I got several calls from Brett today. He was on the ridge above the Crystal Mountain ski resort, so cell service was excellent. Even got a nice picture of Mt. Rainier from Scout Pass (below). Rainier is about 15 miles to the southwest from Scout Pass.

Last message I got is that he and Nick had encountered some pretty bad snow just north of Chinook Pass, so they have taken a side trail and will pick up the PCT again right at Chinook Pass.

It looks like the trail along Pickhandle point / basin / ridge is built at 6000' on a steep north-facing slope. I read a PCT journal just yesterday from a north-bounder last year who also encountered some bad snow there. Interestingly, the map shows an alternate trail on the south side. Only issue is that it drops to about 5200 and re-ascends to 6k. But it would sure bypass that north side mess.



Brett's progress today:

          mile     elev
         ------    ----
  Start   2364     4800
  End     2345     4800
         ------ 
  total     19


Map location here

Yet another update: I forgot to mention that Brett reported that they had a great experience in the Camp Urich log cabin at Government Meadows. He says the cabin could shelter more than a dozen hikers, and is located near a beautiful meadow. The cabin has a huge wood stove, so he fired it up and then washed his clothes and dried them near the stove.

He also got a few pictures of a herd of elk in the meadow. Earlier, he got a picture of a mountain goat mom and kid. Hoping to see the pictures soon!