Day 121-122 (September 7 and 8th)
Mile 2574.6 – 2624.6 (50 miles skipped via car around the fire closure)
Today: 0 miles (hiked at least!)
Total PCT hiked: 2169.5 miles
We took a couple of days off to wait for Salty to finish the fire alternate. Our first day was spent in Chelan doing laundry and eating good food. Thunder’s friend Tim came out to meet us and was kind enough to drive us to the town of Mazama at the end of the fire closure. He really went out of his way to help us, and we are so grateful! He dropped us off at Lion’s Den– a hiker haven that has existed since 2022. It is a pretty amazing place!
They offer laundry and showers to desperate hikers. They even have a cool PCT mosaic in the shower! We spent yesterday afternoon and all day today here at Lion’s Den, catching up with old and new hiker friends, eating good food, painting our nails, and doing puzzles. It is very cool to approach the Northern Terminus surrounded by such kindness and feeling such gratitude. I had a very similar experience at Scout and Frodo’s before starting the trail, so it is nice to bookend the trail with such magical places.
We were hoping that Salty would arrive this afternoon so that we could head back to trail tomorrow morning, but it sounds like we are going to have to meet him on trail tomorrow morning. It’s been a really nice break, but I am ready to get walking again. 🙂
Day 123 (September 9th)
Mile 2624.6 – 2644.0
Today: 19.4 miles
Total PCT hiked: 2188.9 miles
Our last night in Washington! Today was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. Salty has still not rejoined us after his hike of the fire alternate. We are hoping he might catch up late tonight though! Otherwise we will wait for him tomorrow morning before we walk to the border. I have been missing him and Corpsi all day. It is sad to not be together for these last few miles to the border. I know we have more miles to cover, but it still feels symbolic to reach this milestone together. Salty at least will join us tomorrow and I am sending all my love to Corpsi as he finishes this trail his own way!
Whenever we get seperated we leave little arrows and notes in the rocks for eachother. Here is our note to Salty tonight, so he can find his way to camp.
This morning, we crowded into Raven’s pickup truck– along with about seven other hikers and with our backpacks all strapped to the roof– for the drive to Hart’s Pass.
We were on trail by 8:30am. It was a beautiful hike today with a long ridge walk and only small ups and downs. I hiked with my new friend Birdie for a while. He punctuated the hike by weeping and wiping his eyes. Birdie told me that he hasn’t cried all trail (astonishing– I cry a lot!). He says that he is ready to be finished and move on to the next thing, but the emotions of the last ridge walk, last lunch spot and etc. are still hitting him hard. I am glad to get to feel his feelings with him.
The hike today is short and so I take it slowly and stop often to chat and take pictures. Along the way we ran into lots of our friends hiking the other direction. While we will be hiking into Canada tomorrow, not all hikers opt to get the Canada Entry Permit. Those who don’t must instead hike back 30 miles to get to the nearest road to the border, and so we had the pleasure of running into them all day! Nick (Redwood) who I last hiked with between Julian and Idyllwild in the desert, The Codgers, John (Leapfrog) who we met the first day when we flipped up to Truckee and who hiked through all the snow with us… So many familiar faces! We hugged and chatted and asked them how they feel. They told me that the border is a special place and that they felt it’s magic.
Even though I will not be finishing every mile tomorrow, I hope I will feel the wonder of the Northern Terminus. Right now I am feeling a bit dazed and hollow about completing nearly 2200 miles of this trail. I remember this feeling from my first days in San Diego before starting trail. I wanted to feel excited, but I just couldn’t quite wrap my head around the fact that this was really happening. I guess we will see if things crystalize tomorrow! Only 11 more miles to go!!
Day 124 (September 10th)
Mile 2644.0 – 2655.2 + 8 bonus miles in CANADA!
Today: 19.2 miles
Total PCT hiked: 2208.1 miles
I woke up feeling like it was Christmas morning– today we would reach the Canadian border. Salty never made it to us last night, so Thunder and I slept in a little to give him time to catch up to us. I had a nice long sleep and a good breakfast before getting to hiking. Salty hiked into camp around 8am, looking a little disheveled, but happy to be reunited.
We left camp around 8:30am and made quick work of the last 11 miles to the border. On the way, we encountered several friends that we met at Lion’s Den, including our new friend Birdie who told us that he had left a ‘1 mile left’ marker just up ahead. We hiked on. As we hiked my anticipation built. I imagined seeing the monument around every bend. The last blow down, the last switchback, the last wet shoe– except that for us, it is not the last! I am somewhat grateful that we still have the Sierras ahead of us, as I am truly just not ready to be done. I still want to be out here!
We made it to the Northern Terminus around 12:30pm and had a big group hug to celebrate. There was another group of hikers, a tramily, already there taking photos. They told us that they had been unable to hike to the terminus last year due to a fire that closed the last 30 miles of trail. Instead the six of them reunited this year to hike this last section together.
These last couple days I have been reflecting on all the special moments I have had with my tramily. The good, the bad… the love, the spats… the loud belly laughs and the comforting each other at our lowest moments. There is no better group of people that I could have imagined to hike this trail with.
In honour of my wonderful, beautiful, loveable trail family, I give you the words of Tophouse’s ‘The Mountain Song’, which I’ve listened to hundreds of times on this hike:
“Why, do people climb mountains?
Is it just to reach the top and see the view?
Well I’ll tell you something
Every rock and every river
Every sore and every splinter
In the summer, in the winter
When it’s warm and when we shiver
When our feet are full of blisters
When it’s sweet and when it’s bitter
I’d climb every mountain with you.”
Thunder, Salty and Corpsi– I love you guys. The four months I have spent with you on this beautiful trail have been the best months of my life. Thank you for being my trail family.
