PCT To White Pass, Day 6, Silent Lake to Cispus Basin (2018/07/27)

Walupt Lake in the distance
During the night, the wind stopped, the flies stopped buzzing, and it was completely quiet. At about 2am, I heard a really loud sound, "whomp, whomp". It took a few moments as my heart was beating rapidly and the hair on my neck was standing up before I realized it was a bull frog.

Later, around sunrise, I lay in my tent and listened for the first sounds of the day, the distant trills of calling birds. Several birds trilled back and forth until eventually the flies started buzzing again and drowned out the bird calls.

I hit the trail at 6am, again trying to beat the heat. The climb up toward Sheep Lake and Cispus Pass started immediately. It was a pleasant climb, in the shade many sloping wildflower meadows along the way. I finally reached the pass at about 10am. I had to figure out what to do with the rest of my day, because this was my destination for camp! I had thought to maybe set up camp and try to climb one of the main peaks of the Goat Rocks such as Mt. Curtis Gilbert, but the route looked way to sketchy to do solo. So I sat at the pass under the only tree and took in the amazing view, down the narrow u-shaped valley into the Yakima Lands.

Looking south toward Mt. Adams and the distance traveled.




Stumbled on this perennial garden!



The peaks of the Goat Rocks

Nearing Cispus Pass


Looking South from Cispus Pass

Mt. Ives from Cispus Pass
I started hiking down the other side toward Cispus Basin and knew immediately that this was where I wanted to camp. It was so beautiful, lush and green, mostly treeless, with rushing creeks, and rimmed by jagged peaks. It was a Friday, so I wanted to find a secluded camp. I had the advantage of reaching the basin before the weekend crowds started arriving. There were a few people in the lower camps below the trail packing up. But I decided to head cross-country up the basin to where it looked like there might be some wooded shelves and possible camps. My intuition was right and I found a gravelly camp at the edge of a high snowfield. Again my camp was right in the sun and I hiked back down a bit to eat my lunch in the shade.
Cispus Basin. Camp was above the band of trees top-center.

A waterfall crossing the trail in the distance


After lunch I decided to explore the upper basin. I thought I could reach either the climber's route on the right-hand side of the pass above, or explore the peaks near Mt.Ives to the left of the pass. It was a fun scramble up creek beds, snowfields, and scree. I finally reached the high windy pass. The views in all directions were spectacular and I decided that to make that my final destination for the afternoon. The brisk wind and chilly temperatures were so refreshing after the past several days of baking in the high-altitude afternoon sun.  There many very interesting peaks in the area and the back side of the pass was mostly north-facing and all the slopes were snow and glacier-covered.

It was an easy descent back to camp and I spent a very peaceful afternoon reading and napping and watching puffy clouds pass overhead.
Cloud formation above Mt. Adams looked like smoke plumes.


Mt. Rainier in the distance








Looking down at my tent, near the snow, on the left.





Jagged rocks above camp

Camp 6







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