Hiking - 2016 PCT - Day 143 to 152

Despite train noise and a street light right outside the inn window I got a pretty decent nights sleep. Morning was more chores (backing up photos etc) and then sending off my bounce bucket to Justin in Vancouver.

I got lucky and when I was in the PO sending my bucket the mother of a hiker was visiting and I was able to get an easy ride back to trail. Bumped into Zuke and Heman there who I hadn't seen since the Cali/Oregon border. 2 brothers hiking the entire PCT together... and sharing a tent! Can you imagine...

After a few more goodbyes and hellos to friends, and sneaking in some lunch at the lodge, I was finally back on trail. Only a 4.5 day food carry but because I'm eating a lot more now I'm pretty sure my pack is heavier than the 7-8 day food carry from Kennedy South!

Luckily it was only a short day out of town. Next morning woke up to a wet tent. It didn't rain but there was so much condensation it may as well have. We still are enjoying good weather though so at lunch I was able to lay it out and it was dry in under 10 min.

Had planned to go an hour or 2 more but came across another great lake and after sitting around and talking to other hikers for a while decided to be done for the day. Shorter than most full days but there is a lot more elevation change now so I could still feel it.



Had a perfect east facing view so got first light in the morning. Wind and the fact I was a little above the lake saved me from another wet pack up. Lots of great ridge walking today offering amazing views most of the day. Could still see Rainer far off in the distance but Mt Baker stood prominent.



It also happened to be the first day of hunting season so the trail was a little busier today. Less than an hour before I came across my first pair of hunters, very friendly guys and keen to chat about the PCT. Others were perched with binoculars looking for deer. Pretty funny as I didn't see one today compared to heaps the last few days, maybe they knew it was hunting season too...

Didn't hear one shot during the day either, but up and down some deep valleys and over ridges that would have drowned out sound. One valley lead us down alongside a creek for a few miles which was pretty awesome.

Last quarter of the day was climbing again. Unmaintained section  of trail (hunters use a side trail) with quite a few trees down but only 1 that was difficult to get around. Camped above a great creek with a rocky back drop which lit up a nice orange with the setting sun.
Rocky ridge also blocked he morning sun but it didn't seem too cold. After a short climb we wound down the side of the mouton past another beautiful mirror like lake. Then continuing down to the very bottom of a deep valley.

After going down for what seemed like ages it was once again time to head back up. Pretty steep section, about as steep as Peasents Ridge on Mt Barney and twice as long! Much deserved rest at a good snow melt creek short after the crest. The rest of the day was fairly gentle all the way to camp.
It was another hikers birthday so we had a small fire at camp as a candle but we're still all in bed by about 8. Woke to the sound of heavy rain at about 3am and it seemed to keep up until morning.  After poking my head out I saw it was mostly just misty with light rain so I packed and went on my way.



It wasn't long before the rain got more serious and the clouds became darker. I had planned a shorter day and then a Nero into Stehekin but with the rain didn't stop for breaks or lunch and made it to the road with time to spare for the shuttle to town.
This weather back home I probably would have had to stop every minute to pick of a leech. I haven't seen one the entire PCT so I do have that going for me, which is nice.

Every room (only 2 separate places) in town was booked, Saturday night... So I was setting up a wet tent in the rain in the overflow campground anyway. Problem with single wall tents if you can't dry them out, when you shove them in your bag the inside gets wet too.

Despite wet walls I managed to keep everything else pretty much dry. Rain stopped half way through the night and I awoke to blue skies and an already fairly dry tent.

Plenty of hikers about in town waiting for the PO to reopen on Monday. A few of us took a short shuttle (3 miles) to the bakery. No pie warmer or sausage rolls... so I can't bring myself to believe it's a real bakery but their pastries were amazing, hot chocolate too. Stayed here and played cards and stocked up on calories for the better half of a day before returning to town to hang out.



After a great dinner at the lodge it was time for bed. Slept in as I had no rush until the 10am post office opening. Collected my resupply box, last one!, and grabbed a few more snacks at the store before returning to trail. The return was via the bakery (the shuttle stops for 10 min to give people time) so got a nice BBQ chicken hot pocket and a ham and cheese crossiant for lunch.

Back on trail early afternoon planning for a short hike to first camp. Before we got there we crossed a cool little suspension bridge. Looked sturdy enough... except for that one broken plank I guess.

All the carabiner holding the wires had "Not for climbing" and no load limit printed on them which didn't inspire confidence. So I gave it a little bounce test to reassure everyone it was still safe...ish. After that no one was keen to walk across while I was still on it for some odd reason...



Camp was a little bit off trail but next to a nice river. Cold night with quite a bit of condensation in the morning. Got a late start trying to give things time to warm up, which didn't work. At about 1030am I was still walking past frost in the shady parts and just before 1pm at higher elevation there was still snow...



Still I had clear skies above despite some grey ones off in the distance and didn't need a jacket to hike in. Lots of beautiful mountains today as well when we hiked through mountain passes.



Got to a camp around 5:40 and stood around for 15 min trying to decide if I should push on to the next. It involved a decent climb and here was the last water so it meant lugging dinner and breakfast water up hill...
Luckily I decided to stop as not 2 minutes after getting my tent up those distant grey clouds from earlier today were suddenly on top of me and it started raining again. Managed to quickly throw everything in the tent before it got too wet and cooked inside.

Awoke to beautiful blue skies. I was camped in a valley so no chance of sun to warm me up though. Stuffing a wet tent into your pack is never fun but I knew at the top of the pass I could get it out to dry. It was cold sitting by it, some fresh snow in the shady sections of the mountain, but it did manage to dry fairly quickly.



By lunch I had made it to Hearts Pass. Last road access for the trail before Canada, 30 miles from the boarder. Some hikers, unable to cross, we're heading back to the road and were able to give some trail conditions for the remainder of the trip. Little bit of snow, nothing we can't handle by now.
Camp was busy with at least 17 hikers arriving before the cold drove me into my tent. 14.5 miles shy of the Monument, might be a line tomorrow to take pictures!

A busy camp meant a busy morning... some must not have realised that it was their last chance of an on trail sleep in! With some making noise before 6am I was awake so started to stir by at least 7. Making decent time I got to the Monument by lunch.

CANADA!!
All in all it took 151 days, 05 hours, 36 minutes and 06 seconds. With 20 town zer0s, 1 trail zer0s and 14 ner0s I probably could have finished a little sooner, but I think it all went pretty smoothly.

The remaining miles to Manning Park felt longer than any other on trail. They seemed to drag on. Eventually though I made it to the lodge, had a nice long shower and by the time you read this will have enjoyed my first beer!

Hope you have enjoyed reading my adventure. I'm sure there will be many more!