Snoqualmie Pass, July 7

Snoqualmie Pass is the closest pass to Seattle and I have decided I want to take a few days off to relax. Snow has freaked me out. The trail has been a psychological horror. It is so isolated and remote. I feel small and vulnerable. Northern-Washington has absolutely no trail signs and there is tons of snow. 70% of the trail is covered. Even after hiking long days I find it hard to sleep. I have had many sleepless nights and it is very tiring because I have no time to make it up. Honestly, I can't imagine myself doing this for the next four months. I am afraid of many things - getting lost, running out of food and starving, falling into a river, getting attacked by a hungry bear, etc. I am constantly feeling lost because there is nothing but snow under my feet and no foot prints or trail markers.



This photo was taken right before we got to Snoqualmie Pass. I was extremely happy because I got to go back to Seattle. From Rainy Pass to Snoqualmie Pass was one of the most dangerous and stressful sections because of the snow. This is where I decided I was going to quit :).











There were a few dangerous river crossings, but this was the scariest one. We got there at 7 p.m. and it had been a hot day. A lot of snow melt was coming down the mountains and the river was running high. We had to sleep next to it and cross it the next morning. It was still very challenging, but we crossed it successfully. I didn't take off my boots here, because the water was so cold and there were sharp rocks on the bottom of the creek.


looks like a cake walk on the photo



this was one icy cold river

The only rainy day in Washington



Suiattle Pass



making my way up to Suiattle Pass

Suiattle Pass was our first serious tribulation. On our second day we met another south-bounder Woebegone who told us the Suiattle Pass was impassable. He said there was too much snow. We decided we were going to pass it anyway and it turned out the pass was passable after all. There was a lot of snow, indeed.