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WASHINGTON Cascade Locks - White Pass We passed several Northbound thru hikers;
"Gandalf" with his amazing long white beard; Brian & Leslie
("Doc" & "Llama") with Coy the dog who we last saw in
Agua Dulce in MAY! They had taken lots of time off; Sue & Chris from
Vancouver who, when we saw them, both had stomach pains and couldn't keep
food down so were hitching back to Stevenson. Also we were the subject of pre-meditated random kindness! Two
young Seattle guys, Toby and Casey, who hiked the PCT last year as
"Catch 23" had received so much kindness they wanted to distribute
some themselves. As we crossed a forest road we saw their SUV in a turn out
and after saying ŇHiÓ almost walked right past, in head-down-make-the-miles
mode. They called us to stop, explained why they were there, and produced
cold beer and hot dogs. I tucked into those, and their Doritos, cheesecake
and cookies. Liz preferred the fresh oranges and juice, but we'd just eaten
lunch so she wasn't too hungry. I packed it in!. In all we passed about
30mins with Toby and Casey, hearing where to stay & hang out in Seattle.
Thanks guys. On their hike they had to bail out of the Goat Rocks area in
atrocious weather last year, but we went through in a heat wave. It cannot
last! Rain set for tomorrow. White Pass is a nice stop $55 for our own little condo. So many
resupply packages we needed a cart to carry them back to the room! Bumped
into Erin who is thru-hiking alone and also Dirk and his partner whose name I
didn't catch. Sun 15 Sep White Pass I'm going to try to get back into the swing of this Journal
writing. The two week gap seems to have caused some concern amongst our loved
ones back home. This place is hiker central! Yesterday a whole bunch of
thru-hikers whose names I mentioned in the last entry were on their way out.
We took a room and, an hour or so later, the table outside the store was full
of yet more thru-hikers. It's weird. They all know each other, but not
us. Thinking I was in a car, one asked me for a ride to Packwood - don't I
look like a thru-hiker? Rooms here are great and you pay the same rate regardless of how
many folk you pack in. We wanted privacy, but one room away it was open
house. Katie and her partner (SO MANY hikers I simply can't remember names!)
took that room and as more folk showed up, I think more rooms were taken. In
all I think there were about eight other hikers, most of whom I chatted with
outside the store. Because we don't socialise, they may think we're stand-off-ish for
which I feel like apologising. It's just Liz positively Hates crowds of
hikers. I still shudder at the memory of our arrival in Kennedy Meadows.
Around twenty other hikers all gathered together on the porch. Liz just
walked off and sat by herself in the biggest huff you've ever seen anyone
(adult) take. So I guess we're the snooty Brits! A slow start to Sunday. No rain but a chill in the air. I rang
Mum who was somewhat alarmed she hadnŐt heard from us since 1st September.
Then I fixed a good breakfast of fried eggs, toast, marmalade, coffee and tea
(yes, both!) Do we have to start walking again? I suppose we do. Erin and Judy were also getting going, and hikers seemed to be
everywhere, sorting boxes. The "rural post office" here accepts and
holds packages but if you want to mail stuff out, remarkably, they don't have
scales. You have to guess how much it'll cost. In the twenty first
century! One woman helped us guess, the other repeated the mantra "your
guess is as good as mine". Priority Mail seemed a new concept, and
international mail a black art. We really hope our bounce box makes it to our
next stop by Thursday. We started hiking at 12 noon, which means we were at White Pass
exactly 24hrs. The trail was easy for most of the day and we stopped at a
creek around 6pm. It was yet another hot, blue sky day but the cirrus cloud
indicated change. Sure enough, just after we stopped, low swirling cloud came
rolling in like a fog. The temperature fell and it was dark by 7.30pm, when
normally it's light until nearer 8pm. By stopping early, we've eaten well and
got ourselves tucked up by 8pm, not the way to make big miles but a cozy way
to deal with sudden weather changes. Liz now has time to read, I have time to
write. It amazes me how many different hiking styles we have used. In
SoCal we were up in the dark, hiking by photon torch, making miles before the
heat of the sun slowed us down. The Sierra and Northern California were
different again. In Oregon we just seemed to hike non-stop, taking full
advantage of the terrain. But now in Washington, we're trying to cut our
anticipated miles because the ups & downs will be greater. We want to
enjoy the end of this trip because this is what we'll probably remember most. Our current hazard is elk. This is the rutting season, and the
hills echo with the sound of their bugles, a weird unearthly sound, not at
all like deer. They also seem fairly insensitive to our smell (frankly, this
is astonishing!) and don't notice us until we're almost on top of them.
