Day 152, 21 miles, endpoint PCT mile 2620
Early this morning the rain came and made us completely unmotivated to hike. We stayed inside the tent, ate some of our goods from the Stehekin bakery, and waited to see what the weather would do. We realized it probably wasn't going to stop raining; begrudgingly, we packed up and started off.
We had a long uphill climb to start the morning. The rain fell all day, and the misty clouds blocked any hope for views of the mountains we were hiking up. We went over Cutthroat Pass (best name for a pass, ever), and continued uphill until we reached 7,000 feet. At that point, we were actually in the clouds; it was wet and chilly.
A long downhill brought us to a forest where we were below the clouds and warmer. We finished off the day with yet another uphill to Glacier Pass, where we were lucky to find a camp site with enough tree cover that the ground was actually dry. Just as we were getting set up, Buckeye and G-String (the hikers we shared a room with in Snoqualmie) came up the hill. The four of us had dinner together by a fire as the rain came down lightly. It may be the last time we see them--they are planning on finishing the day after tomorrow in the morning, while we are planning on getting to the end of the trail a bit later.
One of the most exciting moments of the day ocurred when we went past a message made out of rocks on the side of the trail that read "50 miles to Canada! Eh". It was startling to realize how close we are. From our campsite right now we have 40 miles to the border, and 49 miles to the official end of the trail in Canada. We think we will get to the border the day after tomorrow in the evening, then finish up the trail the following morning. Things are definitely winding down...wow!
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| Some nasty weather and low visibility around Granite Pass. |
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| This is about as much as the views would open up for us today. |
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| Best sign on the entire trail! |
Day 153, 21 miles, endpoint PCT mile 2641
We had a very, very, very unwelcomed visitor last night to the tent: a mouse. It woke Josh up when it crawled across his forehead; Josh then woke me up, asking for light. By the time I turned my headlamp on, I could see it hanging from the inside of the roof of the tent. We immediately went into full on evacuation mode. The mouse seemed to be freaking out as well, perhaps realizing it had made a great mistake by crawling inside this tent. In the darkness we pulled everything out of the tent, piece by piece, searching for the mouse. We took the quilt out, shaking it and inspecting it. When the search was exhausted, we warily returned to the tent. Neither of us actually saw the mouse leave the tent. But, not finding it anywhere, we had no choice but to lay back down. The mouse invasion was our own fault: we had left the tent doors slightly unzipped on the top to facilitate more airflow. We went back to bed with all zippers secure.
After that, we had another late start in the morning, but neither of us cared. We only planned on 20 miles, and getting it in would be easy. We had a long uphill through the clouds (at least it wasn't raining) and only partially saw some of the beautifulh mountains around us. After the uphill we stayed high for most of the day, dodging clouds that blocked our views and ocassionaly enjoying a little bit of sunshine.
We went through Hart's Pass, our last bit of civilization until Manning Lodge in Canada. Besides a dirt road and a campground, there wasn't much there. We then entered the Pesayten Wilderness, the last Wilderness area of the trip.
We camped for the second night in a row with Buckeye and G-String. It will be nice having other hikers at the border to finish with that we know. Tomorrow is a big day: in 19 miles we will reach the US/Canada border, and the monument signifying the Northern Terminus of the PCT! It's hard to believe the trip is coming to an end, but I feel ready for it. Next stop: Canada!
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| We started the day off with low visibility again :( |
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| The sky started to open up finally at Hart's Pass |
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| Yay! We can see more than a half mile. The reddish patches on the hills are huckleberry plants. |
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| Pasayten Wilderness - our last wilderness of the trip. |
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| Carla soaking in views of the Oregon Basin. |
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| Lifting clouds over Jim's Peak and the Devil's Backbone. |
Day 154, 19 miles, endpoint PCT mile 2660
Today was Monument Day! We got a purposeful late start (it's such an amazing feeling to wake up and not be rushed to get on the trail right away) and hiked up our last pass of the trip. The views of the very Northern mountains of Washington were beautiful; we enjoyed it in sunshine under blue skies.
