it began to sprinkle. Fortunately it didn't last long as we scouted for campsites. We found a pretty good one near the edge of the bowl and settled in for the evening. We had a nice fire and met some interesting PCT hikers camped nearby. Johnny and I hiked up to a ledge above to look at some awesome views of the sunset and an astounding occupied campsite that we wanted for the next night if available.
The next morning, some of the group decided to do a dayhike up to Snowgrass Flats and Old Snowy. Carissa hurt her leg the day before, so we decided to head up and see if that campsite was open today. It was and we settled in and waited for the sky to clear. It finally did as the rest of the group returned from their dayhike around 6pm. Our new spot was up on a ledge overlooking the basin and surrounded by scree slopes and a glacial fed stream flowing nearby. Wildflowers surrounded the edge of the stream. Spectacular spot! We spent the night watching the Perseid meteor shower. We were awakened around midnight by loud crashing rocks from a nearby scree slope rock slide. We were rattled, but went back to sleep with ears open.
Monday we continued on to the insanely flower filled Snowgrass Flats and huge views of Mt. Adams. Almost every wildflower I know was represented. We went down, down, down through swarms of flies and mosquitoes to a nice creek crossing where I got in to cool off. Then on to the Berry Patch trailhead past scores of backpackers heading in for the week. Stopped in Morton for margaritas and mexican food.