Or they are on top of us! They crash through the brushy undergrowth like bull
dozers, so they probably couldn't hear a thing. One morning a herd of about
ten were headed right for our Tarptent and only when they were about twenty
feet away did they catch wind of us and veer off. On the way out of Goat Rocks Wilderness, a particularly stupid
bull Elk tried to hide from us by standing behind a tree. When he saw,
us he actually walked towards us (crash, crash, crash!), suddenly had second
thoughts, then attempted to hide his head behind some skinny pine tree which
wasn't even large enough to block our view of his fine rack of antlers.
Perhaps his logic was Ňif he couldn't see us, we couldn't see himÓ. What makes this worse is that the woods are now crawling with
bow hunters. Stern faced men, and they are all men, dressed in combat gear
and sporting dark green make-up. They skulk around at dawn and dusk
with quivers full of luminous tipped arrows, and bows which would make Robin
Hood turn greener than his outfit with jealousy. That stupid elk is probably
hanging over someoneŐs fireplace by now. Mon 16 Sep 8.30pm Big Crow Basin Our first day on the PCT hiking in rain! What a difference
a day makes. Tonight we cooked from in our sleeping bags, where we're now
huddled, rain dripping onto the tarp, having spent a very damp day. It was a cooler night with a couple of showers, so extracting
our bodies from the sleeping bags was always going to be tougher than prying
winkles from their shells. By 8am we were going, and by 8.30 someone turned
on the tap (faucet over here). Not heavy, instantly drenching rain, but more
of a heavy mist. It was like being constantly spritzed, not unlike
being a vegetable in a big American supermarket. The GoLite umbrellas worked well when the rain turned heavier
but we couldn't decide whether to use one pole or none. I tried fixing the
brolly in place and using both but it didn't really work. And while Liz's
nice new boots kept her feet dry, my running shoes left mine cold and very
wet. Why didn't I buy myself a pair of boots at the same time? Each morning
I'll now have to face the prospect of pulling on wet shoes and socks. Even
less motivation to get out of bed. Looking back, we weren't properly prepared for rain. Our kit was
fine, it was just the maps got soggy and bits and pieces weren't where we
needed them. We must get our acts together. Three section hikers (Chinook
Pass to White Pass) told us the forecast is worse for tomorrow, but then
improving. It was quite a struggle to make 25ml today. We didn't want to
stop in the rain for lunch but we did. However, we couldn't cook an early
dinner, so we ended the day cold and famished. More Clif bars (yes, even
MORE) next time. Hiking has to stop shortly after 7pm when it's too dark to
see on the wet, skiddytrail. There simply are not enough hours in the
day. Tue 17 Sep 6.45am same place Have we lost the race against winter? We woke to snow - quite a
dusting of it. Not enough to obscure the trail (I hope) but unless we have an
Indian Summer this is going to make hiking a lot tougher. 8pm Granite Creek Alternate Only on this trail could you spend two days getting soaked, then
have problems finding water! Last nights snow appears to have been very localised. We were
walking by 8am and within an hour all sign of snow had gone, either melted or
we'd dropped below its elevation. The spritzing mist continued to dampen us
so we planned to cook our main meal after 12mls at one of the PCT's very few
shelters, Camp Urich. It's a nice log cabin (the sort we'd like in Scotland) and as we
arrived - blue sky! The sun came out and we were able to dry our stuff while
Liz cooked our meal. Also sitting on the porch was Jamie - a very fast thru-hiker. He
started in June (we started April!), regularly does 30ml days, and did Oregon
in 14 days. He hadn't seen many thru hikers at all, but had had a slow
morning. Perhaps we're the only ones going fast enough to catch him? I doubt
it! He says he's loving the trail so much, he's slowing down to make the hike
last!! Jamie had found Peter & Nona's camera, which his folks are
returning to them. He was using very light equipment, much of it home made. His
pack was taken from Glen's G4 design which he'd posted on the web, but he's
made modifications. He also sewed his warm jacket and his blanket - no
sleeping bag. "Weren't you cold last night", I asked incredulously.
