Day 11: Rolling along

July 16th, 2018

Reflection Pond mm 2500 to Lake Janus mm 2474

Distance: 26 miles

The trail did a lot of short ups and downs today but was pretty cruise-y. I took my time breaking camp and was on trail at 7 am, just in time to meet Lucas, who had already hiked 3 miles. He wakes up really early.

We shortly caught up to the couple that was camped at the pond with me. Emily and Ryan are also hiking the whole trail. Emily hiked the AT previously and works as an outdoor guide in Finland.

Then we caught another couple, Sherpa and Mr. Miagi. We all took a break at a Lake Sally Ann but no one was up for swimming just yet. There was still some ice in the lake. I later took my lunch at Pass Creek and did lay down in the stream. It was a good call since it was hot and I had a big climb ahead. My wet clothes really felt good.

I pushed past Pear Lake, which is where Lucas said the others had planned on stopping. I figured I would try to push the miles to get to another lake and have less than 10 miles to hike into town the next day.

What a mistake this was. First, it was a pretty steep climb up and over Grizzly Peak. At least there were some good departing views of Glacier Peak…the last for now. I also caught a glimpse of Mt Baker, a volcano all the way up on the Canadian border. Plus more views of Rainier.

Goodby beautiful Glacier Peak.

Next, there was a boulder field with some snow that required special care. One slip would send me down the snow and into the boulders. There were huge gaps in-between the snow and rocks, since the rocks heat up and melt the snow around them. Falling into one of those gaps would be bad.

Lastly, I arrived at Lake Janus only to be mobbed by the mossies. Why did I push so hard to get to this mosquito-infested hell hole? It was Everglades-insanity levels. It nearly sent me screaming into the lake for refuge, except that the lake was very shallow and mucky. No diving in to leave the cloud behind.

In setting up my camp, filtering water, and cleaning up, I inhaled several mossies and one got stuck in my eye, causing swelling. Then I finally remembered that I had a head net. What a dummy. Things were a bit better with the net but I pretty much did everything inside my tent that night. I was by myself and took a Benadryl early just to get some sleep and help with my irritated lungs and eye. Not a very good ending to the day. So goes it in the wilderness.