To the Borderline!

On Tuesday, September 10, our final section attempt began in Sumner, WA. Leaving around 10:30 am, daughter Colleen drove us north toward Washington Pass in the North Cascades. The weather outlook was pretty good for the day, still with a chance of showers in the mountains. It took us 4 hours from Sumner, until we entered the Bridge Creek Trailhead parking lot on State Highway 20.

To begin our journey, we would only need to cross the highway to access, hopefully, the last section of our quest to complete the Pacific Crest Trail. Up until a week and a half ago, this area was inaccessible due to the Easy Fire which was just northwest of the trailhead. The weather had changed significantly with several rain shower events, and that allowed the National Forest to get the fire pretty much shut down. This allowed the closed section of the trail from Rainy Pass to Grasshopper Pass to be reopened.

Under clouds and warm sun, Colleen sent us on our way with luck at the Mile 2592 point of the trail. We have completed and backpacked every mile south of this point together. We appreciate her time to drive us all the way here AND to commit to picking us up in British Columbia’s Manning Park.

The trail started on the south side of the highway but soon crossed to the north at Rainy Pass, where there was another trailhead. The trail was smooth and gentle and cool.

As we began the trail again at the Rainy Pass trailhead, where there maybe 10 cars parked, we enjoyed the gently climbing and the views of the mountains to the south as we crossed a stream showing that we would not have trouble finding water.

We were starting in the middle of the day so our mileage was going to be 5.3 miles to our first camp. There would be quite a bit of elevation gain on the section of the trail so we planned to do the 70 miles in 8 days – a little less than 10 miles per day. We wanted to make sure we were not going to be overwhelmed by the elevation changes.

We found our campsite alongside the trail easily, but also a bit further off the trail there was a 10-12 tent trail camp set up too. No one was around while we searched for water. Finally found some back down the trail in a pool that we could scoop from.

This was the first time we had used our new MSR tent on the PCT. We were really liking it, and it served us perfectly for this trip. Later in the evening, we notice a change in the weather and thought some showers might be coming in.

Wednesday, Sept 11. It did rain moderately during the night but we stayed warm and dry in our tent.

The next day we started up toward Cutthroat Pass, the first of maybe a dozen passes we would traverse during this trip. Here is a link to a short video – https://photos.app.goo.gl/gJNeUdNkUyoYANt39

During our day of travel, we came across a couple places where previous hikers had created 2600-mile markers.. From here, we only had 55 miles left to the border. Would we actually get there this time?

We found the scenery very beautiful with giant rock faces, wide meadows, and huge open slopes.

Thursday, Sept 12. Our second camp ended up being 3 miles further that we thought it would be. The elevation gains we made weren’t as challenging with the cool weather. The tent was set up in an alcove near Brush Creek. And, yes, there is a reason they named it Brush Creek. There was a lot of it before we came out on more open terrain.

There was some heavier mist and light rain as we moved along the beautiful trail but we were very prepared for it.

It stayed cloudy and cool as we traversed up toward Grasshopper Pass although there were hints of sunbreaks in the distance.

The higher we got on the trail the more open the slopes became and the trees become more spaced with low growing bushes too.

We trudged up what seemed dozens of switchbacks until we got up to Grasshopper Pass. There were no grasshoppers around but it was a pretty nice view.

Looking back at Grasshopper Pass.

Later on that day, we arrived at Harts Pass Ranger Station. This is the last road we’ll cross until we get to the border. There’s also a pretty big campground here down the road behind us. Dinner was couscous and summer sausage.

Our camp near Harts Pass – complete with flowers.

Friday, Sept 13. We left the Harts Pas area and hiked up through open slopes toward the our next camp at Holman Pass. The weather cleared for a while and we could see the rugged mountains to the south.

The trail was long traverses through meadows and rolling open slopes. We even went by a back country yurt that may be used by snowmobilers during the winter time. We crossed over more passes that were pretty gentle and then descended down to Holman Pass. We had to carry bags of water to this camp since there were no nearby creeks. The closest was 3/4 of a mile back.

We saw fire rings in many camps along the way but we never build fires. They are far too smoky and many times they are just too risky to build because of the potential of starting a wildfire.

This camp had a lot of tents besides ours. They set up after we arrived. This area was an intersection of the PCT and the Pacific Northwest Trail. The PNT runs east-west between Montana and the Washington coast. We’ve done most of the western Washington section of that trail. We were somewhat entertained/irritated by a trio of female hikers that chatted continuously until dark. They did not seem to care how loud they were or who heard what they were relating to each other. We turned in after mashed potatoes and meatballs, and a game of cribbage.

Saturday, Sept 14. It rained overnight again quite a bit but we were warm and dry. Today would hopefully be the last full day of hiking the PCT in the US. We were heading toward our last camp near Hopkins Lake. First though, we would traverse the highest point of the trail in Washington state. They hiking was wonderfully cool and open. The views were inspiring in their beauty and isolation.

We crossed over Rock Pass and descended into a basin along switchbacks. It started to rain a little bit but didn’t last too long as we crossed the top of the basin under high rocks toward Woody Pass. We saw several groups of trail runners from the Seattle area. Yep. Just running with small packs and water bottles.

We walked along gentle slopes with trails that were very easy and inviting as the clouds broke up some and let some sun in.

Below is a distant view of that high point. The trail cut around the top of this basin and across the grey slope toward the last high elevation on the PCT.

The trail went right over the top of the high point which was rather gentle before it went down the other side toward our camp.

Soon, we could see where we would set up camp – Hopkins Lake.

We could see the geologic feature named The Devil’s Staircase.

We enjoyed chicken and dumplings for dinner – one of our most favorites. Again, it rained quite a bit overnight, but in the morning, blue skies greeted us for our last day on the PCT. It was a chilly 34 degrees when we woke but the sun broke through to warm us up.

Sunday, Sept 15. After 6.3 fast miles, we arrived at the border. Nice that the Canadians showed us they welcome our arrival.

This monument for the terminus is just out in the middle of nowhere on the trail. We still had 7.5 miles to hike before our day would be over.

The completion of the trail is the finish of a 6-year 2655-mile effort. Here is page 164 from the terminus logbook.

After we feasted on pulled pork and Cajun chicken sandwiches washed down with beers at Manning Park Lodge in British Columbia, we met up with daughter Colleen to celebrate our accomplishment with the Champagne she brought along. It was a fitting end to our long, hard, but exhilarating completion of the Pacific Crest Trail. The parts we completed were some of the best and most enjoyable we’ve done over the past six years.

Mike and Elaine – Pacific Crest Trial Completers

April 20, 2018 to September 15, 2024