"Oh yes, even with all my clothes on, but on other nights I've been
fine". Now, I could not take that approach. I want a warm night whatever
the temperature, and I'm willing to carry the weight of sleeping bag to
ensure that happens. After lunch we entered our first "clear-cut". These
are sections of forest where logging companies have razed the forest to its
stumps. There's a temporary diversion while more logging takes place too, but
we used roads as the alternate trail climbs needlessly. We also passed
through an area which was ravaged by forest fire several years ago. These are
eerie places. Ghost forests of bone white trees, headless, bark hanging from
trunks like flayed skin, they still stand not yet realising they're dead.
Trees do everything slowly, even die. But Huckleberries and Blueberries grow quickly. The trail is
lined with bushes, and it's difficult not to keep stopping and gorging on the
fruit. We're now connoisseurs! We can tell from the leaf shape and colour
what the taste will be like. Liz's tongue and both lips turned a blue-ish
purple by the end of the day. If you didn't know about the berries you'd
think she were very ill! In the book it seemed simple to follow a steep alternate route
down Granite Creek, camp by a pond, then climb out tomorrow. Well, the trail
was VERY steep, we couldn't find the pond, and I had to spend ages using a
drinking tube to direct water from a seep into the pan, then pour it into our
bottles. Getting out of this little basin tomorrow will be fun. But at least winter has not claimed us yet. And best of all,
from the ridge crest we can see North right into the North Cascades National
Park. Huge, jagged mountains rise up in the distance and have that quality
which stirs something deep inside me. I want to be amongst them. And soon we
shall be. Wed 18 Sep 9pm Twilight Lake The coldest night so far. The rain on the Tarptent froze,
condensation inside the Tarptent froze, the water in the drinking tubes
froze, and we put on extra clothing during the night or we'd have done the
same. The clear sky gave great views, and a strong wind a couple of
thousand feet higher than our ridge sent cloud racing up and over mountain
tops, flowing like milky rivers. A dome of cloud sat onto of Rainier like a
white crash helmet. "I pity anyone who planned to summit today",
remarked Liz. White frost on the trail soon melted and a strange orange ball
climbed into the sky making us... warm. We stopped for a brief lunch at 12
and the Tarptent dried quickly while we stripped down to shorts and shirt
sleeves for the rest of the day. We had 27mls to do today, and having started cold at 8am we had to
keep moving. We met Jamie again at the same time he met another thru-hiker
called Chili. He'd started heading North, realised he was too late to beat
winter, so headed to Canada and was now hiking south - a
"flip-flop" in PCT parlance. He was heading back to Castella -
quite a way to go. There's a weather station on a hill here which has good water
froma well and the woman, called Jacque, who runs the place has been
there ten years. "Don't you get lonely", I asked? "Nope",
she replied, "I grew up a loner as the oldest in a family of
twelve". She didn't have a forecast, she was just a weather
"observer", but she confirmed last night was particularly cold. She
also knew Ron Strickland who we'd met near Warner Springs and with whom we
have stayed in touch via e-mail. Jamie seemed rather interested in the
brochure for Ron's Pacific North West Trail. It would have been nice to stay
longer but we had miles to make. The book says the 40mls to Snoqualmie Pass are the worst on the
PCT. This is blamed squarely on the logging industry which clear-cuts vast
swathes of hillside. Agreed, these clear-cuts are ugly, environmentally
damaging, and a better alternative should be found. But from a PCT hiker's
viewpoint they have two great advantages. Firstly, they give views - the
short and middle distance are ugly but the skyline of the Cascades ahead is
jaw droppingly impressive, real mountain ramparts and more than a little
intimidating since thatŐs where we're headed. The second advantage of
clear-cuts is that they encourage the growth of huckleberry and blueberry
plants. Liz "blue lips" Krol was scoffing them again today. Tonight we're by Twilight Lake camped on the trail, as when I
tried to reach a campsite I discovered all the land around is incredibly
boggy - wet feet again. The only person near enough to us is Jamie, and he
came past when we were cooking. After hearing of my exploits I think he also
set up on the trail. We might see if we're up before him tomorrow. We've less than
10ml to Snoqualmie Pass and would like a very early start. Think we'll do it?
