Day 3: Chinook to Stampede Pass

This is the site of a fire that burned in 1988. Obviously the trees do not bounce back right away.

When the last three hikers who passed you on the trail are now coming back toward you, there's probably a problem of some sort. Such was the situation as I came down into Tacoma Pass on what I hoped would be the tail end of our walk on Day 3 (Aug. 5).

Were they fleeing some beast? Were they coming back to carry my pack for me? To apologize for passing me and threatening my self-esteem?

Nope. They were coming back because all of us had walked right past the sign for the water source at Tacoma Pass. I had to turn around and walk back up the hill with them.

We might be excused somewhat because the stream is not right at Tacoma Pass, and it is not right on the Pacific Crest Trail. It's at the end of a small trail that goes off to the left as you are coming down into Tacoma Pass. There is a sign for the turnoff, but it was lying flat on the ground when we all walked past it.

This much is for sure: None of us was going to go past a water source on this day even if it meant backtracking up a hill to find it.

We had camped the night before at a place noted in the guidebook as having a "noisy" spring. It was a very quiet noisy in this dry summer, but the spring did have enough water running out of it to make seven or eight campers happy there that night.

We filled up in the morning knowing we could not rely on getting any water during the day. The next section of trail going north had no reliable water source until reaching Tacoma Pass. Miss it there and your next best bet was a seasonal stream a mile and a half up the trail -- and in this dry season that was not a bet worth taking.

So the four of us hiked back to the rushing stream above Tacoma Pass and filled every vessel we had. Three more hikers joined us while we were there.

Then it was on to the campsite by the seasonal stream. It had a trickle of water mixed with mud. It made the reverse hike at Tacoma Pass well worth the effort.

The dry forests have been especially susceptible to fires this year, and more acreage has burnt in Washington State than ever. My hiking partner John sent this update today on how the fires are affecting the PCT:

http://www.pcta.org/discover-the-trail/trail-condition/cougar-creek-fire-burning-on-mt-adams/http://www.pcta.org/discover-the-trail/trail-condition/cougar-creek-fire-burning-on-mt-adams/

http://www.pcta.org/discover-the-trail/trail-condition/multiple-wildfires-affecting-the-pct-north-of-stevens-pass-washington/

His comment: What a mess.