Skykomish to Stehekin. A little 108-miler that we'd been dreading since the Mexican border. We remembered this section from 2014 as being spectacularly hard - huge climbs and descents, rainy and wet, blowdowns, washed out bridges, roaring rivers.... You know, standard Washington stuff. Our memories were factually correct - there were a ton of blowdowns, the trail was quite overgrown, and we did a ton of elevation change every day (standard would be +7-9K feet/-7-9K feet). But at the same time... It wasn't so bad! Partly, it's because we were blessed with great weather. One overcast day with a bit of drizzle - otherwise sunny and warm. But mostly, it's because when you thru hike the PCT from Mexico to Canada, it somehow trains you physically, without you even trying to be deliberate about it. Even the most out of shape consultants can do 20-mile days in the desert to ease into the Sierra, which then opens the door for big miles in Northern California and Oregon - and then, like magic, you're totally physically ready for the crazy climbs and challenging terrain of the North Cascades in Washington. Thanks, PCT!
Oh hey! It's our first sighting of Mt Rainier! It was too rainy/overcast as we went through Mt Rainier NP.
We hit mile 2500. Exclamation point! Exclamation point!
Alpenglow
Mornings getting real cold
Well that's unbearably scenic
But I get ahead of myself. Back to Skykomish, my favorite town in Washington (it joins the pantheon of other favorite trail towns: Idyllwild, Bishop, Sierra City, and Ashland). We had pushed to get there before dark, made it, and we were thrilled (nothing like a 29.5 mile "nero"). Skykomish is the first stop that feels like true "Northern" WA. It was the first time we felt like we might finish this epic journey. We were euphoric. And that feeling only got stronger when we got a text from Toe Touch, saying she was at the one bar in town, the Whistling Post! Yes, that's right. Good Ol' Toe Touch. You may remember her from the time the alarmist JMTers told us not to go over Donohue Pass. Or maybe the time she tried to rent a car in the tiny town of Shasta to make it to our wedding, only to end up in the ER instead. Toe Touch was a great friend through central California, but she'd gotten way ahead when we got off trail to get married. However, around Bend, she did her own off-trail adventure, heading to Montana for a week for her sister's bachelorette party. We knew there was a fighting chance of catching her before the end of the trail and WE DID IT. Proudest moment on the trail? Probably. We went over to the Whistling Post for a round of beers. It was so good to see her, hear about the last few months, and even better - to know we'd likely finish with her! Side note: at some point this evening, as I discovered the next morning, I also began following The Cheesecake Factory on Instagram. Hungry hikers do weird things after a beer.
The next morning, Toe Touch headed to the trail while we waited (and waited) for the Post Office to open. Small town PO doesn't open until ... 11:30 am?! It was worth it when it opened though, as we had a "best of" package from my mom (mandarin oranges! Chocolate almonds! Homemade cookies and muffins!) and an amazing "I know exactly what thru hikers need to close out the trail" package from Triple Crowner friend Jay (butterscotch brownies! A new ultra lightweight trowel! An amazing copy of the card I wrote Jay when he headed on his own PCT journey almost a decade ago! Barnanas!). By 3, we were standing on the side of the road, thumbs out for the last time on the trail. Our final hitch was a retired Park Police officer, who regaled us with tales of patrolling the mean streets of Shenandoah NP.
In the first few hours, we were just hiking along when we passed a big group of kids and three dads at the back. Cool father-kid trip, we thought. Then, one of the Dads stopped and said "Holy S-word! I know you! You are Matty Albinson's sister." Indeed I am, stranger Dad. Indeed I am. Turns out he played ultimate with Matthew at Wesleyan and had seen a Facebook post about our adventure at some point. He'd also met me once before in the summer in 1996. Impressive identification. He explained that he and his buddies take their kids on an annual backpacking trip the weekend after Labor Day, rain or shine. This solidified our view that Washingtonians are the coolest, most outdoorsy people out there.
Oh hey Matthew's friend!
