Day 136 camped in the black

July 30

I woke up next to Dewey Lake with a light layer of fog rising above it. Around 3 AM I woke up, thinking it was raining, but discovered later it was just condensation, splashing off of a branch above me. 

I hit the trail at 6:25 and started a small, uphill climb. Past an open in Meadow and a small mountain lake.

Soon I was approaching chinook Pass trail head. It is very popular and has a lot of cars there. I was on the Sunny side of the valley and the fog had all burned off, but coming over the pass fog from the opposite valley was rolling over the hill, it looks pretty cool.

Chinook Pass is the entrance to Mount Rainier national park and I crossed an attractive foot bridge over the highway then paralleled the highway on the trail high above for a couple miles. 

At 5 miles I came to sheep lake beautifully set in a mountain bowl 

I climbed high above sheep lake to cross the next pass. The top gave me a great view of sheep lake on one side and the valley on the other. 

After hiking to the opposite side of the valley, of the pass I just went over, I’ve got beautiful views of the Craigie mountains, and a Meadow with a lake. 

If you look closely at this picture of Mount Rainier, you will see there is a mirror image of the one from goat rocks. I have walked around to the other side and passed it. 

I stopped for lunch at this meadow that has a spring coming out of the hillside amongst the wildflowers. It’s a very pretty setting. 

I’ve entered another very large burn area, and while all the trees have burned, and that makes it desolate looking, there are some cool mountain peaks across the valley.

I arrived at my campsite, which is right next to a spring to refill my water. It’s in a burned area and not a very attractive site, but it’s flat, has water, and meets my mileage goals. Coincidently it is also at my 1800 miles hiked mark.

Today’s PCT miles hiked 21.2

Total PCT Miles hiked to date 1800.2

PCT mile marker 2342.9

(Flipped over 542.8 miles)