We plan on hiking the washington section of the PCT starting June 22nd, putting us on the Packwood glacier around the end of June/beginning of July. How tough is the “glacier” crossing? Are there many unbridged stream crossings? I’d appreciate any comments on whether this is a doable plan.
Lucia
The “Packwood Glacier” is really just a mostly-permanent snow field - no worries about crevasses, etc. The PCT just north of there is likely to be a bigger problem, traversing the slopes of Old Snowy Mtn. It can get rather icy/slippery, and it’s a long way down. It’s probably a better idea to go straight up the ridge and back down the other side instead of traversing (you’ll see what I mean when you’re there). In general, there’s been a pretty decent snow pack in WA this year, so you’re likely to encounter a lot of snow June 22nd and for the next few weeks after. I’m not sure if the ridge walk north of Old Snowy will be melted-out enough to make for easy going - could go either way… you’ll probably encounter some solid walls of packed snowdrift. Bring an ice ax in any case, you’ll probably need to cut steps somewhere if nothing else. Actually, if you’re hiking the whole WA PCT… I hope you’re headed north (south bound would be tough starting June 22).
There might be a couple streams that will get you wet around Glacier Peak, but nothing insurmountable. You’ll need to decide what to do for the Suiattle River bypass.
-Jonathan
J Ley
To give you some idea of the amount of snow remaining in Washington, see some photos from near Snoqualmie Pass:
http://www.pierce.ctc.edu/faculty/cwillett/local/llundin2/index.html
At the PCT trailhead, there was about 7 feet of snow. We’re having fine weather these days so there will be a lot less in a month or so. However, the traverse through the Goat Rocks is very hairy if there is snow on the trail. I would seriously consider bringing an ice axe along and knowing how to use it and use it well.
Of course, everything might melt off in a flash and you’ll have no problems. Or not. Hard to tell.
Suge