It was while we were all chatting that the pack passed us. Something like 15 thru hikers were hanging out together and hiking in a large group. They were making a ton of noise (as is easy in a large group) and generally seeming like something we didn't want to get stuck in for the next few days. We'd been planning to camp at a lake a few miles ahead, but when we got to the lake and heard them setting up their (many, many) tents on the opposite shore, we realized we only had one option: KEEP HIKING!! We hiked for another hour or so, well past dark. This ended up being our final night hike of the trip. But we got ~3 miles ahead of them. That, combined with a super early wake-up the next morning mercifully put plenty of miles between us. We never saw them again. I'm sure they are all individually nice (indeed, we even knew a few of them and can vouch for that - quite nice!) but anytime too many people start traveling together as a pack, it disrupts the solitude and quiet of the wilderness. We were glad to be far enough ahead of these folks to not worry about being sucked into a pack for our final few hundred miles.
The next day, three things of note happened:
1. Justin won The Gu Game. We each eat 2-3 gu packets every day. It's our favorite form of short-term energy/calories. On the bottom of each packet is a little inspirational saying. We've become quite familiar with the "canon" if you will. Some examples: Gu for it, real runners stash their trash, do something epic today, you own this hill, eat me, pain is temporary, winning is forever, etc. Having long-since run out of things to talk about, we do things like play "the Gu game" where the other person has to guess the inspirational saying on the bottom of your gu packet. Well, I cracked open a salted caramel gu, challenged Justin, and he got it on the FIRST TRY!! It was "Pain is temporary." Wooooo go Justin go! This is the apex of your life's accomplishments!! I hope you will relive this moment forever!!!
Champion
2. I fell all the way down on the trail. I've tripped a ton of times, don't get me wrong, but this was the first time I fell all the god damn way down. I tried to catch myself like 8 times with my feet, my poles, my hands... Ultimately, couldn't do it. I was just lying in the trail with my face in the dirt. Fortunately, nothing injured but my long disappeared pride.
3. I actually got sated on huckleberries. We've been eating berries for weeks now. Often, Justin will pick a huge handful for us to share because he can pick berries and still run to catch up with me (this is a subtle comment on the fact that I'm a slow hiker). But this morning, for the first time ever, I said "I might be good." By afternoon, I was back in the game. But this moment, albeit temporary, was a shocking one.
The picker at work
Some of our good fortune
Also we walked over Grizzly Peak and it was heaven. Wildflowers and Glacier Peak in the distance and sunshine. I'll let the pictures do the talking.
Thanks for the chips, Mom!
That night, we grabbed a tiny campsite right before a long exposed section. A storm was blowing in and we were expecting rain for the next 24 hours. We were glad to have a tucked away little spot before the rains came. The next morning, as we were nice and cozy in the tent, we found it near impossible to motivate to go walk in the cold rain. Ultimately we did though. We've discovered that doing a 3 mph pace is really tough in rain clothes, especially pants. You just can't maintain your stride in heavy, wet pants. So it was kind of a slow day. This day and the next were also marked by this section's signature huge climbs. We were walking the outer circumference of Glacier Peak and Justin thought up an incredible metaphor. It's like the mountain itself is a lemon juicer (with all the vertical ridges going from the top to the bottom) and we were walking around the circumference about mid-way down. So we'd walk up a huge ridge (typically 3K feet), then do a screaming descent into the valley (another 3k feet), cross a crazy swollen silty/milky river, then start up the next 3k foot climb. It wasn't that challenging, you just had to have the right mindset ("I'm going to walk uphill for the next 2 hours, then I'm going to turn a corner and start losing all that elevation. It's the only way to Canada.")
Lake SallyAnn I think? We pass so many gorgeous gems of lakes, it actually becomes impossibly hard to remember them all.
