Cheering for Canada!

Day 119

The roaring creek obscured all sounds. When I exited my tent, I saw that Ludacris and Sandbag were also up. I packed my gear, then Sandbag and I ate breakfast at the picnic table while Ludacris departed. Hobble-it woke from a deep slumber and was packing as Sandbag and I set out. A brief road walk took us back to the PCT.

At first the trail paralleled the Stehekin River. When the river turned west, the PCT paralleled Bridge Creek. It started on the right bank, but eventually crossed to the left via a very bouncy swing bridge. Shortly before lunch and much to my relief, I finished Walden. Though Thoreau espoused simplicity and nature, he also had a white elitist viewpoint that wore on me.

Where the trail yet again intersected and crossed Bridge Creek, I found Ludacris. Drip, Drop, and Sandbag soon joined us, and we all ate lunch. I was surprised that we’d already done 16 miles. In 6.4 more miles, we stopped for the day. It was only 4:30 p.m.; however, the next two campsites were unappealing.

As we set up our tents, I discovered that Ludacris also likes board games. We chatted about Werewolf and legacy campaigns. The three of us were about to eat dinner when Hobble-it appeared and joined in on the meal. There were no bugs, so Ludacris and I ate and chatted from inside our tents. I realized I was tired and by 6:45 p.m. I was in my sleeping bag.

Day 120

We awoke to wet tent flys due to overnight condensation. Immediately after leaving camp, the PCT switchbacked up Cutthroat Pass. During the ascent I saw nothing due to a thick fog to either side, but the sun broke through at the top. It revealed an alpine landscape of low-lying shrubs and rocks with scattered trees. I caught up to the others; ahead of us a fog waterfall rolled across the trail. When I entered it, the temperature dropped dramatically, and I was glad for my fleece and gloves.

In a boulder field, I halted to dry my gear on the rocks. Hobble-it caught up and kept me company. We chatted about Walden and other literature of that era. After a gradual descent into forest, we found Ludacris seated upon a wooden bench near a stream. We joined her for an early lunch. She said that Sandbag was on the other side of the stream, drying gear in a sunny spot.

Three miles after lunch, there was a 2,400 ft. ascent through terrain that transitioned from brush to sweeping switchbacks up a green hillside with magnificent views of mountains and trees. I listened to The House of Hades. About a mile after the summit, we made camp in the uppermost of several sites near a spring. The four of us ate dinner in a semi-circle. Since we did only 21 miles, it was 7:00 p.m. when we headed to our tents, which left time for pre-bed entertainment. I heard Sandbag laughing in her tent while I watched a She-Ra episode.

Day 121

Around 2:25 a.m., I woke thinking that late arrival hikers were sitting up a tent next to mine. It turned out I was disoriented; Ludacris was driving in a stake that got pulled loose by a strong wind. When I got up, there was a fine dust in my tent.

Within the first couple hours on trail, I spotted three adult grouse, four hunters in camouflage, and a deer with two-point antlers that bounded quickly away. The morning fog lifted to reveal a sea of mountains stretching into the distance. Then I reached Hart’s Pass. The pass is 30 miles from the border and where hikers return for a ride if they can’t walk into Canada. We met a nice lady ranger with two labradors.

The four of us regrouped at the pass. For the next several miles, we encountered many thru-hikers. We’d tell them congrats for having reached the border and they’d congratulate us in turn. At a ridge campsite, we ate lunch and admired the view.

After some debate we settled on a 21-mile day, no need to push when we can’t get picked up any earlier. Plus, our destination turned out to be a lovely spot with flat dirt and solid trees for Hobble-it. It also had great birds. A brave camp robber got close in its search for crumbs and a woodpecker explored a couple dead tree trunks.

Day 122

It turned out that Pluto, Luna, and Martin were camped directly up the hill from our site. After breakfast, we hiked over to say hello and congratulate them on finishing. There were hugs all around, though hopefully we can meet for a celebratory dinner in Seattle. Barely out of camp, Ludacris spotted perfectly ripe blueberries and the four of us grazed for several minutes.

What a perfect day! I had dry gear and there were blue skies overhead. Ludacris and I hiked together for the first seven miles. We chatted about work, Berlin, past and future trails, and meeting adventurous friends. She had yet to see a bear this entire trip and we saw two! Both were large bears, far off, and grazing on berries. As we watched, the first one got startled and ran across a hillside into forest.

At the day’s highpoint, Sandbag and Hobble-it caught up as Ludacris and I enjoyed fabulous views of the North Cascades. Next came a steep descent called the Devil’s Stairway. Hopkins Lake was at the bottom, and we stopped for water. The remaining six-ish miles to the border were a brushy downhill that went quickly.

Wow, I did it, I reached the Canadian border! Hobble-it and I hiked ~2,000 miles to get there. The wooden monument was really cool, in the midst of a narrow clear cut that I was told stretches the entire length of the border. We stayed awhile, eating lunch and getting a multitude of pictures. Others joined us and we cheered and congratulated them. Cedar and Bunny, who we met in Stehekin, and a Dutch lady named Swallow.

Then I did a new thing, backpacked from one country into another! In Canada, we crossed a tilted bridge over a creek and snacked on thimbleberries for at least 1/4 mile. Sooner than expected, we found the hiker camp, which had a bear box, toilet, and benches. The four of us were the only inhabitants. We ate our final group dinner in the bench circle. I left my tent fly off, ready to view stars on my first night camping in Canada.

Day 123

The trail to Manning Park took us slightly uphill before opening onto a fire road, which we followed to the highway. Once again, I snacked on perfectly ripe thimbleberries. When we reached the resort, we went straight to the restaurant and I got my long-awaited omelette. Three eggs all to myself, yum! A very kind couple (the woman hiked the PCT in 2019) bought breakfast for the four of us. So nice!

Eventually we relinquished our table and sat outside in the shade. Drip & Drop arrived, as did a few other thru-hikers. A Manning Park employee interviewed us about the trail. In the early afternoon, our amazing friend Sonic arrived in a rented SUV with two rows of rear seats. In Abbotsford, Ludacris got out at the bus station. She’ll spend a few days in Vancouver and Seattle before heading back to Berlin to teach. It was sad saying goodbye.

We easily crossed the border into Washington and drove a couple hours to Seattle. Sonic dropped us off at El Chupacabra, where we met Pluto and his girlfriend, Graziella. It was fun to match a face to someone we’d heard a lot about. Soon two others joined us, Jonas and his Seattle friend. Jonas is from Norway, so I asked him all my questions about St. Olav’s Trail, which he had hiked. A bit later Luna and Martin showed up with two of Luna’s friends.

The evening ended with more goodbyes. It’s funny, Pluto was so ready to be done, yet he said it felt like a zero day and seemed tempted to join us in the Sierra. Of course, Graziella and his job won out. Sandbag and I saw them into an Uber before we successfully navigated the Seattle bus system to Sonic’s apartment. Hobble-it went to visit some Seattle friends.