PCT from Trout Creek to Panther Creek

[Chip Down]

My friend Noah said it might rain, but probably not. Playing it safe, I looked for a trail hike today. That was a smart move; as it turned out, it rained all day (but rarely more than a heavy drizzle).

The plan was to park where PCT crosses Trout Creek, hike southbound to Sedum Ridge, then back north, past my car, continue to Panther Creek.

Just a few minutes SB on PCT, I reached a crossing of a little tributary of Trout Creek. There was a concrete footing, but no bridge. There were big flat boulders which had obviously been placed to aid hikers, but some were under water. I bet I could have gone upstream and found a good crossing, but I didn't want to bushwhack in the rain and dark. Sedum Ridge was just something to do, not something I had to do. Turned back and headed NB towards Panther Creek.

Pretty uneventful hike. Just a trail, nothing all that interesting. Nice to do something new though. Best part of the day was dawn in the meadows around the Wind River Work Center and Whistle Punk TH. The clouds were swirling in layers, it was calm, almost silent except a creek and some birds. I lingered; I wish I had lingered more.

At Wind River, I smelled beer. I hoped it was my imagination, or the discarded remnants of a degenerate party, but a minute later I had to face the facts: A beer had ruptured in my pack. By the time you can smell it leaking out, you know the inside will be a mess. In the rain, I stopped and cleaned up as best I could and repacked.

Never encountered another person all day, but there was a bit of traffic around. Surprised I never met anybody on the trail. If I had, they probably would have said "good morning Chip". I would have asked "how did you know"? They would have replied "you smell like beer".

[retired jerry]

when you discovered the ruptured beer, did you drink any remaining as part of your clean-up?

no more alpine trips this season? bummer...

[Chip Down]

when you discovered the ruptured beer, did you drink any remaining as part of your clean-up?

Jerry, are you actually suggesting I would scoop up beer from inside a pack and drink it?! ( )

no more alpine trips this season? bummer...

What's really sad is I never did my two planned alpine trips this autumn. I never quite recovered from that freak September snow dump, kept waiting for it to melt but we kept getting more. Meanwhile, the days were getting shorter. But that's okay, I had some fun this year, and I'll get back to it in 2020.

[retired jerry]

yeah, same here, September snow dump kept me from an alpine trip on Mt Hood or Three Sisters

beer must not be wasted, maybe there was some left in can?

[Solofemalehiker35]

How was the road getting there? I took the Washougal way a couple Mondays ago and got to the new steep logging road where the sheet of ice road was and had to put on my cables. I decided to just explore the area I was in that day instead of going further.

[Chip Down]

The only snow I saw all day was a little fringe on a road, presumably the remains of a plow berm.