After waking at six I walked back up the road from my camp to the Kracker Barrel to make a phone call. I needed Tonya to send a new pair of shoes and some socks to Cascade Locks, the next resupply town. My Lafuma trekking shoes were so beat up that Kristen said they looked like sandals. Unfortunately, Tonya never picked up the phone so I had to leave a message on the answering machine. Meanwhile, Steve and Kristen had been chatting about snow conditions with a couple who claimed to be Northbounders. Steve was very skeptical about the information they had passed along because for one thing it's still too early to see Northbound hikers this far north. Secondly, they didn't have the hiker "look"---a little worn, slightly dirty and hardened by the trail. Steve called them Phobos, just a couple of phonies pretending to be thru-hikers. As the day progressed, Steve was proven right as the information they had given was completely false. As the conversation was wrapping up I downed a whole box of doughnuts I'd bought in the store. I was trying to take the "eating contest" advice to heart. For most of our hiking time together Kristen took the lead and even though she's smaller than both Steve and I, she can motor. Setting a pretty mean pace from White Pass, we were back up at altitude in no time. 
Goat Rocks Wilderness is among my top five places along the trail because it has the type of rugged mountain scenery that I really enjoy. We had to use our ice axes three times that I recall, once to top the ridge leading up to Lutz Lake, a second time on a left hand traverse that led to the beginning of the Knife Edge and the third time on Packwood Glacier. It was quite thrilling when Kristen spied a mountain goat lying in a flat area before our traverse because I hadn't seen one in the wild since I was a child visiting Glacier National Park in Montana. I quickly fumbled for my camera and snapped a few pictures before he walked away. They are truly majestic , especially the big males. As for the Knife Edge, it has to be one of the most scenic sections of trail along the entire Pacific Crest. Starting tamely enough, it climbs higher and higher along a ridge until the sideslopes become very steep and drop away and you're then walking on a narrow stone trail with dropoffs on either side. The views from the top are fabulous with Mt. Rainier to the north and Mt. Adams, another stratovocano, to the south and all around the dramatic scenery of Goat Rocks Wilderness. A word of warning, it's not a good idea to walk and look at the same time. On the rocky trail, a slight stumble could cost you dearly. Stop to take some time to look around and you'll be rewarded with some unforgettable images. It was the afternoon before we stepped onto the Packwood Glacier so the snow was very soft, so walking, although still a tad slippery, was rather easy. The place we stopped for dinner must have been a haven for marmots cause they were scampering out onto the snow and playing together. It was good entertainment watching their antics as we ate. All in all this has been a super day!
Goat Rocks Wilderness is among my top five places along the trail because it has the type of rugged mountain scenery that I really enjoy. We had to use our ice axes three times that I recall, once to top the ridge leading up to Lutz Lake, a second time on a left hand traverse that led to the beginning of the Knife Edge and the third time on Packwood Glacier. It was quite thrilling when Kristen spied a mountain goat lying in a flat area before our traverse because I hadn't seen one in the wild since I was a child visiting Glacier National Park in Montana. I quickly fumbled for my camera and snapped a few pictures before he walked away. They are truly majestic , especially the big males. As for the Knife Edge, it has to be one of the most scenic sections of trail along the entire Pacific Crest. Starting tamely enough, it climbs higher and higher along a ridge until the sideslopes become very steep and drop away and you're then walking on a narrow stone trail with dropoffs on either side. The views from the top are fabulous with Mt. Rainier to the north and Mt. Adams, another stratovocano, to the south and all around the dramatic scenery of Goat Rocks Wilderness. A word of warning, it's not a good idea to walk and look at the same time. On the rocky trail, a slight stumble could cost you dearly. Stop to take some time to look around and you'll be rewarded with some unforgettable images. It was the afternoon before we stepped onto the Packwood Glacier so the snow was very soft, so walking, although still a tad slippery, was rather easy. The place we stopped for dinner must have been a haven for marmots cause they were scampering out onto the snow and playing together. It was good entertainment watching their antics as we ate. All in all this has been a super day!Shoe Lake
The Trail above Lutz Lake
Mountain Goat in Goat Rocks Wilderness
Mt.Ranier from the Beginning of the Knife Edge
21 Miles
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