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Hike: Pratt Lake Saddle (WA)
By Arlene
*****
“Look on the bright side,” I told my sister as we returned from the Pratt Lake Saddle, “there were no mosquitoes today.” This sparked a discussion about what beats what in hiking. For her, a warm rainy day beats mosquitoes, but mosquitoes beat a cold rainy day. So today was a loser because, despite the fact that tomorrow is officially the first day of summer, we hiked 8 ½ miles today in nearly constant cold rain.
All was not lost, however. We did get some good exercise and one view. We have read that there are panoramic views on this trail, but most all of them were all covered with white sheets.
Another win was that we did not have big crowds on the trail. The rain and our early start made for a very solitary hike; we met only one other hiker on our way in (and are thankful for his help on one of our many stream crossings).
We should also be grateful for the nice trail; it was a bit muddy and had some snow but was very well maintained, and the late season snow was spotty and well traveled.
Because there weren’t many views, we kept our heads down looking for wildflowers and were well rewarded. The moist forests, waterways, and marshes made good habitat for emerging flowers.
So, in the end, hiking on a cold rainy day may not be a sunny day on the trail, but it does beat sitting home on the couch all day wishing the sun would come out.
