PCT 25 - In the Shadow of Becky's Peaks (Alpine Lakes Wild)

PCT 25 - In the Shadow of Becky's Peaks (Alpine Lakes Wild)

My first long backpacking trip was in these mountains. I remember that first day like it was yesterday. Elise had just dropped me off at Fish Lake Meadows, just below Cathedral Rock. The mist was still streaming up from the rivers surface as the Cle Elum meandered it's was across the flower covered valley floor. Before I left, we sat beside the rivers edge and talked about what we though life would me like. Today, that friend fights a growing cancer with as much life and spirit as she had that day. I am always insipered by her view of life. Now I walk again with another kindered spirit along the high trail of Fred Becky's Peaks. It has also been a joy to share these moments with another likewise youthful spirit.

These mountains sing to me as home like no other. As I climb up the ridgeline of Kendells Katwalk, the masses of day hikers pass us by. This is a place of high discovery for new eyes tothe mountain lore. The beauty here is painted on the rocks reaching out towards the horizon. The high tower of Stuart, like a watchtower upon the cathedral hill, always stands off over the last ridgeline. This ridgeline we walk is home.

In the next day we weave our way below the twin towers of Thompson and Huckleberry, cross the long talus field below Chikamin Ridge. Layers of compressed mudstone that long ago found themselves buried deep in the oceans of Mesozoic times, now reach high towards the heavens as they are made golden by the dawns light. Every now and the I pick up a rock and break it along fine lines to reveals another world in the fossils of an ancient sea. And yet the views of Park Lakes and the small meadows below, bring us back to the present and the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.

On that first solo trip, I brought along a book to keep me company, "Challenge of the North Cascades" by Fred Becky. In it was a page after page of descriptions of the inner sanctuary of Lemah, Overcoat, Chikamin and Dummot Chief. I remember coming over the ridgeline and putting a face to these giants that had become part of my own mythology woven frpm his descriptions. To see them again, was to look upon the face of heaven itself. Needless to say we had good skies.

Near the base of Three Queens, we came upon two hikers, who I immediately recognized. Wayne and Rick from work were out for the weekend to explore these upper reaches along the crest. We talked and swapped stories of trails we all had seen along the way, snapped a few pictures of eachother and parted ways. There is something special about meeting hikers and friends in the backcountry. Each shares that great experience of discovery, and chance meetings seem somehow part of the fate of the travelling experience.

That night after climbing out of the deep valley of Lemah Creek, we camped at the same campsite I stayed at when I was young. As the sun faded, we saw grand silowets painted with alpenglow lines of gold, pink and orange. The chill in the air on the clear night and the half moon seemed to speak of the trips end upon the horizon. But for the moment, the feeling of being deep in the wilderness and looking upon beautiful cliffs and glaciers fading to black was enough to bring warmth to our bundled hearts.

From the backcountry mile
Ridgewalker
山武士
http://ridgewalkernw.blogspot.com/