I don't. Thu 19 Sep 11.35 Snoqualmie Pass, Pancake House But I was wrong. The stove was going at 5.30am and we were
hiking at 6.50am. See what the promise of pancakes can do for Liz. On the way down to this ski station we realised, we're not
finishing the PCT. We're now about to start a two week vacation through the
best scenery Washington has to offer. Given good weather, this will be a
superb finish. All our boxes showed up here, even the bounce mailed from White
Pass Monday. There's also a package of goodies from Fannypack (David) but
we've yet to open anything as we're waiting for the folks at the Best Western
Summit Inn to find us a room. I was thinking back to what I wrote about clear-cuts. When I say
they're good for PCT hikers, I clearly contradict my friend Chris Townsend
and many notable PCT writers who reckon the forty miles to here are "the
worst on the PCT". Liz and I would rather walk them again than any ten
miles between Tehachapi and Kennedy Meadows. But I am merely expressing a
different view not criticising others. As I read the other day, "Before you criticise someone,
first walk a mile in their shoes. Then when you criticise them you're a mile
away, and you have their shoes." Skykomish - Stehekin Washington Tue 24 Sep 8pm On Cascade Crest near saddle gap This is a perfect bivi spot. Just at a point where the trail
curves around a descending ridge, there's a flat area, rather like a
shoulder. The vegetation grows low and the few trees cling to the ground.
Clearly, the wind blows across here with some ferocity. But not tonight.
Tonight the world is still. Except for the silent hunters. They took us completely by surprise. One stayed high, the other came
in fast, low, and without a whisper from its wings. Owls are superb fliers. At first I saw just one as it swooped over the ridge, passing
just above our heads while we ate dinner. He then went to fetch his mate.
While she circled high above, the AWACS controlling operations, he switched
to fighter mode. We watched him soar tangentially to us, then one wing
abruptly tilted at an impossible ninety degrees to the other and he executed
a right angle turn, something I didn't know any bird could do. He was heading
directly at us, his flat face and hooked beak clearly visible. Only at the
last minute, when I admit I was a little alarmed, did he swerve away, seeming
to realise we were neither large marmots nor a threat. What an aerial cabaret
to enjoy over dinner! Our day had started too early. We were up at 6am, staggering
around. Have I mentioned that while we walk fine on the trail, the day after
we stop both of us find it almost impossible to walk without our shoes!
Seriously, we hobble around bare foot until we get our shoes on. We ate breakfast at the Sky Chalet, then were outside the Post
Office by 9am. Last night I'd rung Bob Norton, who helps Meadow Ed compile
trail statistics, just to find out how many PCT hikers had made it this year.
