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| Last month, Dominic was visiting from Spain and looking for a moderate packing trip that would show him the Cascades. We started by hiking up the Pacific Crest Trail northwards from Snoqualmie Pass. |
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| Camp that night was at Ridge Lake. Despite the bugs, we enjoyed the view! |
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| The next day we continued along the PCT to Alaska Mountain, where we dropped packs for a short detour to the summit. |
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| Looking north, we could see Joe Lake, where we'd leave the PCT and head down to Gold Creek. Note: the open slope on the north side of the lake is the preferred way down. We went through the trees, making for a more "interesting" descent. |
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| After the cross-country descent to Joe Lake, we had to follow an un-maintained trail down and along Gold Creek. It traveled through some incredibly densely wooded slopes. Until becoming maintained at the Silver Creek junction. |
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| For Dominic, one of the highlights of the last day was getting to look back up the Gold Creek valley and be able to see where we had returned from. He's gotten the bug and talks about returning for more. |
Statistics: Pro Guiding Service, 8-10 September. Alaska Mountain Loop, 22 miles / 35 km, 4690 ft climbed and descended. Alaska Mountain, 5745 ft / 1748 m, via the NE Slopes, 2nd/3rd class.
