Thursday August 15, 22.2mi/35.7km

Fireplace campsite (627.4/6991ft) to Bald Mt Ridge (649.6/7110ft) (WA)

It was a colder morning than usual, probably because I’m camped thousands of feet higher in elevation. After 15 minutes of walking I was comfortable, and it was another nice sunny day in the alpine!

After a few hours of enjoyable hiking, I came across an interesting piece of metal near the trail.

And a few minutes later, some cabins!

They are old miner’s cabins, and now it looks like hikers occasionally stay there. I found a cabinet with goodies!

I ate an early lunch there, and moved on. Up a small climb over Apex Pass, and I had a view of my next pass. Cathedral pass!

The tall pointy peak is Cathedral peak, and the pass is just to the left.

The view from the top of the pass. This is the highest point on the PNT, 7572ft/2308m.

It was very windy up there, so I kept moving down, and stopped at Cathedral lake for a swim. I saw snowfields and marmots, which means the water was “refreshing”.

The last couple hours of the day went by quickly, and I hiked by some more alpine lakes, and thru a short burn section.

I had setup camp on a bare ridge, to avoid any dead burnt trees (which fall over frequently). It’s cold and a little windy, so I cooked dinner in my tent vestibule. My food bag is getting lighter… only four more days until I get more food!