Oct 3rd - Glacier Peak Playground

Cold last night. I even made a pot of mashed potatoes to warm me up. My water was frozen in the morning and the ground was spouting ice crystals like mushrooms. Had to watch out for "black ice" on the trail. It was very icy all morning and even into the late afternoon. As it warmed you still were never sure if there was ice under the patches of mud. Slow careful going especially since the tread on my boots is wearing down and they don't have as good traction as they once did.

The moon was out late into the morning and hovered brightly over the mountains. Great open alpine views as I climbed White Pass, around White Mtn, up Red Pass and around White Chuck Cinder Cone. The open alpine ridge lines and meadows gave great views of the snow capped mountains and glaciers.

Lots of bridges and river crossings due to all the streams flowing from the snow fields and glaciers. Lots of large blowdowns, waterfalls, and the remains of several broken bridges. The bridge over the Kennedy Creek was broken in half and looked like a letter "V", but was still useable.

I meet Pinky and Ahab and later their friend Sticks on the trail. Pinky showed me how to identify "King Boletus" mushrooms and I sautéd them up with dinner - Excellent!

The hike up Kennedy ridge with views of the glaciers and Kennedy Peak was both difficult and very exciting with its great views. The climb up to Fire Creek Pass and down to Mica Lake was spectacular. It was very cold othis side of the range and the surface of Mica Lake was frozen. Looked like a grat place to camp; but cold. I left Sticks here and suspect Pinky and Ahab will camp here with Sticks.

I continued down a long diets of switchbacks; first in the alpine zone then down into the valley, to cross the Milk Creek. Feed by the Milk Lake Glacier above me it made for an impressive series of waterfalls. After crossing the river I started up the long climb on the other side until I found a very small, mostly flat, spot to camp on the steep slope at mile 2535.8. Big climb still ahead for the morning. Another A+ scenic day on the PCT!