Bridge Creek to High Bridge (PCT) #74 & 75

    This past winter L asked me if I would like to complete the last few miles of the section of the  Pacific Crest Trail that B and I had not completed last summer. (That was due to the blisters and shin splints that I had.) We.. because B wanted to come also both said yes.
    We woke up early on Tuesday morning and were on the road at 6:40 a.m. (and as usual I had butterflies....I always get butterflies whenever I do anything that is not my normal routine.) L's mom drove us to the Ranger station so we could get our permit for the North Cascades National Park campsite. After getting our permit and the Rangers going over all of the do's and don'ts we climbed back into the car and on the road again and arrived at the Bridge Creek parking lot.
   To get to Bridge Creek take Highway 20 and 1 mile east of milepost 159 is the parking lot.
    As we were unloading the car it started to rain. ( I seem to bring the rain each time we have backpacked on the PCT.) So we decided to wait and see if the rain would stop. Well the rain didn't stop, but, it did lessen so we decided to take a couple of pictures and head out at 10:30a.m.

We crossed the highway to get to the trail head. 

Tuesday was a vey muggy and hot day with the rain, it wasn't dumping but it was raining enough to require the use of a rain jacket/coat.

The sun did peek through at times but not enough to warrant removing the rain jacket.

At this Y you want to stay to the right, also you can see the PCT sign that is located on the tree on the right of the picture. B and I tap each PCT sign with our trekking poles for good luck.

One thing that I really enjoyed on this trip was all of the wooden bridges.

I never realized how many trails there are connected to the PCT located in the North Cascades National Park until I saw all of the trail signs.

It was still sprinkling and we were starting to get hungry.

The sprinkling finally stopped and I was really hungry when we arrived at a sign that said Hideaway camp. We made the decision to check it out and see if it was a good spot for lunch. It was, but we saw that there were 3 tents so we said hello and asked if anyone was there. We didn't receive a response thus we stopped and enjoyed our food. As you can see there is a bear box, and every campsite that we saw in the National park had some. 

Such a beautiful view.

There is plenty of signage along the way.

There are lot of sections of the trail that are like this....not fun when it is raining.

The trail become a little narrow here, but you can see the trail on the other side of the canyon and the suspension bridge.

B decided to cross the stream, while L and I decided to proceed up the rocks that looked like a trail. B made it to the other side pretty fast, but he did loose his footing on a slippery rock and almost fell in. And it wasn't just him, the 3 other people ahead of us did the same thing. I didn't have that problem because I was enjoying walking on the bridge. I took a picture of L crossing, her trekking poles kept getting stuck on the handrails.  

I will be honest and say that I lost the trail among the rocks, so I climbed down and almost fell into the river because I went below the shrubbery. Apparently the trail was above my head. Oops oh well.

After the suspension bridge you hike some more miles and gain around 500 feet elevation gain. I was catching up to L and B and asked if we could stop to drink some water, when they told me to look at the sign.

Oh...well if we are that close to camp I don't need to stop then. 

We arrived at the North Fork Campground after hiking 10 pretty easy miles at 2:30p.m. to find watering cans??

Well after reading the sign I did water the plants after helping to set up camp.

There were a few tent sites and they were all very nice. We weren't the only people there, there was a guy with his 2 dogs and a girls youth group.

The river felt amazing on my hot and swollen feet, only for a bit though. The water was freezing. We hung out in camp and had dinner then went to bed. The next morning we woke up later rather then earlier, made breakfast and packed up.

Shortly after exiting camp you get to walk across the bridge, and start hiking up an incline. Which was not bad at all. I am just slow going up hill. It then started to go down hill and some parts were pretty flat.

Saw this guy on the trail. L and I both missed it because it blended in swell. B saw it move, and told us to come back and look at how large it was. 

These sections were pretty flat and very nice.

For a short ways you get to walk on a section of road. Not too far down the road we were rather surprised to 

find a sign that said Stock Camp.

A horse corral.

The wall tent with bunks, camp chairs, and a binder of information for the Guide Company that uses all of this.

The cooking area.

We looked in the building to find that it is used for storage. There was also a very nice new outhouse make out of Cedar.

The road washed out further down so you have to take a left to follow the PCT.

There were some vey large trees along here.

We followed fresh deer prints for a ways in this burnt area.

The burnt area soon turned into this wooded area. 

At this sign B and L decided that they wanted to continue via the Howard Lake route that connects to the PCT. 

As we were going along we came across 2 ladies that said that there was a bear on the trail. They didn't see it but the people before them saw her and her cub and had turned around. B was very excited to learn that there was a possibility to see a bear. He had been talking about how he wanted to see a bear off and on the entire time and before we left. I likes bears but only from a safe place. During this section of hiking I some how ended up in the rear instead of leading like I had been.

Coming around the bend in the trail you catch a glimpse of the aesthetic lake.

Enjoying the peace and calmness of the scenery. 

I had just taken this picture and put my camera away when L and I heard a noise up to our right. She said; "squirrel, no it's a bear, bear, bear ,bear!" She and B start talking very loudly at it and we make noise to scare it away. But it didn't seem to mind as it continued walking toward us eating berries no more then 10 feet away. I was telling B to move and was literally climbing over him so I could be in the middle again. B and L decided to continue moving since the bear didn't seem that interested in us. I have now seen 2 bears in 2 summers doing the PCT.

Shortly after the lake you arrive upon this view. I thought it was very lovely wanted a picture taken. As we were going along you 

you could spot the bear prints, rocks that were overturned and logs like the picture above showing the recent activity of it.

This sign made me laugh.

This area was dusty and there was horse manure in numerous spots. 

At this junction you want to go right to get to High Bridge.

The signage was a little misleading so we double checked on the map.

Finally saw the road and cabin for High Bridge. I didn't take any pictures of the buildings and part of me wishes I had. But there is a house that is lived in and some other outbuildings and a outhouse. We found quit a few people waiting for the red bus that comes and picks you up that takes you into Stehekin. We stopped at the bakery and I bought a cinnamon roll and L bought a cookie. We all loaded back onto the bus to get to the Lady of the Lake and "downtown". We ate lunch at the restaurant which was really good, and made the decision to take the boat to Chelan so we could get home a day earlier. But that didn't happen. We ended up taking a taxi to Wenatchee and staying the night in a Hotel and getting a rental car to drive home on Thursday. Next time we are just going to drop a vehicle off and leave it so we don't have to deal with that headache again. In all we did 18 miles with around 500 feet elevation gain and had the best time and relaxing trip!

Until next time!