He couldn't really say as so many people don't sign registers. I told him
there were too many registers! It's fine to have them in every PO, but
perhaps there should be just four key registers which all thru hikers are
encouraged to complete so the PCTA has reasonable records. Anyway, Bob offered us a ride to the trailhead which we
accepted, and when we reached Stevens Pass, there was Erin waiting for her
two friends. So Bob said he'd hang around and give them a ride down. As we started walking we discussed how we felt, so close to the
end. We're aware the end of something is coming, we can't fool ourselves into
thinking we're on a 2 week backpacking trip as we've tried to do. But neither
can we wind down. The next sections are as demanding and as remote as the
JMT, according to the guide book, with the threat of bad weather ahead. Bears
become more of an issue here too. And with just 12hrs daylight now we have to
keep moving. No, this is not over yet! And I'm so very pleased. It is wonderful to be bivied in such a
perfect spot, to gaze up as the colours drain from the sky and to watch the
stars emerge. I would like this to last a lot longer, just to have more
moments like this. Just to share a perfect evening with my lover. And, of
course, a couple of crazy owls. Wed 25 Sep 7.30pm Sitkum Creek This could easily have been the best day walking on the entire
PCT, although I know I've said that before. Comparisons between these mountains and the Sierra Nevada are
invidious but inevitable, and Liz prefers these. It's the form of the
dramatic peaks which appeals. I love the Sierra dearly, particularly the high
shattered world of rock and ice which hardly exists here. But here the waking
is wonderful, as well constructed trails link saddle, to ridge, to pass.
Walking them requires chain drive legs, but you have this wonderful sensation
of soaring above the lower world and among the high mountains. But not so gracefully as the eagle we saw today. My bird
identification skills are zero, but this huge thing with a white head unfurled
himself from the top of a tree. He moved as if in slow motion, hanging in
space as the air filled his enormous wings. It's a peculiar simile, but he
reminded me of an aircraft carrier! He was so calm, unhurried, yet projected
such immense power. And in the same way the mind struggles to comprehend how
so many million tons of steel can float, it seemed completely impossible an
animal that large could fly. Around the corner we met what could well become his lunch. Sat
in the middle of the trail, happily eating something off the ground, which
looked like dirt, wasa grey, cute marmot. These things usually scamper away,
but this one allowed us to get within three feet of him. Far too close. I
suspect the marmot was blind or otherwise impaired, as we were downwind and
quiet. When we made a noise, he trotted of along a well worn track back to
his mate (do marmots mate for life?) who'd nervously watched events from a
safe distance, as marmots are meant to do. They nuzzled noses, then
disappeared down a crack between two rocks which led to their home. Early on today we met up with Dirt and Seaweed Sally who asked
had we found out the Saturday opening hours of the Stehekin PO. I had run the
information desk at the N.Cascades NP to ask about this and the shuttle bus
times. Foolishly I'd relied on memory and thought it opened 12.30-14.30,
which meat we could hike 10ml Sat morning, get the 12 noon shuttle, and still
get out box from the PO. When Sally asked, I thought I'd better check my
notes, and discovered the times were 10.30-12.30. Had we taken the 12 noon
shuttle we'd have missed the PO as the ride takes 45min, so we'd have been in
Stehekin until Monday. We'll have to get the 9am shuttle. But that means we suddenly have to do an extra ten miles hiking
(what we'd have done Sat am) over the next three days. Consequently, we've
been passing and been passed by Sally Dirt several times today as we all try
to get that 9am bus Saturday. It's crazy! Here we are in the woods, Wednesday, RUSHING to make
a Saturday schedule appointment! This is not what this trail is meant to be
about. Thu 26 Sep 9pm Suiattie River How do weather forecasters get away with it? Their job is to
forecast the weather. If we were as bad at our jobs we'd be sacked!
"Sorry, last night's news was completely wrong" would not cut it!
OK, forecasting is difficult, that's why we pay specialists. And they don't
speak like there's any doubt, "Sun through to the weekend". Check
your diaries, it's not the weekend and we've still spent today soaking wet! DonŐt worry. I'm fine. I just needed to rant. After getting going by 7.20, we'd just finished our first big
climb of the day to Fire Creek Pass when, at about 11am, the rain started.