Camping in our cute hidey-hole
Dubya is a comin'! (Dubya=W=Weather)
This section is so remote that even trail crews, heroes that they are, have a difficult time maintaining it. There were tons of technically challenging blow-downs - including many massive old growth trees. This slowed us down a lot. Another thing that slowed us down - the 2+ lbs of chocolate that Justin was carrying. But, true to form, he ate every last bit of it. We may not have mentioned this yet, but a standard part of our day is "Justin chocolate hour," in which he stuffs his face with various forms of chocolate for 5-10 minutes while I go get settled in my sleeping bag for the night. I don't know how the man eats so much chocolate. As Max and Skye noted in their wedding toast, maybe it indeed is a good thing that Justin married someone who doesn't like chocolate because he gets twice as much. He certainly carried plenty in this section.
We got lucky that night on the campsite front. We passed the last known campsite about a half mile before one of the big crazy rivers. Here's how our talk went:
Lemonade: We should probably camp here. Doesn't look like there are any more campsites down further. And nothing as we start the ascent on the other side of the river.
Bearclaw: Nah. I bet there's something at the river at the bottom of the valley. There always is.
(20 minutes later)
Bearclaw: Wow. Nothing at the river. I guess we have to start the ascent!
Lemonade: Its already 7:30. You know there won't be anything until the top. We're going to be hiking until at least 9 (implied: that's an hour plus of night hiking, your least favorite thing. You created this situation....now you have to deal with the consequences).
Bearclaw: Let's do it!!!!!
But then we got super lucky and there was one tent site on the side of the mountain like 15 minutes later. Whew!!
Justin was (understandably) obsessed with this valley.
Bet those peaks look real nice in the sun
Lemonade! The man, the myth.
The next morning, the sun was shining and our gear was dry. Yeah! We hiked a few miles, then had a glorious hot breakfast in a meadow overlooking glacier peak. Being able to stop and enjoy the scenery, even just for 15 minutes sometimes, feels like such a treat. We savored this one, knowing it was one of our last. Another day of climbs and screaming descents, roaring milky rivers, old growth forests, and epic views. Tough life.
So green!
This bridge looks legit.
Milky rivers
Little glimpse of the glacier atop Glacier Peak
The next morning we had one goal and one goal only: catch the noon bus to Stehekin. There are four buses each day, but only the first two get you to town in time for the Post Office hours. We had to do 17 miles to make it, so we set the alarm for a time we hadn't seen in a while: 5:20 am. As soon as it went off, I started telling Justin some of my reflections about the section so far. He very nicely explained to me that we'd set the alarm for 5:20 so we could snooze until 5:30 and he'd like to use that time to actually sleep thank you. I shushed until 5:30. It's hard to be a morning person sometimes. But then...go time! We were out of camp before six and had to walk with our head lamps on for the first mile or two of the day. Around mile 10, we met up with Big Bear and Chapstick. We laughed about how Big Bear had misheard me when I said I got a bee sting in the last section (he thought I'd said I had a rock in my shoe, which is why he said "ok, cool, see ya later!" and walked off). Then like ten minutes later, Justin got stung by a bee! Perhaps to prove himself, Big Bear was super sympathetic this time. We saw Toe Touch still in her tent (same tent as ours, just a jankier door) and yelled at her to wake up! She assured us she'd be on the noon bus too. We kept trucking. Made it to the bus pick up by 11:30. Damn, we could have slept until 6!
There was a sign that said "stock crossing (left arrow), foot log (right arrow)." Someone had cleverly graffitied on the sign "Five dollar" so it read "Five dollar foot log." I'm still laughing about this.
Justin crosses the five dollar foot log!
Mica Lake
Two other things about this section:
1. We ate all the goodies from Dan Jenkin's box, including the life-changing amazing green chiles, and had the most thoughtful and inspiring cards and photos to keep us going. Thank you, Dan!
2. My mom in DC was chatting with her neighbor who spends some of her time in Montana and turns out knows a PCT hiker from there. She said he actually proposed to his girlfriend on the trail and that he's a river guide when he's not hiking. This got to be too much for mom, who finally broke in and said "Is it ADAM?! And is his fiancé AMBER?" Sure enough, it was! Mom was thrilled to be able to say that not only do we know them, but they'd slept on her rental house couch during our wedding! Small world!
I leave you with a series of Lemonade being Lemonade.
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