Doug and I left Mowich Lake in a steady rain, but we were hoping that our hike would take us high above the weather. A deer watched us, as we moved along the Wonderland Trail through Spray Park. Only the lower portion of the mountain was visible, so we couldn’t make out any landmarks. We ended up meandering all over Spray Park before we zeroed in on the correct course to Ptarmagin Ridge. We decided to name our route the “Drunken Sailor Route”.
At last, the sky brightened and we were soon looking down on a sea of clouds. The normal route threads its way between Observation Rock and Echo Rock. But, since we were following the Drunken Sailor Route, we inadvertantly found ourselves on top of Observation Rock (8300′). This was fine with us, as it offered great views and a good place to take a break.
On up the ridge we went, hitting fresh snow at about 9000′. At last, we topped out at about 10,200′. The ridge continued towards the mountain, losing some altitude, and eventually merging into a series of ice cliffs. We had a grand panoramic view from Curtis Ridge on the left to the Mowich Face on the right. Doug an I looked directly over at Thumb Rock where we spent the night 2 years ago on our way up Liberty Ridge.
We soon left the mountain behind and plunged once again into the fog. Despite our best efforts to stay on course, we soon became disoriented in the total whiteness. We both peered at the compass nodding our heads, “North is that way. Yeah that seems about right. … Wait a minute, doesn’t the red end of the needle point north?”.
Wow, were we confused.
Between the two of us, we had three compasses, and we consulted them all. After a great deal of head scratching, we managed to agree on our theoretical location. We proceeded down through the clouds, keeping a constant eye on our compass heading.
| “North is that way. Yeah that seems about right. … Wait a minute, doesn’t the red end of the needle point north?” |
Soon the fog opened up enough for us to get a glimpse of Spray Park below us. We were heading in the right direction!
Spray Park was full of blooming flowers: lilies, paintbrush, heather, and more. We were happy to regain the Wonderland Trail, so we didn’t have to stomp through the fragile medows. The last three miles seemed to last forever, and we had to go uphill again before we reached the parking lot.
Hikers were asking us if they could expect to break out into the sun. “If you go high enough,” was our response. You’re bound to see the sun if you go high enough.
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