September 13th, 2022 and a bit afterwards: by Jon

When we got up the next morning, Wilco and I walked the two miles to the bakery to get our sticky buns, coffee, and other goodies. When we arrived, they were totally stocked up, and we grabbed a ton of stuff for everyone, loaded it into Wilco’s backpack, and then each double-fisted a coffee for the walk back. We sat at a table on the deck by the water, enjoying our feast before finally getting on the Lady of the Lake ferry around 12:30. It was a 2.5-hour sailing back down the lake to get to Chelan, and it was amazingly beautiful to watch the lake go by.

When we arrived in town, we walked the mile to our hotel, dropped off our stuff, and then headed to a local Mexican place to enjoy one last meal with Missile before he headed back to Boston. His train to Seattle leaves from Wenanchee early tomorrow morning, so he’s taking the bus there this evening and staying the night. He has yet another wedding to go to. We laughed a lot during that meal, despite a few small mishaps, but the food was delicious, and we left feeling very full, both in our bellies and in our hearts.

Missile left, and then Wilco, Biscuit, Singsong, and I all spent the next 4 days doing a whole lot of nothing. We had a few amazing dinners, including a huge charcuterie board, a salmon dinner, Korean bulgogi, and lots of other great lunches and breakfasts with tons of fresh food. We sat at the lake, went hot tubbing and wine tasting, and took a trip up to Mazama to check out the store there and grab some packages. We watched TV, ate lots of ice cream, and rested our sore and tired bodies. Eventually, the time came to say goodbye to Wilco and Biscuit as they headed home to try to figure out life again. We managed to see Stealth and spend a day with her before she left to finish her hike. We also drove Rune up to the Canadian border so he could begin his bike ride back down south.

We spent a week doing more relaxing, applying to some jobs, and lining up a few apartment viewings before heading back to Seattle. Being back in the city felt very overwhelming. It was wonderful to see so many friends we had missed during our trip, but the closeness of everything in the city felt suffocating in a way I have never felt before. It was kind of like easing into a very hot bath. After a week there, we had managed to find an apartment and interview for some jobs before we stayed in a cabin on Orcas Island for a few days before moving into our place. I decided to finally finish these last posts from the beach in front of our cabin.

It’s taken me a long time to finish this blog. Singsong and I have both been so busy with life stuff that it’s been hard to find time to unpack this whole experience. Now, nearly a month later, it feels like we have reached a few conclusions and takeaways. First, we both realized we actually really like our lives. We feel lucky to have a wonderful community of friends and family, meaningful careers, and the time and resources to live comfortably. We are both excited to set new roots, make new routines, and enjoy the new perspective that living without many of those things for so long has given us. Second, we met some amazing people during our hike. Friendships forged in the crucible of uncertainty, hardship, laughter, and celebration. Our trail friends are friends for life. We’ve gone through something so monumental, so life-changing, and the only people who will ever know what that’s like are the ones who hiked it with us. It’s such a joy to share such a meaningful experience from our lives with them. Finally, it’s given us confidence. We overcame so much during this trip, adapted to meet unforeseen challenges, and pushed ourselves physically, mentally, and emotionally to reach new heights. When we look back at how far we went and all the things that went differently than we thought they would, we can say we still managed to do it. I’m immensely proud of what we managed to do.

I’ve always heard about post-trail depression, and after a few weeks, I think we both feel it to a certain extent. There is a yearning to get back on trail, or perhaps pieces of it. And we want different pieces at different times. Maybe it’s to share a meal at the end of a long, difficult day with our friends. Maybe it’s the exhilaration you feel when you get to the top of the climb, the perfect song comes on, and you both literally and figuratively feel like you are on top of the world. Maybe it’s the feeling of having such a simple and clear goal each day. Life is easier when the only thing you have to do is walk all day.

Life is complicated, and now that this adventure is at an end, we’ve had to deal with all of life’s challenges, intricacies, plans, and choices. But this experience has proved that we can rise to meet those challenges. And perhaps taught us not to take life too seriously along the way.

