I got my usual leisurely start, starting out from the TH at 11:30. The roads were icy or snow covered above about 3,500’ so the final 15 miles or so went slower than normal. I put on my spikes at the car and found them most useful once I reached both the steeper grades but also crossing frozen puddles on the trail.
Though it was 30 degrees at the TH and the air temperature never got more than a degree or two above freezing, with no wind and mostly brilliant sunshine, the conditions were perfect.
Once I left the Divide Camp trail, I was on the PCT for a very short distance and lost it once I reached the boulder strewn area of Adams Creek
Where the PCT crosses Adams Creek:
Now cross-country, the way was relatively easy and the scenery was great:
Approaching High Camp, what is this!? Fresh footprints - Someone else is up here.
There were no cars at the Riley trail and I was the only one at Divide Camp trail and no other prints in the snow there either. A mystery, for sure, especially since these prints were from earlier in the day. I crossed the prints two more times later.
Continuing on, my goal was to see what was at High Camp and to generally explore the area around Divide Creek, maybe taking in the area around the headwaters of the Lewis but this last I had to postpone as I was running out of daylight.
High Camp views:
On the way back I decided to take a slightly different route, seeing another trail on the map that ran down to the east side of Adams Creek. The map showed it came out on the road only 6/10 of a mile from where I parked and was 4/10 of a mile shorter than how I came in. Well, that was the plan! I could see where a trail led down to the creek but once across, I could not find a trail. I wandered about for over 20 minutes, crossing and re-crossing where it should have been but not even a trace of trail could I find. It was a tough go with lots of trees down and much brush so admitting defeat, mostly due to the fact it was only a few minutes until sundown, I made a beeline back to the main trail. Crossing Adams Creek right at sunset, I spotted a nice waterfall a few hundred feet upstream from my crossing point. Maybe I'll go back sometime and check it out.
Glad I didn't have to cross this in the dark!
Once on the main trail, the light from the first quarter moon and the faint remnants of alpenglow assisted me and I made it back with only natural light, arriving 50 minutes past sunset.
Another beautiful day in the woods, 10.0 miles, 2,547’ EG
The map: Arrows show where I crossed the mystery footprints:
The north section of map showing where the waterfall is and my off-trail misadventure:
