Mile: 2528.3 to 2546.6 (18.3)
up/down: 4200/5600 feet
How long since we've seen the sun all day? It was back in August. We both couldn't believe our eyes when we awoke to no clouds, no fog, nothing but blue sky. From our lofty perch high on a ridge we had 360 degree views of the surrounding mountains. Beautiful. As expected, it got cold and wet overnight with frost on everything and ice in the water bottles.
We started at the high point for the day and commenced with a 3500 foot descent, first to Vista Creek and then on to the huge Suiattle River. At Vista we were able to explode our packs and dry everything out. Yay!
The bridge over the Suiattle River was built in 2011 replacing an earlier bridge that was swept away in a flood. The river today was mostly glacial melt. You can see by the size of the river channel that this is a beast in spring runoff. Even now it is a formidable river that we would not want to mess with crossing on foot. By the time we crossed the bridge we were at 2300 feet elevation - it's been a while since we've been so low.
Of course what goes down must go back up, and we did. The rest of the afternoon was climbing up to our camp along Miners Creek at 4500 feet. The forest it thick here and we should be warm enough tonight. We will stage tomorrow evening for an early morning arrival at our last resupply stop on Sunday in Stehekin. More on that later.
Who knew..... Seeing your shadow and appreciating the sun for it's healing and drying powers.
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