WA Section L: More Fire Reroutes, More Foliage, Log Bridges, and a Big Celebration at the Finish Line (26 photos, 2 videos)

Section L is 69.5 miles long and runs from Rainy Pass, across the US-Canada border, and into Manning Park. However, the Bannock Lakes fire closure caused a reroute and we took a nero-day in Stehekin. So my Section L shall be 88.6 miles long and run from Stehekin to Manning Park. September 25th - 28th.

Day 142, 17 miles to camp.

We hoped that some more of the trail fam would catch up on the Tuesday ferry so we had plenty of time to kill until it arrived. Sea Lion and I walked back down to the laundry room to collect some things we left to dry overnight then moseyed down to sit by the water and enjoy our pastries from the bakery. We went to the general store to buy some WiFi and plan out our trip back home. We decided to postpone the plan to return to northern California and hike Section O (which we skipped due to wildfires and smoke) since a flight home from Sacramento would be twice as expensive as Seattle, it'd be a ton of driving, we were weary, and Sea Lion would be lucky if her shoes could make it another 90 miles to Canada. We returned to pack up camp and then went to the diner to grab lunch with Moose and Midge. We chilled on the big porch until the ferry pulled up and Pickle Pacer climbed out and joined us. After a few quick chores he was ready to roll and we all piled into a shuttle to go back to the trail, but first we stopped at the bakery again! Chris and Pete, our Aussie friends from Day 1 and who helped with Sea Lion's foot surgery, were there and it was great to see them one last time. The mood was happy and somber since this was the last time everyone would be heading back to the trail. In just four days the journey will conclude. We were the last to leave the trailhead and leapfrogged quite a few hikers before stopping to take a break at a campground with picnic tables. We debated if we wanted to stay at the next campground and night hike a bit to get out of the Northern Cascade Park boundary. There was a bit of a communication breakdown where the boys went to “Six Mile” campground, which was the location we obtained a permit for, but Sea Lion and I hiked on to the park boundary. We stopped for dinner in the diminishing sunlight and then had a few miles to night hike and a ton of log bridges to cross. One of which was on a wrong turn and Sea Lion was excited to get to cross the 12 foot tall bridge without handrails, not once but twice! Nevermind, that was me, she hates log bridges.

Day 143, 27.4, miles to camp.

A bunch of trail maintenance volunteers began to hike past our camp en route to work on a footbridge and were carrying all sorts of axes, tools, and lumber. I was a little jealous because playing in the woods and building stuff are two of my favorite things and they got to do both all day! At least my biscuits and gravy Mountain House and buttered english muffin for breakfast helped me get over it. We crossed yet another log footbridge and soon arrived at Rainy Pass where there was a super anti-everything sign. It must have said “NO” at least 100 times. The parking lot was packed with day hikers, campers, and there was a huge Mercedez army truck that looked like an awesome van-life rig. I wanted a tour but it seemed like they were still sleeping. We blasted up a big ascent to Cutthroat Pass and stayed there for lunch to soak in the scenery. There were beautiful peaks all over the place. Some equestrians chatted with us for a bit and congratulated us on finishing the trail before we continued on. The path went around some ridges before dropping down a set of switchbacks next to a huge valley with Tower Mountain and Mount Hardy standing on the far end. The autumn colors continued to blow my mind and were so bright and vibrant they almost hurt my eyes if I stared for too long. We crossed the 2600 mile markers (there were four of them) and couldn’t believe we had crossed our final century marker. We reminisced about the time, 136 days ago, when we crossed mile 100 in the hot desert and had a dance party to celebrate. Oh how far we’ve come! We continued down the drop to Methow River where we watered up and took dinner then we climbed up through Glacier Pass and arrived at camp right at hiker midnight. Sea Lion set the tent and I went down to collect water from a spring and we settled in for the night.

So many rules…reminds me of Communist Corridor on the AT.

I love when you can see the trail stretch on for miles ahead.

Mount Hardy on the left and Tower Mountain on the right.

Day 144, 28.9 miles to camp.