Today was the day we'd curve around Glacier Peak, and with so many deep
valleys running down its sides, which the rail hauls itself up and down, we
never expected to do a big mileage. Perhaps the rain helped, keeping our heads down, but we ended up
doing 26ml which included a couple of monster climbs and descents, the last
with 59 switchbacks. Liz was pleased to have switched to the Berghaus Paclite Goretex
jacket. The umbrella kept me dry but I wouldnŐt have liked to rely on this
GoLite Flow "waterproof" as my only way of staying dry. With one
pole and one hand on the brolly I slipped a couple of times on the wet, muddy
trail, one time with nearly disastrous results as I pitched forward and
narrowly missed head butting a jagged rock. I took things rather carefully
after that. When the rain stopped at about 3pm the swirling low clouds
performed their best impression of Lord Of The Rings special effects. Very
magical and beautiful, even if we were dripping. And Liz's expensive new
boots leaked - black mark for Kayland. It was dark when we made it down to this campsite by a roaring
river. We ate where we camped - the last time we'll be able to do that as
bears become more of a nuisance after this, so we may go back to main meal at
lunchtime. I still have to study the guide & maps for tomorrow and
it's late, so I'll close. Fri 27 Sep Bus to Stehekin Sun, blue sky, fluffy white cloud. So why did we spend most of
the day soaking wet? Yesterdays rain left the undergrowth soaking, and
walking through it waslike walking through a car wash. The wet branches and leaves
whipped us like the whirling brushes and we were soaked from the waist down.
Wet feet again. I'll say goodbye to some more toe nails. Much of today looked dull on the map so we put the hammer down.
We passed four thru-hikers, covering 26ml by 5.30pm. That means we did one of
the toughest sections, which the computer calculated would take 4.7 days, in
3.7 day. We made it in time for the 6pm Stehekin bus. This is an AMAZING bus. An old school bus, hikers get to sign
the ceiling, and thru hikers get to use a black pen. EVERYONE we know has
signed... Gottago, Lady Leaper, Cupcake, Smokey.... they're all on the roof.
We have to think of something to write! A ranger has told us a very cold front is expected Sunday,
5,000ft freezing level, so we might want to hang around until Monday. Hmm,
don't like the sound of that. The whole point of hustling to get here was to
get out again swiftly. Dinner in the restaurant was good but not cheap ($40), after
which we did laundry before finding a place in the overflow campsite. Stehekin-Manning Park, Canada Washington Sat 28 Sep Last night we me Lights Out Larry who is rushing to finish as
his father is very ill. Also met Walt a section hiker while I was sending the
Journal. This morning met Spur & Ready whose Journal Fannypack has
been mailing to us. Seems they've been reading ours too, sent by Fannypack.
"We know each other" we exclaimed! They were organising a massage
as we got on the bus to the bakery. Oh this bakery is good! We stayed an hour eating until the next
bus full of hikers came through. We walked back to our site, got the weather
forecast (snow, wind & cold late Sun & all day Monday) so we pulled
the Goretex jackets out of the re-supply box. What a crowd at this tiny Post
Office! And it's only open one hour on Saturday, and then not at all after
1st Oct. We got our what we needed, parcelled stuff back up, and sent it to
Seattle. It means Liz will finish this section with a very heavy Berghaus
Trango 3 layer Goretex jacket which is all but bullet proof! Fannypacks snacks were welcome, a nice bribe to take his photo
to the monument. Will do. Liz washed the Coals to get out the smell of food
and more and more hikers showed up - Brant, Wildflower, Rabbi, Woody... lots.
Everyone is bunching up to beat winter. Most are in the main camp, but we retired to the overflow spot.
