Oh Canada!

Washington, Section K: Stevens Pass to Rainy Pass

Section L: Rainy Pass to Manning Park, BC

In 170 days, Charles and I arrived at Manning Park, BC, a mere 2,652 trail miles from Campo, CA.

Gear dried out, we headed out of Stevens Pass with wonderful sunshine overhead. We entered the Glacier Peak Wilderness and had stunning views of Glacier Peak, alpine lakes, and mountain ridges.

The trail from Stevens Pass to Stehekin is arguably the most difficult section in Washington. This section reminds many hikers of hiking back in the Sierra with all the elevation change. And the elevation change was drastic. There was one day we reached the top of climb and could look across the valley to the switchbacks we’d be climbing later in the day, up the other side. The spot we were looking at was about twelve miles ahead of us.

Due to the remoteness of Glacier Peak Wilderness, there are many large, down trees across the trail for hikers to navigate. One of the bridges also collapsed at the middle and hikers earlier in the season had to jump over a couple feet of water on the collapsed section.

Heading into Stehekin we encountered another fire closure. We detoured through Cloudy Pass to camp at Lymon Lake. The next day we hiked nine miles to the tiny retreat community of Holden Village. From there a bus shuttled hikers to Lake Chelan where hikers can catch a boat to Stehekin. From Stehekin a bus takes hikers back to the trail.

Hikers also have the option to bypass Stehekin and continue hiking back to the PCT. We decided against this option because the reroute added eleven additional miles, which, with a plane to catch we didn’t have time to add on.

For most hikers, Stehekin is the last stop before Canada. One of Charles’ cousins lives in Winthrop, nineteen miles past Stehekin, so that was our final stop.

We hiked about fifteen miles through North Cascades National Park before arriving at Rainy Pass. From there we hitchhiked into Winthrop.

The PCT used to be closed from Rainy Pass to Canada due to fire closures. The hikers forced into finishing earlier were greeted by this northern terminus replica at Rainy Pass.

After our trip into Winthrop we started our final three days on the trail. Heading up to Cutthroat Pass we got snowed on! Luckily it was a light snow that did not stick to the ground.

Our second to last morning we had stunning views of the mountains and clouds. The higher up we climbed we entered a perfect winter wonderland from the night before. We camped at a lower elevation that night, so we only received rain.

We had one last fire closure detour to hike through that is memorable due to the amount of mud on the trail.

Our last day we made it back to the PCT to complete the final eleven miles. We ate lunch at one last alpine lake before arriving at the northern terminus. Charles hiked out a bottle of sparkling cider for us to enjoy while we looked through the log book and took pictures at the monument.

From the terminus hikers can take an eight mile trail to Manning Park or turn around and hike thirty miles back to Harts Pass. We hiked about four miles on the trail to Manning Park to camp for the night before hiking another four miles in the morning.

We took quick showers before starting to hitchhike to Vancouver. We wanted to get an early start as some people had waited from three to four hours for a ride. Luckily, we got a ride in about thirty minutes all the way to the city.

We had about a three hour flight to Phoenix where Mom, Dad, and my brother were waiting. And just like that, our PCT trip has come to an end.

Except that this is just the start of a whole new life.

Yes, I’m currently happy to be home with my family and soon my friends. I was very tired at the end of the trip and home always seemed a wonderful place to be, especially when hiking in the pouring rain. I had mentioned in my last post that I was having trouble with sadness and anxiety about not finishing. I had moments of crying for really no reason, just that I felt stressed and that I couldn’t get rid of sinking feeling that we wouldn’t finish. I often got mad or irritated at Charles for no reason, just because for the majority of the hike he was my sole companion for almost six months.

(Charles is the most stellar hiking partner, though. He often shared his candy with me if I had a bad day, asked my boyfriend for a birthday note for me in case we didn’t have service, kept me talking while hiking in the dark so I didn’t feel nervous, knew my favorite type of couscous to buy when he went to a larger town, and so much more. Despite how much we could get on each other’s nerves, I wouldn’t want any other hiking partner.)

That being said, thru-hiking is quite possibly the best thing I could have ever gotten myself into. With 170 days to think while hiking I re-established and strengthened my confidence. I feel more confident and proud to stand up for what I believe in. I learned that one can always use one more person’s perspective on life. I’ve learned that the kindness of people is amazing and that I can always offer more to others. And probably most importantly, I’ve realized that my best life will always be one spent in the wilderness. And while I’m happy to be home, at some point more long distance hikes will occur in my future. (I currently have been thinking about the Arizona Trail, Colorado Trail, John Muir Trail, Hayduke Trail, and Wonderland Trail as potential vacations. My thoughts on retirement include the Appalachian Trail and the Continental Divide Trail.)

I hope to do one more blog post with a trail angel thank you and blooper reel of our trip. After that, here’s to future adventures, mountains to climb, and wildernesses to explore!