We ate breakfast with some of our camp neighbors and new friends. One guy was from Germany and earned the trail name ‘Water Rope’ after calling a garden hose by the same name because he didn’t know the correct English word. We had a few miles to go until Hart’s Pass which is the last road until Canada and it was also rumored to have a trail magic going on all week. We were all fairly disappointed to arrive to a completely empty road. Sea Lion and I took our first snack break and I checked the trail register but there was no sign of our group. So I signed it with a timestamp to let Midge, Moose, and Pickle Pacer know how far ahead we were. Sea Lion and I hiked up the short incline to the final fire reroute which cuts into the Pasayten Wilderness and drops way down into a beautiful valley before entering tree cover and paralleling Robinson Creek for awhile. Lots of the trail was covered in that good soft mud that felt like walking on pillows but it didn’t cling to your shoes or lead to any slips. Aside from that, most of the 21-mile reroute was pretty boring. There was a newly constructed footbridge that we crossed even though the forgetful builders forgot to take down the “Bridge Under Construction” sign and orange tape. We also realized that the sudden uptick in SOBOs were the unfortunate hikers who did not get permits to enter Canada and had to turn around at the border to hike 28 miles back to Hart’s Pass. One of these souls was my buddy Nemo from the AT. It was great running into him at the last possible moment out on the West cost. The reroute then turns up Rock Creek valley and reconnects with the PCT which stayed up on top of Buckskin Ridge. I began to hustle in hopes to catch sunset from the ridge but we were just too far out. We set camp just under Woody’s Pass and I noticed that we had a good eastward facing view so, with some luck, we could have a spectacular sunrise to start our final day on the trail. We had dinner with some new faces, Brian and Patches, who had been on trail for nearly seven months! They had tons of stories of their freezing and totally snow-covered journey through the Sierras in early April, then taking a week off to go warm up in the San Diego sun. We went to bed and stayed up for a bit reminiscing about the trail and sharing our favorite sections, laughs, and pains. Realizing that it is the last night inside your tent (or hammock) is always a reflection time that brings back an avalanche of memories of the journey and a pinch of sadness knowing that it ends tomorrow.

When autumn colors are so vibrant they hurt your eyes.

The theme of today: Fall foliage and Sea Lion.

“Bridge Under Construction - Not Open For Use” It looks constructed enough to me!!!

Day 145, 19.8 miles to Manning Park.

A dense carpet of fog hung in the valley and I could see a twinge of pink sunlight cresting over the horizon. I set my timelapse and then retreated to the warmth of the tent where we kept a door open to keep an eye on the sunrise. I am glad we did because when the sky started to explode we wrapped up in our sleeping bags and crept down to the ledge to watch it all unfold. It was truly dazzling and as the neon orange wave in the clouds began to glide overhead, the rising temperature pushed the fog up and over Woody’s Pass which completely whited out our view! It was absolutely glorious while it lasted. We cooked brekkie and began the final leg of the trail. The other side of the notch of Woody’s Pass had completely clear blue skies and the velocity of the fog spilling over was very interesting. We also could see a myriad of snow capped peaks and began to wonder which ones were in Canada since we were just ten miles from the border. At the top of the final incline of the whole trail, we stopped to take photos of a 99.7% marker somebody created and then Midge caught up!!! He said they had a crazy day hitching into Manzama from Rainy Pass and have been flying to catch us. We were stoked that our trail family would be united to cross the border. He took off ahead at his rapid pace, as is tradition, and we dropped down the last set of switch backs with views of Hopkins Lake below. A couple miles later Pickle Pacer caught up and we figured out that Moose got a super early start and must have blown past our campsite even though we left a rock note. Not long after, another Day 1 friend, Juice, passed us going SOBO since she wasn’t going into Canada. We chatted for a bit and loved that we ran into her at the Southern Terminus on Day 1 AND the Northern Terminus on Day 145. As we drew closer we began to get giddy and play AWOL Nation on the loudspeaker while taking some hybrid dance-hike strides. We met at one of their shows so, in addition to the high-energy full octane music, the band has a special place in our hearts. Then we passed Pickle Pacer at the “1 MI. TO GO” marker as he was stopping to change into his suit. He, Midge, and Moose bought suits in Bend, shipped them ahead to Stehekin, and packed them out for the final stretch to get some dapper finish photos. Sea Lion and I dance-hiked most of this final mile as AWOL Nation continued to blast on my phone. We turned a corner, saw the Terminus statue, and began shouting in pure elation. Moose was there and had packed two beers out from Manzama for us. His fiance and Midge’s good friend hiked south from Manning Park to meet us and brought shots. We had a grand old party at the finish line, popped our champagne, took tons of photos, and had plenty of hugs and high fives. Everyone would’ve loved to stay but we still had eight miles to hike to get to Manning Park where some rides were waiting. We had dinner at the lodge and then piled into a few cars to make the trip to Surrey where we would be crashing with Midge for a few days before heading back to the states. It was amazing to stick with one trail fam for the majority of the hike and we were sad to depart but knew that it wouldn’t be the last time we saw all of these characters.

WATCH THIS! Best sunrise ever.