This is a hike I will never forget.
Andy and I have been so busy with the move that we were so excited to plan this next overnight. The weather had been so nice the past several weeks and this weekend was the height of the Perseid meteor shower. Well, wouldn't ya know - thunderstorms and lightning predicted for Saturday night. Right on friggin' cue. No matter, Andy and I still wanted to go since t-storm chance was only "somewhat likely" in the North Cascades versus "very likely" near Rampart Lakes (this was our second choice hike). John and Nicole came with us this trip. This choice of hike was a bit ambitious for their first hike of the season, but I think the views and new experiences were well worth it - right, guys? Luckily, the weather gods gave us beautiful weather on our hike in and out :D We were so lucky and I was so grateful.
The original plan was to start at Rainy Pass, stop for lunch at Cutthroat Pass and then hike the rest of the way to Snowy Lakes and camp in Methow Valley. This would have made it ~11 mile trip. So, after lunch and some exciting events at Cutthroat Pass (!) we made it to Granite Pass and decided it would be best to camp here instead. We set up our tents keeping in mind safe locations if a thunderstorm were to pass (low valley areas with smaller trees) and went on our way to look for water. Fortunately there was a small stream about 0.5 miles father down the trail.
The four of us enjoyed dinner together. FYI - once you stop moving, the mosquitoes are relentless. We used 3M UltraThon DEET lotion to keep the bugs at bay. I got away with 3 bites this year instead of 100+ like last year. Anyways, all throughout dinner we all had our eyes on the sky and after literally putting the second to last bite of dinner in my mouth, a raindrop hit my face. A couple minutes later the rain came down faster so we packed up, reviewed some safety tips if the storm got bad, and headed into our tents. Man, were we in for a show. We may not have gotten a meteor shower show, but we got heavy rain, thunder and lightning. The first storm began at 8 pm and once the rain passed, Andy opened up this rain fly so we could watch the lighting show over the Snowy Lakes/Tower Mountain area safely in our awesome Tarptent. About an hour later, the big daddy storm was right over our heads. Super heavy rain, loud, rolling thunder and 30 strikes of lightning per minute. Yeah, 30 per minutes. It was awesome and terrifying. At one point it got so bad Andy and I suited up in our rain gear and went outside to get in a safer position but as we were huddled in the valley, we looked back at our tent and realized that it was already in a safe location so we went back in the tent and fell asleep to the sound of rumbling thunder and blinding lightning.
Here's a few pics. Aside from the storm, you'll see why this was such an amazing trip :D
Haha this picture always makes me laugh.
Lunch break and photo op at Cutthroat Pass. Gorgeous.
As John and Nicole were finishing up their lunches, Andy and I headed up a little hill to explore and take more pictures.
I was about to head back down because I didn't think John and Nicole were coming up but they were actually on our way so we took a few more pictures of them and us.
I felt like I was standing awkward and was all like "What should I do with my left hand?!" I didn't want to put it on my hip because it's so "pose-y"..
To which Andy replied "I know what you can do with that hand... Marry me."
Yup! We're engaged!!!!! August 10, 2013 :D :D :D (If you get a chance to hear it, Andy's side of the story is hilarious)
*****
Storm clouds rolling in during dinner at Granite Pass.
We have a video of the lightning show, but Andy also got a good pic.
Hike out. You can see how lovely the weather was on our hike out.
The storm was so severe that night that SR 20 west of Rainy Pass was closed due to mudslides and what not. Luckily we were not four of the 65 hikers trapped due to the trailhead washing out. However, SR 20 west was our way home so we had to take a 4.5 hour detour through Chelan, Wenatchee, Goldbar. Took us 7.5 hours to get home. Phew! What a trip indeed.
Andy and I have been so busy with the move that we were so excited to plan this next overnight. The weather had been so nice the past several weeks and this weekend was the height of the Perseid meteor shower. Well, wouldn't ya know - thunderstorms and lightning predicted for Saturday night. Right on friggin' cue. No matter, Andy and I still wanted to go since t-storm chance was only "somewhat likely" in the North Cascades versus "very likely" near Rampart Lakes (this was our second choice hike). John and Nicole came with us this trip. This choice of hike was a bit ambitious for their first hike of the season, but I think the views and new experiences were well worth it - right, guys? Luckily, the weather gods gave us beautiful weather on our hike in and out :D We were so lucky and I was so grateful.
The original plan was to start at Rainy Pass, stop for lunch at Cutthroat Pass and then hike the rest of the way to Snowy Lakes and camp in Methow Valley. This would have made it ~11 mile trip. So, after lunch and some exciting events at Cutthroat Pass (!) we made it to Granite Pass and decided it would be best to camp here instead. We set up our tents keeping in mind safe locations if a thunderstorm were to pass (low valley areas with smaller trees) and went on our way to look for water. Fortunately there was a small stream about 0.5 miles father down the trail.
The four of us enjoyed dinner together. FYI - once you stop moving, the mosquitoes are relentless. We used 3M UltraThon DEET lotion to keep the bugs at bay. I got away with 3 bites this year instead of 100+ like last year. Anyways, all throughout dinner we all had our eyes on the sky and after literally putting the second to last bite of dinner in my mouth, a raindrop hit my face. A couple minutes later the rain came down faster so we packed up, reviewed some safety tips if the storm got bad, and headed into our tents. Man, were we in for a show. We may not have gotten a meteor shower show, but we got heavy rain, thunder and lightning. The first storm began at 8 pm and once the rain passed, Andy opened up this rain fly so we could watch the lighting show over the Snowy Lakes/Tower Mountain area safely in our awesome Tarptent. About an hour later, the big daddy storm was right over our heads. Super heavy rain, loud, rolling thunder and 30 strikes of lightning per minute. Yeah, 30 per minutes. It was awesome and terrifying. At one point it got so bad Andy and I suited up in our rain gear and went outside to get in a safer position but as we were huddled in the valley, we looked back at our tent and realized that it was already in a safe location so we went back in the tent and fell asleep to the sound of rumbling thunder and blinding lightning.
Here's a few pics. Aside from the storm, you'll see why this was such an amazing trip :D
As John and Nicole were finishing up their lunches, Andy and I headed up a little hill to explore and take more pictures.
To which Andy replied "I know what you can do with that hand... Marry me."
The storm was so severe that night that SR 20 west of Rainy Pass was closed due to mudslides and what not. Luckily we were not four of the 65 hikers trapped due to the trailhead washing out. However, SR 20 west was our way home so we had to take a 4.5 hour detour through Chelan, Wenatchee, Goldbar. Took us 7.5 hours to get home. Phew! What a trip indeed.