[pct-l] Glacier Peak Original, I went thru, heres my 2 cents

[Junaid Dawud]

Aloha All,

Well I just finished up the PCT from Snoqualmie Pass
to Manning (Mex-snoq last year).  I'm still reading
the 1.7 billion emails that piled up but thought I'd
pause to write a report about the GP original since
people are asking if its possible.

It is.  85% of the trail is in great shape.  The drop
from Mica lake and back up the other side of the
valley (Nobo) is heavily overgrown and has two
switchbacks that were taken out by landslide.  (In
fact major portions of this hill are in active failure
as evidenced by systems of cracks opening
perpendicular to the slope and these small landslides.
 The area is quite steep and I think the trail should
be rerouted.)  Getting around these slides was easy
since the next switchback was only a few yards below. 
The worst part about doing the original is fighting
all the thick vegetation in this valley and navigating
all the down trees, which is more annoying than
"impossible".  

So heres a blow by blow:

from the start of the 'closed' section to Red Pass is
pretty good (Red Pass is really nice) no serious
obstacles or overgrowth. Starting somewhere around
mile 2518 or further, there are blowdowns.  Baekos
creek had a crew building a bridge camped there.  One
fellow said they were going to build 3 bridges though
I was unclear where the other 2 would be. I was able
to rock hop or log cross all creeks (dry feet).  There
were sections of the trail in the 2518-2522 area that
had water flowing all over the trail.  My first day on
the 'closed' section I went from Lake Sally Ann to
Sitkum Creek (18mi).  I got turned around for about 30
minutes at Sitkum Creek because of a large snarl of
down trees right near the crossing.  It probably had
more to do with being tired, sore, and hungry than the
route being that difficult to find.  In any case when
you cross Sitkum Creek just look for the tape and
you'll find the trail.  Day 2 of the original I went
from Sitkum to Dolly Vista Campsite (2522-2540). 
Kennedy creek area had some thick vegetation but the
creek was easy to cross.  Most of the trail from
Glacier Creek to Mica Lake was in very good shape. 
Mica Lake would actually be a very wise place to camp
if your schedule permits it.  From about 2533 to 2537
the vegetation is quite thick and there are numerous
blowdowns.  This is IMO, the worst of the original. 
Day 3. The terrain from "Small knoll" (2538.8 on K9)
to around Vista Creek was pretty open.  There were
some blowdowns and overgrowth between Vista Creek and
the rejoining of the PCT and the Detour, but nothing
to bad.  The Suiattle River has a log across it that
should be easily passable to any reasonably
experienced hiker (thru hikers for sure).

A few other things:  Water was no problem, and the
Agnes Creek area was cleared (quite nicely) of
blowdowns.

So thats it, I took the original and survived. From
everything I've heard about the Detour, fire or no
fire, I'm glad I did the original.

Hope that helps.

----------Junaid AKA Speshul41
Mexico->Snoqualmie Pass 2006
Snoqualmie Pass->Manning 2007



       
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