August 26, 2016
Hopkins Lake (mile 2643.7) to Manning Park, BC

Miles: 15.2 (6.4 PCT miles + 8.8 miles to Manning Park)

Our total miles: 2243.8

At some point we finally stopped caring about the elk outside our tent and went to sleep. But Andy didn’t sleep well. He woke up many times with tight IT bands.

We watched the morning light coat the mountains around Hopkins Lake. We were eager to get to the border but also wanted to enjoy our last morning in Washington. 

The clouds dominated the sky but occasionally the sun poked through. We walked through the forest, trying to make sense of our emotions. 

Today we would reach the northern terminus of the PCT. For most this is the end of an exhilarating journey, for us it is just another milestone. 

An important one and one that Andy has dreamed about for years, but because our journey isn’t over the monument felt less momentous.

The trail was overgrown and we clambered over down trees. About 2 miles from the monument we met Mountain Sweep, a woman in her 60s who has been section hiking the PCT for 16 years. 

This was her final section and her children were hiking in to meet her the following day.

Around 8:50 we came to a clearing. The clear cut that marks the border between Canada and the US was evident.

“We are so close!” said Andy beaming.

After 3 quick switchbacks there it was.

The Northern Terminus. 

A monument very similar to the one we had stood on just under 5 months ago.

We paused, hugged, signed the register and took pictures. 

As anticipated, seeing the monument was anticlimactic. Our journey wasn’t over. It felt like we had the book ends of our story but were missing a chapter. 

From here we walked 8 miles to Manning Park, a small resort in British Columbia and the first place resembling civilization in Canada. 

Our “trail” was a combination of hiking trail, fire road and mountain biking trail. They were all through the forest and although nice, nothing special.

Another hiker had suggested that we summit Mt Frosty on our way to Manning Park. We were tempted but with the poor nights sleep Andy was over it. “I don’t want to climb anything, I just want to get there.”

We were both tired, not looking forward to the long journey back to LA and apparently not in the mood for more walking.

We got to Manning Park around 1 pm, showered, did laundry and ate a celebratory lunch.  

With full stomachs and semi clean bodies (we took cold showers with no soap) we began to discuss our options for getting to Seattle.

We had booked a 6am flight from Seattle to LAX on Sunday. It was Friday. There is a Greyhound that runs from Manning Park to Seattle everyday and it leaves Manning Park at 1:50am. 

We had not made advanced reservations to allow wiggle room in case the weather changed. It never occurred to us that Greyhound buses sell out but apparently they do in Canada in August.

We heard from other hikers that the previous night there was only 1 seat available. Other employees mentioned that sometimes the bus doesn’t stop. Depending on this bus started to feel less reliable. So we turned to our only other option. 

Hitching.

Laurie stepped out of her comfort zone and started talking with everyone. She asked a woman coming out of the restroom if she was heading west. 

We were off of a smaller highway and any western movement would bring us closer to more populated areas.

The woman responded that she wasn’t sure what she and her husband were doing but asked if we had just gotten off the trail. When we said yes, she responded with “my husband wants to hike the PCT, wait here.”

We waited while making a large hitching sign on our Tyvek.

We chatted with Stephen and Katherine for about 10 minutes. They were planning on staying at Manning Park but there were no available rooms. They weren’t sure where they were going next but said if they saw us on the side of the road they would pick us up.

After 15 minutes of unsuccessful hitching, they pulled over and we piled in. Stephen and Katherine were amazing trail angels. They drove us 2 hours to Abbotsford (the closest border town in Canada), treated us to dinner and then drove us to the Greyhound station. 

All the buses from Abbotsford to Seattle were sold out. 

“Well, I am glad we didn’t wait for the bus!” Laurie said as she turned to Andy.

Had we waited in Manning Park there would not have been room and we would be hitching anyway since our flight departed earlier than the arrival of the next bus.

We inquired about buses leaving from Bellingham to Seattle. There were 3 per day and the 4 pm bus had 4 seats available – the first two buses were sold out.

We had planned to have Stephen drop us off at the border so we could walk through without them having to deal with exiting and then re-entering Canada but they insisted on driving us all the way to Bellingham. 

We had no other words for Stephen and Katherine besides ‘thank you, thank you!’ 

As we pulled up to the customs agent Laurie felt herself getting nervous. We had all the paperwork we needed but it still felt uncomfortable to have to explain your actions and reason for being somewhere.

When asked where we lived Andy responded with “we last lived in San Francisco.”

“Last?” Was the follow up question from the agent.

“Well we have been living in our tent the last 5 months” chimed in Laurie.

Wrong answer Laurie.

The agent smiled. She looked at Andy’s passport photo (bald and with minimal facial hair) and then at his bearded face. “We see a lot of you PCT hikers, you guys don’t look so bad.”

“Thanks” we replied.

We all had a good laugh and were good to go.

