I managed to sleep without muscle cramps. I woke up about 4 with the first bird sounds. During the night I acquired a neighbor so I tried to be quiet.
Moving by 5:30, my legs got immediately soaked. It had drizzled overnight and plants naturally reach out and scoop up as much rain as possible. With the Covid 19 constraints, very little trail maintenance has occurred. Whether swishing between water laden branches across the path or ungracefully dragging my butt over blown down trees, I was soaked all morning. I wore my wind pants to protect my wounds.
The flowers are absolutely beautiful. I know the names of some (Columbine, fireweed, lupine). Others I make up names : blueous flowerus, stinky white, purple frittata.
Most of the day was walking up. After the flower fields, dark,wet forests. Then, around 5,000 feet, snow. Patches at first, then bigger patches, and near 6000feet just snow.
On the way up, I passed one guy coming down and then two dudes. The first guy said Cutthroat Pass (2nd pass ahead) was too dangerous and he was bailing. The two dudes were mountaineers. They had just come down from one 7,000′ peak and were going to bag another the next day. They said conditions were perfect and Cutthroat Pass should be a snap, although they hadn’t climbed it this year. Hmmmm.
Cresting the first pass (Methow Pass) was gorgeous. Snow capped peaks, mountains all around. The trail went across the side of one mountain and, fortunately, it was south-facing so was free of snow, mostly. I reached a flat spot just before Cutthroat Pass. It seemed too late and too many miles for me to attempt a crossing. This crossing would involve a very steep snowfield, portions of which had cornices menacing above. I went to bed early thinking I would make a decision to bail or cross in the morning.
At 6:00 it started to drizzle. The wind picked. And I headed for my sleeping bag. The temperature dropped so I ended up putting on my down jacket in addition to being in the sleeping bag. As I dozed off, the drizzle turned to ice pellets.
backpacking over the hill 