Sept 27 & 28
2580-2614
The last leg of the PCT! Hard to believe. I want to get to the monument, want to shout from the mountain tops that I did it but know it would also mean the end of my adventure.
I packed some items to send back home; my fishing rod, snow baskets for my trekking poles and other non-essentials. The post master said there were over 300 boxes awaiting hiker pick-up which is over double the usual number of hiker boxes this year. 2012 set a record for hikers attempting the PCT.
GF and I left on the Stehekin bus and after a final stop at the bakery we headed for the trailhead at high bridge.
There were 8 other hikers at high bridge waiting for the bus to take them to Stehekin. Looking like a homeless gang with ragged clothes, shoes duck-taped together and smiles on their faces, they boarded the bus.
The first night we hiked to Rainey Pass, the weather was pleasant and we were savoring our last 89 miles.
The views again were amazing...
The fall colors spectacular!
We hike 14 miles to a great campsite and watched another perfect sunset.
Sept 28
The morning was cold and misty and we were having breakfast in the tent when an unwanted visitor joined us. As the mouse streaked across our laps Steve dove for, and caught him with his bare hands, then quickly released him as I sat amazed and motionless. Later we discovered the mouse had eaten a hole through the tent, through a food stuff sac and a few ziplock bags to our beloved trail mix-. Well we almost made it to the end without a critter incident.
In 6 short miles we reached another milestone...
2600 miles done in Fall Leaves
Our last hundred-mile marker.
The trail was amazing with an eclectic look to the scenery today ...
We met a few hikers traveling southbound. Most were PCT hikers who had completed the trail and were hiking back into the USA. Wiseman was one such hiker. He wanted to hike the last leg again, his way to decompress. Most go on to Manning Park in Canada but a surprising number return by hiking part of the trail backwards. We leap-frogged with Moresee, Tom Sawyer, Dan And many others throughout the day.
Moresee
Everyone was tired, dirty, and aching from the climbs but all agreed the scenery was worth the effort through Washington. Just when we needed an energy boost we came to a cooler- trail magic! We helped ourselves to PB&J on a tortilla and took a well deserved break.
Heart
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