It's a long way from anywhere, but peaceful. That's us stand-off-ish Brits
for you! We've kept running into a nice Seattle couple who're at the
Lodge and who hiked in here. The were on the bus yesterday, last night they
gave us some Excellent salmon jerky, we shared a table at the bakery, and
this afternoon they hiked past with a friend. They were particularly
interested in our gear, so I've written a few links on an e-mail which I'll
send later. I'll also put the links in our gear review which will come at the
end of the Journal. Quite a few hikers headed out on the last bus today. We're
waiting until tomorrow. Dinner again in the restaurant, and a lovely night
watching the cloud gather over Lake Chelan as the day slipped into night. Soon our days of delight will slip away and we'll return to the
grey of the working world. Then we'll have to find our colour in each others
company and our adventure... well, wherever. But together. Sun 29 Sep 7pm Rainy Pass There is absolutely NO doubt why this place gets is name. Except
it's not raining, it's snowing! It has been an easy days hike, gently gaining height and easily
covering 20ml to here. But as forecast, snow is falling higher up and with
nowhere easy to camp after this we called an early halt. We found a flat spot
for the Tarptent and we're now sitting in the lavatory! It's the driest,
warmest place to cook, although with bare walls and pit toilet (not flush) in
the corner Liz has remarked it's just as you'd imagine a Turkish prison for
drug smugglers, like a scene from Midnight Express. Except we have a lovely
cinnamon roll from the Stehekin bakery. And napkins... on a wall mounted
roll. Last night we thought we'd been so smart. After a lovely
evening, dining then drinking wine with folk who were interested in our hike,
we went back to our Tarptent. We'd camped in the overflow area for peace and
quiet but the locals were having an outside party! Just before midnight I had
to ask them to keep the noise down, which they did, but we had a bad night. This morning we threw our stuff together and launched breakfast
down our necks before the 8.15 shuttle. Stocked up with bread products at the
bakery and chatted with Spur & Ready on the drive up the valley. We hiked the road out of High Bridge and soon came across
Wildflower, Rabbi and others who'd left yesterday. Later we met Alice who was
hiking from Manning Park to the ALDHA Gathering in Wenatchee. I asked her to look
out for Ron and Henry, and mentioned she'd see plenty more PCT hikers.
"It was deserted in '87", she replied, "now it's a
highway". As I say, it was an easy day, and from inside out lavatory
dining room we just heard voices - Spur and Ready ending up in the same
place. Somewhat amused to find me opening the door and asking, "table
for two is it?" They're camped close by and cooking in one of the three other
restrooms. Some people (regular people in cars who sleep in beds) just came
to use the facilities and were a little taken a back at the sight of these
bog dwelling vagrants! We'll also store our food here tonight to keep it safe
from bears. The snow is lying outside. Tomorrow we go much higher. It'll be a
cold tough day. Mon 30 Sep 8pm Glacier Pass What a transformation to this trail. Several inches of snow fell
above 5,000ft last night changing the look of the trees, mountains...
everything. It could be quite intimidating if you were not used to winter
hiking, but we love it! After breakfast in the lavatory (where else) we eventually got
going but it was a slow start - 9.37am. Spur & Ready were off long before
us, but at the trailhead we saw Rabbi, Chucky B. and Woody. They had the most
amazing piece of trail magic. Arriving at Rainy Pass last night they thought,
"let's try hitching for five minutes". One of the first vehicles
was driven by "Lindy", a Triple Crown hiker (did the CDT in 91 days
- phenomenal!), who was on his way to the Wenatchee Gathering. He drove them
to the nearest town where they took a motel room, then he drove them back in
the morning. Liz and I had a disagreement first thing. I stayed back a little
to hear this story while she hiked ahead. I've not mentioned it, but my hip
has been quite sore, and I also strained a leg muscle in Stehekin, and I
struggled to catch her. She had the painkillers and it hurt a lot, so when I
did catch her I was a grumpy git and moaned a lot, but I guess I was being
unreasonable. The view from Cut-throat Pass was magnificent. A serrated edge
of craggy peaks swept away from us in a great, grey curve. The clouds
performed visual symphony, dark timpani and bass clouds billowed behind the
mountains, viola and violin ones eased their way over ridges and through
trees, while piccolo tendrils flitted across the snow. If all that sounds too