After climbing even higher from the pass, we finally finished the uphill and began our last downhill. We stopped at a lake, took a break, then cranked out the final six miles. The anticipation was driving me crazy. Finally, before we started a set of downhill switchbacks, we saw it: a clearcut that defined the US/Canadian border. We were almost there.
We practically ran down the switchbacks until we arrived at a very small spot with the monument indicating the Northern Terminus of the PCT. 2,660 miles done and done. It felt surreal and awesome and unbelievable all at once.
We took some pictures, drank some of the vodka we shipped to ourselves in our Stehekin box, and hung out with a few other hikers who had also just finished up. From there we hiked about a quarter mile north into Canada, camped, and relaxed--the best relaxation we have had yet this trip.
Tomorrow we will finish the last nine miles of the trail to Manning Park in British Columbia. The journey is not yet over, but it is very, very close!
Day 155, 9 miles, endpoint PCT mile 2669/Vancouver, BC
What a crazy day. The easy part was hiking the last nine miles into Manning Park and the actual end of the Pacific Crest Trail. At the trail's end we came to a road with a hand written sign attached to a post: "One last bit of trail magic in the creek." We crossed an overpass and looked down below to the creek. There, sitting in the cool creek water, were about 20 shining Molson Canadian beer cans. I couldn't help but laugh. We happily drank our victory Canadian beer as we walked the one kilometer down the road to the Manning Park Lodge.
At the lodge we got food and beer with Buckeye and G-String, who finished just in front of us. It was strange--it almost felt like a regular town stop that we would have to hike out of. But it wasnt; it was the end. The real end.
We thought about getting a room at the lodge for the night, but it was early enough to try to get a hitch to Vancouver, so we decided to go for it. After about 45 long minutes on the road with no luck, a car with three Manning Park employees picked us up and drove us to the town of Hope, about an hour away.
From Hope the hitching the rest of the way was easier: 30 seconds at the side of the road and a car stopped; we had our ride the rest of the way to Vancouver, about another hour away. The very nice couple who picked us up dropped us off at the Sky Train station. They even gave us two tickets to use to go the rest of the way into downtown Vancouver on the train.
We got off downtown near the Amtrak station in the late evening; the sun was starting to set and we weren't sure what our plans were. We needed internet, and our phone didn't work in Canada. We did the only thing possible: we walked to the nearby McDonald's to use their wi-fi and get some unnecessary crappy food. The strangest thing happened next: about a block away I could see Buckeye and G-String walking down the road towards us. We hadn't seen them since Manning Park, and here they were, in the big city of Vancouver, just a block away.
While at the McDonald's, another crazy thing happened: we were sitting outside near a rack of bikes and actually witnessed a bike being stolen. Josh ran inside and yelled to the guy whose bike it was. His friend ran outside, hopped on his bike, and gave chase to the theif, who was wobbily riding his bike with one hand and holding onto the stolen bike with the other hand. A police car happened to be in the driveway, as well; they threw their lights on and turned down the road. I'm not sure what happened to the theif, but I do know the bike was returned to its owner, which is the most important thing. Definitely didn't see anything like that on the trail!
After the excitement of a live action theft, police chase, and cheeseburgers, the four of us decided to split another hotel room. We found a great one within walking distance--the Skwachays Lodge, an aboriginal art gallery that also houses a hotel. Yep. An aboriginal art gallery and hotel. The hotel lobby was the gallery, filled with beautiful paintings, sculptures, and figurines; the hotel rooms were in the back. The rooms were ultra-modern with more original artwork decorating the walls. It was a weird little wonderful place.
By the time we checked in, showered, and went out for food and drinks it was almost midnight--later than I have stayed up for a long time! Tomorrow Josh and I will catch an early morning train back to Portland. Time for real life to begin again.
We don't know exactly where our path will take us from here. We just know we will head back to Portland, do some couch surfing, and try to find jobs at some point. It's a huge unknown, but that also makes it exciting.
Thank you both for sharing your trip. I enjoyed all the scenery and commentary. Congratulations.
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