Day 131, Knife's Edge

Part 5, Washington, Day 131

Knife's Edge

Miles: 26.35

Total Miles: 2284.23

**Days 126-131 are up. To continue where I left off, go to day 126.

Today was a day I'd been waiting for my whole hike. The Goat Rocks Wilderness is a notoriously beautiful section of the trail. I woke up at 6am and although the sky looked more clear than yesterday, it was still smoky and raining ash. I hiked out at 7 am, hoping for the best. 

The trail started to open up for the first time in 6 days. Unfortunately, the smoke was everywhere and obscured almost all the views. I continued to hope, though. 

I got to this dry river and a man jumped out of the bushes asking me if I wanted to smoke a joint with him. I declined, and he begged me to deliver a letter for him when I reached the next town. He said he was on a spirit quest, or something. I wasn't going to town, so I declined and moved on. Good luck with your life dude. 

I walked up on two different people shitting in the woods this morning, both right by the trail. It's always awkward. Weekenders, am I right? 

I walked uphill all morning towards Cispus Pass and when I summited it, I had a view of the famous Goat Rocks. It was disappointing because of all the smoke. Still stupid beautiful though, no doubt. Its obvious still that this place is an absolute gem.

It's definitely still beautiful, and that's the reason I was so bummed. I knew that this would be spectacular on a clear day. I am unlucky today, it seems. 

The smoke got much thicker throughout the day. 

I tried to be positive and enjoy the Goat Rocks, and I really did love the open ridge walking.

I promised myself that I would return here in the future and see this wilderness as it should be seen. 

I thought these things were neat:

Here's some trail art:

And here's a bird: I'm too tired to transition well. 

The higher I climbed, the more this place looked like the High Sierras.

I came to this big glacier. The trail disappeared and I heard water running underneath it. 

I didn't want to walk over it, so I climbed the shale cliff around it.

Once over the glacier, I came to the start of the Knife's Edge; a stretch of trail famous for its dramatic layout. I was disappointed to see it covered with smoke, but awe struck at it's sheer beauty.

There is an alternate trail that's less steep for the faint of heart. Houdini and Cruise Control showed up and we started hiking the Knifes Edge.

Here's some glaciers on Old Snowy behind us:

My adrenaline was running high and I felt pumped. The trail on the Knifes Edge is very thin and drops many hundreds of feet on both sides.

Look closely and you can see the trail:

This was one of my favorite trails on the PCT. Even with the smoke, it was really fun to hike. 

Look at the trail leading up the summit:

Here's me at the summit:

The white specks below are goats: the Goat Rocks Wilderness as both rocks and goats. 

The Knifes Edge was just amazing. I can't wait to come back someday. I spent the rest of the late afternoon hiking hard to a spring 9 miles away. 

I reached the spring close to dark and set up camp near Houdini and Skua. 

I'm pretty much finished with this first section of Washington, and it kicked my ass. If the trail is anything like it was today, though, I have much to look forward to.