We watched the pink evening glow on Mt Baker and were treated to an amazing sunset as we drove through the agricultural land of northern Washington.

Stephen and Katherine dropped us off at Motel 6 where we got the last non- smoking room.

We feel so grateful to have met Stephen and Katherine and greatly appreciate their generosity. 

Stephen wants to do the PCT in the next few years and we look forward to helping him plan his journey and ideally along the way as well. 

The generosity of strangers continues to amaze and baffle us. People want to help us succeed. And as we’ve mentioned before, we simply have to be brave enough to ask for and be willing to accept help.

Had Laurie not stepped out of her comfort zone and asked a stranger for a ride, who knows how things would have turned out. 

Because of her courage we got to meet and spend 4 hours with a wonderful, caring and generous couple.

We love the world we live in!

By 9:30 we had crawled into bed. Laurie was so tired she wasn’t even tempted to turn on the TV in search of Romantic Comedies. The sound of the freeway didn’t bother us either.

Tonight we are grateful for kind people and border agents with a sense of humor.

August 25, 2016

Bushcamp (mile 2625.8) to Hopkins Lake (miles 2643.7)

Miles: 17.9 

Our total miles: 2237.4

We watched the sunrise from the comfort of our sleeping bags. 

Since we had only 20 or so miles to hike we were in no rush to get going.

We shared how it felt to be so close to the end and discussed again the logistics involved in getting back to the trail in California.

Around 8am we finally stepped foot on the trail. There were darker, meaner looking clouds in the direction we were walking.  We hoped they wouldn’t produce precipitation. 

The first few switchbacks Andy commented again how much he enjoyed the sunset last night. 

“That spot and that sunset were absolutely spectacular. I’ve never seen a sky that red before! Washington sure did wow us on our 2nd to last night.”

We dropped into the trees, lost in our own thoughts until we reached the Holman Creek trail junction.

From there we climbed 1400 feet to Rock Pass in four miles. We took a long lunch break at the Pass, then made our way toward Woody Pass.

Our guidebooks warned us to not be tempted to take the old, unmaintained PCT as it’s treacherous. We stuck to the main trail and enjoyed the views between Rock Pass and Woody Pass.

The relentless climb up to Woody Pass kicked both our butts. We huffed and puffed our way up it.

“Where the heck did that climb come from? Did we really drop that much from Rock Pass?” Andy asked doing his best to catch his breath.

“I dunno” replied Laurie.

We kept hiking. There was a bit more climbing to do, then it’s all downhill to Canada! Nine or so miles with slightly more than 3000 feet down.

These mountains are truly beautiful and we continue to remain grateful for the weather we’ve enjoyed.

Around 3pm Laurie suggested that if we like it, we should camp at Hopkins Lake. We got to the lake around 4 and immediately decided we’d stay here. 

We were 2.7 miles short of our plan, but we can make that up tomorrow. We kinda like camping in pretty places. And this was our last night in Washington!

Laurie went for a dip before the sun hid behind the mountain while Andy soaked his feet. We stayed at the shores of the lake for about an hour, enjoying the warmth of the sun and the beauty of our surroundings.

Around 5pm we left the lake, hiked about 150 feet to an established camp and set up our tent. We’re hoping for another clear, dry night. 

We ate, journaled, listened to music and watched the mountains to the east turn golden brown. Well, Andy did all of yhst. Laurie took a nap which turned into a 7 pm bedtime.

It’s really peaceful here. Just us and the birds. Not many hikers around since we’re only 6.4 miles from the monument.

It’s gonna be a chilly night. Chilly and clear. Hopefully we’ll see lots of stars.

As Andy was tucking away the electronics for the evening (we wrap them in a fleece to help preserve battery life) he heard rustling.

He pulled out his headlight and not even 10 feet from our tent was a creature with large, beautiful antlers. We think it was an Elk but it may have been a buck. It didn’t seem concerned or interested in us – just the bushes around our tent.

Andy woke up Laurie and we both stared in awe. It was beautiful!

Throughout the night we continued to hear munching. We futilely tried to scare them off but they kept coming back so after a few minutes we gave up and went back to sleep.

Tonight we’re grateful for solitude and naps at 7pm!

August 24, 2016

Methow River (26o4.1) to bushcamp (mile 2625.8)

Miles: 21.7

Our total miles: 2219.4

We slept hard again last night and didn’t want to wake up this am.

“We can sleep til six today, it’s gonna be a shorter day.”

“Ok” said Laurie with a smile, her eyes still closed as she turned to her right side.

At 5:45 Andy turned the valve on his air pad and let out all the air. He slowly started to pack while Laurie kept sleeping.

This morning was at least 5 to 7 degrees warmer than yesterday, but Andy still put on his fleece.

Around 6:15 Andy was done packing and Laurie still hadn’t gotten out of her sleeping bag.

