Trout Lake

The small community of Trout Lake is the first resupply point in Washington of you go north. Consisting of roughly ten buildings the center is very small. Town life mainly concentrates in the small but well-stocked grocery store.

Bev from the grocery store also has three nice and clean rooms in the back and rents them to hikers at a very reasonable price. No wonder I booked three nights to stay the whole weekend. I had some decisions to make. Having been the first hiker who came through Indian Heaven Wilderness I was an attraction for all the town people straight away. Everyone wanted to know my story and provided some helpful information about the area and the trail. The opinion of the locals was clear straight away. Most of them thought it’s too early to go north. Too much snow.

I decided to change my plans, travel for a while and turn towards another hiking project first. My PCT completion would have to wait. If I didn’t make it this season it would always be a good reason to come back to the states!

Trout Lake is small and you will know the essential places in five minutes. Apart from the grocery store there’s a gas station with a small Cafe right beside it. They have a very nice menu!

The doctor is just on the other side of the road from the grocery store. He’s a nice guy but I still hope you don’t need his advice!

The girls from the store recommended that I should see Trout Lake Abbey – an organic farm and retreat center and so I went on a four-mile hike along the road and through the sunny valley.

After quite a bit of a walk I arrived at the Abbey. It’s a big area with nice gardens and fields, including some places for meditation, a Buddhist temple, Druid stone circles and a B&B.

The atmosphere was relaxed and so I took my time wandering around and looking at Alltage different places. Everything was well maintained. I met one of the monks and stopped for a little chat. He could even speak some German! While wandering around the clouds around Mt. Adams lifted and so I could see the volcano in all his beauty before I started to head back to Trout Lake.