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[pct-l] North Cascades 55m. detour



I hiked the detour last year on my northbound thru-hike. Despite all the
rumors circulating on the trail last year about it being really difficult,
overgrown, hard to follow with dangerous creek fords, and not recommended by
some of the earlier thru-hikers that hiked it, I found it to be rather
enjoyable and one of the most memorable sections of my entire PCT hike.

Yeah, it was steeper and not as well maintained as the rest of the PCT, but
it was easy to follow and well marked. The creek fords when I went
through,(Sept 9-11) were no more than thigh-deep. Boulder Pass and Little
Giant Pass are the two big obstacles. You gain 3500 ft going up Boulder
pass, then drop about 2000ft down to the Napeequa River ford. Then climb a
steep 2000ft up to Little Giant pass and back down another 3000ft to ford
the Chiwawa River. After that, it's a fairly easy climb up to Buck Creek
Pass and over to rejoin the PCT at miners creek.

Hint: You can take a shortcut over the White River and save yourself a few
miles.   Where Indian Creek flows into the White River and the trail turns
south for a couple miles, there's a fallen tree over the White River that is
easily crossed. It requires a short off-trail routefinding to get to the
White R. and back up to the trail on the other side, but is easy to find.

As for mileage, I think the detour only adds about 5 miles to the Section K
total...

Steady
PCT '04

-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net
[mailto:pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net]On Behalf Of Geoffrey
Selling
Sent: Sunday, June 05, 2005 6:18 PM
To: pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
Subject: [pct-l] North Cascades 55m. detour


I would love to know more information about the detour. The PCT
Oregon/Washington guide book says, and the Data book repeats that his
section should only be attempted by those with:  "a high degree
of backcountry skill level."
Could someone explain to me why it is so different?  What skills would be
needed on the detour that wouldn't also be needed on the PCT in general?
	One final question:  how many miles of the PCT itself are replaced by the
detour?  The detour adds 55 m. but is that the total addition or can one
subtract from that the replaced parts of the PCT to
find out what the total distance will be from Stevens Pass to Stehekin,
using the d etour?
	Has anyone taken this detour?  What 's the scoop?
										thanks, Geoffrey (Philadelphia)

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