She was cozy and warm and couldn’t bring herself to open her eyes. We are definitely tired and even short hiking days and more sleep aren’t enough to overcome the fatigue.

Laurie finally willed herself to get up and get packing. We were on the trail by 6:45.

As we walked Laurie expressed her disappointment with stopping early yesterday instead of pushing on to Glacier Pass and having a campsite with pretty views. 

To Laurie, slowing down to enjoy our last days in Washington means we should camp in scenic spots with grand views. Andy wants that too but he also wants to enjoy the views along the way to camp.

We took many breaks yesterday, some longer than others, and enjoyed the day.

But Laurie was disappointed with our camp spot knowing what potentially lay 5.5 miles ahead. 

All morning she kept thinking about how we had missed out on the views, the beautiful sunrise with the alpenglow on the jagged mountains.

She wants Andy to push her to hike longer days to get to pretty campsites. And he has. But he didn’t yesterday. He loved how yesterday unfolded and was perfectly content with their camp spot near the river.

“If you want me to constantly push you to do more, it ain’t gonna happen. Heck I do my best to help you slow down.”

Laurie has been a ‘go, go, go’ type of person most of her life and has a hard time being content with where she is. The present is never good enough.

Our attention for the first 5.5 miles was inside our respective heads. How can we find a balance between our different personalities and mentalities? How can we as a couple make eachother better?

As we neared Glacier Pass we turned the corner and Andy shouted ‘hello’ to someone. It was Sam! We thought he’d be miles ahead as he wants to be done tomorrow. But there he was, still in his tent reading his book.

He was camped at Glacier Pass, the very spot we wanted to push to last night. The campsite was in the trees and it was cold. But most notably, there were no views to be had. 

Andy’s app was wrong. The pictures of the incredible views were from campsites 3 miles ahead, not Glacier Pass.

So after all that, even if we had pushed and hiked 28+ miles last night, we wouldn’t have had the evening or morning views we had hoped for.

Laurie turned to Andy, “go ahead, you can tell me ‘I told you so.'”

“I don’t live in that world hun. It’s not about right or wrong. It’s about accepting where you are and enjoying it.”

We hiked on, with Laurie now beating herself up for creating big expectations and being upset when things don’t turn out the way she wants them to.

We switchbacked up to a ridge. Now this would have been the place to camp! A sheer rock wall lay to our south with mountains on either side. If we ever come back to this area Laurie vowed to camp up here to watch the sunrise and morning alpine glow.

We took a break staring at the incredible view. Far below us was a valley with 3 turquoise ponds. Little patches of snow remained on some of the slopes. 

The sun felt good against the slight chill in the air. Laurie took a 30 minute nap, using her food bag as her pillow and hiding in the shade of Andy’s body.

Once moving again we traversed scree slopes and dropped down towards Harts Pass, the last road before Canada. The last 2 miles to Harts Pass felt never ending. 

The trail twisted and turned every which way until we finally popped out on a dirt road and walked 100 feet to an intersection of 3 dirt roads. As we descended we could hear dirt bikes rumbling in the distance. 

Once at Hart Pass there was much more traffic than we expected. We sat on a log in the shade and ate some snacks. Sam joined us for a few minutes before he continued on. 

As we were preparing to leave a man stopped his car and offered us an OR sun hat just like the ones we wear. 

He said he had found it while cleaning up around a lake and had no use for it. Laurie’s hat was on its final leg, it had been sewed many times and was currently being held together with dental floss. We graciously accepted the hat as well as a beer for Andy.

Thanks Scott!

Before we got to Harts Pass Sam mentioned that he hoped for trail magic one last time. If only he had hung around for another few minutes he would have gotten it.

We left Harts Pass and gradually walked up to Buffalo Pass and eventually down to Windy Pass. The grade was so gentle it felt like we were walking on a level road. We sauntered through green meadows with the last of the wildflowers.

Lately, and particularly in Washington, many of the passes are low spots. This is counterintuitive for us. We think a pass equates to a high point and views. Not always the case.

We got to our planned campsite around 6 pm to find 3 parties already set up. We looked for another spot but didn’t find anything appealing. 

We decided to push on, hoping for something higher up and with a view.

At the top of the ridge right before Foggy Pass we found a little semi-flat area nestled between trees and protected from the sun. We set up the tent, placing extra clothes under specific parts our sleeping pads to create level ground.

We watched the sunset and the colors change from the comfort of our sleeping bags and tent. 

What a show! It was tremendous. 

Light orange sky turning pink and red with clouds joining in on the party.

Today was a hard communication day for us. We had more little struggles and misunderstandings than normal. Neither of us are sure what caused this but it could be that we are nearing the end and the stresses of city life are creeping back into our daily thoughts. 

At least for Laurie this is the case. Andy doesn’t stress. He believes everything will work out.

Tonight we are grateful for flat spots on ridges and blue skies in Washington.