After exterminating the mosquitoes that snuck into my tent before I zipped it up, I stared at the ceiling. No wind, no sound. The worst conditions for falling asleep in the woods. Then, from across the lake, a wood chop. Just one. I had not seen anybody else on the lake. There was no trail. I mean, it was Hidden Lake after all. I laid there waiting for another. Nothing. Just my imagination. Then, another wood chop. I still don’t know what the sound was or how it happened. Drove me nuts for a couple hours. Finally fell asleep.
Most of the day was meandering around ponds. Later, it was level hiking on a hillside. It was strange how the trees grew. Out and then up. My best guess was winter snows each year forced them to grow downhill until they were strong enough to hold their own.
Midday I could see a plume of smoke from a forest fire. There was a helicopter circling. I was afraid they were going to close the PCT so I hustled along Summit Lake to get in to deeper forest. I n some distorted way of thinking it would be harder for them to pull me out than it would be to prevent me from entering.
All afternoon thunder heads were slowly building. The Cascade mountains create perfect updrafts. The trail also rose. I had reached a two mile stretch along a ridge near Cowhorn Mountain. The longer I went, the more menacing the clouds. I started hearing cloud-to-cloud lightning. I started jogging to get down to a lower level. I made a video. Just after I finished, I came across a northbounder. I asked him if he thought he could make the two miles. "No problem. "
I was no longer on the ridge. Still, I hurried because I wanted to reach my goal and get my tent set up before any possible storm. At Windigo Pass, there was an amazing set-up. A local had supplied several 5 gallon jugs of water. Plus, there was hand sanitizer, a solar charger, insect repellent, bandages, ibuprofen, etc. I took water and some insect repellent wipes. Then, the thunder grew louder.
I packed up and hoped to get in a couple miles. I got a couple feet. First rain, so I put on my rain gear. Then the lightning and then hail. I got under a large spruce. Being from the midwest, I expected the storm to blow through. We typically experience a cold dry front ramming into a wet, humid front and the storms just move along. Not here. The mountains effectively acted as a conveyer belt shooting hot air up and providing energy to a storm that just sits there.
I finally gave in and pitched my tent. I ate my dinner during a downpour of rain and hail that was interrupted with occasional flashes and booms. After about two hours, the sun dropped and took away the energy the storm needed. Helen was super helpful because she could look at radar and tell me what was happening via satellite.
The forest smelled great and made a strange symphony with different sized water drops falling on different surfaces. It was muggy inside my tent, but a peaceful place to sleep after a tense afternoon.
backpacking over the hill 