Mile 2,476 – Stevens Pass, Skykomish, WA

Whoa… we have made it to the Dinsmores, famous trail angels here in Baring, WA. We set out of Snoqualamie Pass on Friday and climbed 7 miles to camp beside well-named Ridge Lake. The weather was clear and afforded great views of the towering distant Mt. Rainier.  Jagged peaks and steep deep canyons surrounded us, and for the first time we got an impression of just how rugged the Northern Cascades are.

The weather didn’t hold out for long and we soon found ourselves in normal Washington fashion, where it mists and drizzles all day long. The sun does occasionally make an appearance, but does not really hang out long. The past section had a lot of elevation, including much of the trail that crossed skree, or rock out-croppings, known as boulder fields.

The rocky trails make for difficult walking with limited visibility compounded by slippery surfaces. However, we managed to make good time in hopes of sleeping in a dry shelter and drying out our gear.

We are happy to have company and motivation in our friends Cliffhanger and MilkSheikh – see their journal online (http://www.otenonfoot.tumblr.com).  They also give us their extra goodies that they don’t want to carry upon resupply which supplement the goodies we have been getting from our beautiful friends and family.

The rain is the toughest challenge that we currently face and we purchased some inexpensive and cheaply made ponchos that held up for about 30 minutes before they tore and looked more like shreaded crate- paper stuck to our wet bodies.

Tomorrow, we will depart for one of the toughest stretches on the trail, as we pass through the Glacier Peak Wilderness en route to Stehekin, our final town stop. Here we will demolish ridiculous quantities of baked goodies from the famous Stehekin Bakery.

We are excited that Canada is in sight, a moment we have been dreaming about since we departed from the border of Mexico. It is hard to believe we are only 190 miles from the border.

~ Swift

“You have to REALLY want to get to Canada.”

Early on in our hike, Swift told a story about when he attended a workshop at REI where an Alumni thruhiker presented his travels along the PCT. After his presentation, Swift asked him a bunch of questions about the trail. The presenter emphasized that you REALLY have to have a burning desire to make it all the way. 30 mile days. Everyday. Blisters, sore muscles, icy cold rain, mud, a non-stop hunger, and overall exhaustion. Today is our 140th day on the trail. All day, everyday I picture the border and bursting into tears as I hug the Northern Terminus… somehow it keeps me going.

I am overwhelmed with excitement to see family and enjoy the warmth of the indoors (I really miss knitting of all things!). But as I look around at this trail family we have found, I am tearful knowing that our journeys, as hard as they have been, are coming to a close.

Tonight, we relax in the shelter of the Dinsmore’s trail garage and watch a movie together, happy to be cozy with full bellies. Rain pounds on the tin roof as we all relax for a night before heading back out to endure the rain yet again for the next four days.

I sit here unable to put the emotions I feel recapping our entire trail into words. Earlier today, I was reading the Pacific Crest Trail Association’s magazine and stumbled across an article written by Alice “Stone Dancer” Tulloch. Stone Dancer has been section hiking for years and lost her husband while hiking part of the trail in Deep Creek, Oregon in May of 2006. I felt a need to share her touching words.

“We come to the Trail for lots of reasons. Beneath them all, we want to find out what’s really important in our lives. The PCT answers us. It’s a place where life is stripped to essentials. We shed not only ounces and grams, but the mental and spiritual clutter of our ordinary lives.

There is a place on the Trail, about two to three weeks out, where suddenly we notice the quiet in our heads. Body, gear, and terrain have entered the rhythm of simplicity. We have slowed down to the speed of life. It feels good. Our only troubles are immediate, like that nagging pain in _______ (name a body part).

In that silence, we wrestle with the demons of our past and discover they are phantoms. They are like wraiths clinging to the brush that claws at us when we struggle through overgrown places on the Trail. In every hot, tired step we are undeniably physical beings. At the same time, our spiritual selves soar and sink like the path ahead.”

Beautiful words – Thank you Stone Dancer. I could continue on and on but others need to use the computer. Four days (hopefully) to Stehekin and then Four days to the border of the US and Canada… we are almost there.

~ Buckeye

Mile 2402

Snoqualmie Pass, Washington

As we left White Pass, we headed right into a rain storm that we didn’t realize would last for over 24 hours.  With every mile, it seemed the rain grew heavier and heavier, so we decided to call it a day after 20 miles and set up camp under a giant fir tree.

We were surprised in the middle of the night by what is called a “widow-maker” – a large dead tree branch that fell from the tree and landed on our tent.   Fortunately, our widow-maker didn’t do any damage to us or our tent.  We were able to sleep a while longer, though not peacefully, because we kept thinking about the continuing wind and the possibility of further falling branches.

The next morning was very hard because we had to put on our soaking wet, very cold clothing, in order to head out again into the constant rain.  At this point our energy levels were quite low, but we set out early anyway.  We were hoping to make it a 35-mile day, because we knew that about 35 miles ahead was supposed to be a vacant camper’s cabin with a fireplace (Warmth!  Dry clothes!!).  We longed to dry out our clothes and find relief from the constant wetness.  Our day started to turn for the better when we saw four large elk cross the trail about 20 feet away from us.

When we reached Chinook Pass, I was at my coldest, unable to control my shivers and finding any attempt to stay warm in my wet clothes futile.  As we passed a rest stop (for cars) on the side of the road, a man was standing outside of his car in the misty rain.  This was odd.  We were in the middle of the mountains, with no sign of civilization anywhere near us. He called to us on the trail and asked, “Where are you guys headed?”  Swift replied, “Canada.”  He in turn said, “Can I buy you guys a cup of coffee?”

Little did we know we had just met Magic Man.  After looking around (nonverbally pointing out to this man, that there was no place around to buy coffee, or anything else for that matter), Swift asked the man, “where?”  Observing our confusion, Magic Man replied, “Oh, I have some in my car along with Krispy Kreme donuts.”

Delighted, we ran down the trail excited about this unexpected treat.  We each had two Krispy Kreme donuts, a cup of coffee and chocolate milk, before saying our “Thank Yous!!!” and heading back up the trail.  From that point on, I had no problem staying warm and we made it to the campers’ shelter by 7:30pm that evening.

The fire was already going in the cabin when we arrived – started by other hikers who had made it to the cabin before us.  While the cabin shelter was a nice break from the cold, wind and wet, we still had trouble sleeping through the night.  Unexpected visitors started to attack our food bag during the night.  What we believe were mice were crawling over our bag and (true to their reputation) found and started eating our leftover cheese.  Their brazen “friendliness” in sharing our food was not funny! After re-rigging our food bag, we attempted to get more sleep before heading out for another big day of hiking.

We awakened happy that all of our clothes were dry – our moods drastically improved as we almost skipped along, in the now sunny and beautiful Washington.  We spent the day munching away on handful of huckleberries around every turn.

Today, we have arrived at Snoqualmie Pass, where we have proceeded to eat copious amounts of food before we hit the trail again this evening.  We believe that, from this day forward, we will only have 12 days left on the trail!

~Buckeye