fancy, it probably is, but this was one stunning moment. The sun didn't have
enough energy to force its way through all the cloud and light the whole
scene so it picked one or two places to shine full blast, leaving the rest
either back lit or in gloom. What a view - a camera wouldn't do it justice. The cloud came and went all day. Sometimes it would dump snow,
then part to reveal another huge mountain we'd know idea was right along side
us. Our feet stayed dry - Liz improvised gaiters from gallon ziplocks and
tape, I had my feet in gallon bags with quart bags (bottoms cut out) taped
around my ankles as gaiters. A group of us have been fairly close together all day, us, Spur
& Ready, Jamie and Wildflower. The latter two are camped alongside us
tonight, Spur & Ready are (I think) a little further away. Jamie just
called to say the sky is clear, so we could be in for a good day tomorrow,
but a cold night. Er- just as I write it has started to snow, so the sky
can't be THAT clear! Tue 1 Oct 4.45pm Near Windy Pass Last night was cold, the coldest so far. We didn't zip the
sleeping bags together as they were still damp from the previous evening and
we're usually warmer apart. However, Liz was cold without my body heat. I was
warmer, but it wasn't nice not being able to hug her. And the bags were even
wetter by morning. Every other wet thing had frozen solid - my Merrell shoes,
the condensation in the Tarptent and the water in the hydration system. It
took two hours hiking before the tube thawed. Spur & Ready were away quickly, Jamie followed and then
Wildflower who said she'd been shivering all night. Our disturbed sleep came
from a herd of deer which were intent on sharing our area and made a lot of
noise! We were going by 8.30, but as I stuffed the slightly soggy down
sleeping bags into the sacks I knew they'd only do one more night in relative
comfort, a second night would be a cold night. Which was a slight problem.
The others planned a big push to the border and then finish tomorrow,
Wednesday. That would mean a night in the Manning Park Lodge which we can't
afford, so we planned to take two days and finish early Thursday. But that
would mean two nights in soggy sleeping bags. We all met up at Harts Pass around lunchtime and I did some
recording, then pushed on. Early afternoon we came upon a spot which some PCT hikers have
heard about, others have not, but I don't think it my place to go into
detail. But we stopped early, dried out the sleeping bags and had a cozy
night in the company of others. Wed 2 Oct 9.45pm Base of Windy Joe Mountain, Canada I like to crunch sweets, even chocolate, and eat it fast. Liz
prefers to savour it slowly and is horrified at the speed I devour some of
the delicious See's chocolate with which Glen has kept us supplied. This was
todays dilemma - crunch straight ahead, reach the border, do photos and move
on.... or hang back, savour the moment, and reach the border tomorrow. We couldn't decide but kept walking anyway. It was an excellent
last day, fabulous rock scenery dusted with snow, the sort of hills you could
explore for several days. But before long we were coming down from the high
point in Washington and heading for what ought to be the high point of our
trail. In fact, I don't know if a mileage is wrong in the guide but we were
at the monument half an hour before we expected to be, crossing into Canada
at 5.40pm. Except of course we didn't. We spent a while taking photos,
posed beside the three monuments. The first is the PCT monument, similar to
the one which marks the start of the trail at the Mexican border. Alongside
there is the US government border marker, Monument 78, a three foot high
replica of the Washington Monument. Its heavy top lifts off and there's a
register inside (unofficial it said, run by Amigo) where we left Fannypack's
photo. The third is really a sign, placed by BC Parks which proclaims
"welcome to Canada". We'd planned to camp close by, but a HUGE rowdy school party had
taken over ever single piece of flat ground. It was even difficult to hike
past their tents without tripping over the guylines. The leaders ought to
think twice about whether taking so many kids at one time gives them, and
others, a good backcountry experience. So with photon torches showing the way we hiked on but the next
flat ground wasn't for almost four miles. Consequently on our last full day
on the PCT we hiked over 30 miles! It's good to know we can still do it. ADDED MUCH LATER We finished our hike on Thur 3rd Oct, and I remember writing
some long, thoughtful piece with which to end this Journal. I also remember
e-mailing it from Manning Park, but it failed to arrive at any of the
relevant e-mail addresses, so it is now lost. Perhaps that was meant to
be.... |
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