#windy gap

Landscape Language

Stone arch (noun) – a rock structure that spans a gap

Did you know that Mount Rainier National Park has a natural arch? It is a type of arch called a bridge, that spans an erosion valley. Straightforwardly called “Natural Bridge”, this rock arch spans 150 feet over an eroding andesite gap. Natural Bridge is located on the north side of the park accessible only by foot along the Northern Loop Trail. An unmaintained spur trail from Windy Gap leads to Natural Bridge on the slopes above Lake James and Lake Ethel. Have you ever hiked to see this unusual stone arch?

Windy Gap, 1922 August 19-27

View of the Buckwalter dog at Windy Gap (Grand County), Colorado, during a camping trip.

History Colorado, Buckwalter collection ; no. H-15

Photographs - History Colorado

I found myself reading a few old trail journals and looking at old PCT photos . . . including this one of my very younger self (43 years ago) along the PCT north of Government Meadows and Windy Gap in Washington State. I am both surprised at how much I remember and how much I forget.

It was July 10th and, according to my journal, "it was a cold damp morning that actually produced some light snow." But from Blowout Mountain we were treated to a 360-degree panorama. I commented at some length about passing the Naches Trail, marked by some small monuments. We were in awe of the courage of those early pioneers.

Because of those comments, I returned to Dennis Larsen's contribution to The Pacific Crest Trailside Reader: Oregon and Washington, "The 1853-54 Naches Pass Wagon Road." For some the route involved a two-day ordeal of lowering their wagons down a cliff face. To do so, the pioneers had to kill three of their steers in order to make strong enough rope to support the wagons.

It did make me want to erase any of my complaints about hardships on the PCT.