[pct-l] Glacier Peak bypass

[yawho_hiker at yahoo.com (j rhoades)]

I took the official detour.    The first part of that
route was probably the worst. Although you could see a
"trail" it was a giant mudhole for  awhile.  Later it
went away from Indian creek and I wasn't sure if I was
on the right path.  

By the time I got  to the lower part of Indian creek
it was quite scenic with lots of yellow fall color.  
My only complaint was that when they cut the brush and
trees to clear the trail they made such a wide swath
that you could have moved a double wide trailer
through there.  Maybe they were making a fire break at
the same time as I saw that kind of wide cutting on
other parts of the PCT and the only thing that could
explain it was someone wanted a firebreak.

But back to the deour:  Hiking up to Boulder Pass and
down into the Napeequa River was beautiful.  I didn't
have hiking poles and I couldn't see how deep the
river was so I picked up some sturdy sticks laying
around in case the crossing was rough.

It was a little over knee-high on me (23 inches/59
cm).  I had no problem but the cold water numbed my
lower legs so I kept moving to warm them up.  (This
was mid October after some rainy days)

The trail is flat for a little while on the other side
of the river and then starts going very very steeply
up to Little Giant Pass.  I could see where I needed
to go but I won't use the word "trail" (well maybe
animal trail)  for this part.  From the top I remember
the trail getting much better and then varying in
quality down to Chiwawa River Road.  The Chiwawa River
was wide and cold but not very deep and was easily
crossed.

>From Chiwawa River the trail was in good condition. 
Buck Creek Pass was beautiful but I didn't linger
bacause it was snowy and cold.

So, I can say the official detour is beautiful and I
would do it again rather than do any road walking. 
The phlumf route also includes the Napeequa River
Valley (and maybe more of it) but you don't get the
pleasure of scrambling up to Little Giant Pass.   

Jeff

--- Judson Brown <judson@jeffnet.org> wrote:

> I'm curious to hear the reviews after the first
> season of hikers doing the
> bypass around Glacier Peak. I noticed on Yogi's
> website that there are 2
> possibilities: the official Forest Service detour,
> and another suggested by
> Jonathan at http://www.phlumf.com/pct/pctalt.htm. I
> would love to here some
> feedback on either or both of these routes. Is the
> bushwacking on Jonathan's
> route as intimidating as it sounds?
> 
> Judson
> Ashland
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> pct-l mailing list
> pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
> unsubscribe or change options:
> http://mailman.hack.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
> 



		
__________________________________ 
Do you Yahoo!? 
Read only the mail you want - Yahoo! Mail SpamGuard. 
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail