Hiking Kendall Katwalk - 10 June 2000

I attempt the Katwalk in snow and rain.

The Hike

I needed to inaugurate the hiking season with a new (to me) hike, something strenuous but interesting, and not too high an elevation (I was hoping to avoid snow). So I looked through my "Alpine Lakes" hiking book, and settled on Kendall Katwalk. The book claimed this hike was "one of the most spectacular parts of the Cascade section of the Pacific Crest Trail." So I had to try it.

This was intended to be a serious training hike. I wanted to go as fast as I possibly could. This limited my available hiking partners, and as it turned out no one was available anyway. So I did it solo. This isn't a great hike to do alone, since parts are slightly dangerous. Fortunately there were several other people on the trail.

It was cloudy in Seattle when I left, and the clouds only increased as I drove into the Cascades. It was drizzling lightly when I pulled into the parking lot at the trailhead.

At the parking lot. There is snow on the ground even here (~3000 feet).

After 2 and 3/4 miles, you enter the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area.

I'd passed this same stream in the fall on another hike, it was only a trickle then.

Another stream, higher up, washing over the trail.

The weather was variable. As I climbed out of the trees, I was treated to either glorious sunshine or wind and rain, depending on the moods of the mountain gods, which seemed to change every five minutes.

Near the Katwalk, the snow started to become impassable without proper