To the greatest hiking crew ever, y’all are amazing. This trip absolutely would not have been the same without you, Singsong, and I both love and miss you all dearly. Your friendship, kindness, and generosity made this whole experience even better than I could have ever imagined.

Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to read my blog. We’ve been blown away by the level of engagement, the kind comments, and words of encouragement. We had help from many different friends and family members, friends of friends, and even family members of friends. We could not have done this without the help and support of so many. So from Singsong and me, truly, thank you.

Lastly, to my partner in crime, my ride-or-die, my one and only, Singsong. You are my whole world. I never could have achieved this dream without you. To get to do this hike together has been a gift I would never give up for anything. I love you, and I can’t wait to keep doing life with you.

September 12th, 2022 by Jon

The last hiking day. Sorry, it’s been such a long time. Frankly, I needed some time to recover, and it became hard to finish this project. This has been the adventure of a lifetime, and between wanting to do it justice and feeling exhausted, it’s taken me far too long to finish this blog.

When we woke in the morning, we listened to the rain fall, and all we could do was laugh. It was the last day, for crying out loud! We laughed, and the rain only pounded harder on our tent, as if to punish us for it. We packed as much as we could from inside the tent before eating breakfast and stepping out into the cold. The ground was damp, and we could tell one corner of the tent had a puddle underneath it. Thankfully, the new tent has some excellent sealed seams, and we were dry on the inside. It was sprinkling lightly when we got out of our tent, and we packed up the sopping mess before it almost entirely stopped by the time we were ready to begin hiking.

The trail was pretty flat for the 12-ish miles we had left. We walked along the river through old-growth forest, wincing as our bodies rubbed against very wet plants that soaked our clothes, legs, and shoes. The first 6 miles went by quickly. The trail was ever so slightly downhill from where we started to where we took our break, with some small ups and downs along the way. Most of those were to drop down a small bank, cross a stream or creek, and then climb out the other side. There was a mixture of smoke and fog in the air that gave the morning a ghostly quality.

I found a nice log underneath an evergreen tree that was a bit drier than the ones I had passed and sat to take a break. Missile and Wilco caught up to me within a minute or two, and we laughed as we ate the last of our bars. Singsong showed up a bit later, having just taken a break a little ways back overlooking the river from above on a cliff and admiring the waterfall we had just passed. Spirits were high as we threw our packs on again, and we steeled ourselves for the last 6 miles on the PCT. We cruised through more beautiful forest before eventually coming to a sign indicating that we were entering the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. We climbed down a series of switchbacks before reaching a bridge that carried us across the Stehekin River. As we did, we formally entered North Cascades National Park.

After the bridge, we hiked up a small dirt path and came to a road. We walked along this road around a small bend and then crossed yet another bridge, where we came to the ranger station that also served as the bus stop. We cheered and were cheered by our friends as we came to the benches, and we took off our packs. We spent an hour talking excitedly about town, all the things we would do, and the food we would eat. Somehow, all five of us managed to bring a little less food than we probably needed, and while we weren’t totally starving, it was more rationing than was comfortable. An hour later, a large school bus came and picked up 25 other hikers and us.

We stopped at Stehekin Valley Ranch, where we arrived just in time to order lunch. We had to be back on the bus in 25 minutes, so we had the fastest lunch of all time before piling back on and admiring the rugged trees and community that stood on the banks of the Stehekin River, which flowed towards Lake Chelan. The road just follows the river for about 10 miles, passing a few small outlying houses before finally reaching the renowned Stehekin Pastry Company. I heard people talking about this place back in Oregon, and we were extremely excited to buy all the things. Unfortunately, they were out of sticky buns, but we did manage to get a cinnamon roll, two pieces of pizza, and a chicken bake.

We got back on the bus and drove the 2 miles we had left down to Stehekin Landing where we would catch the ferry to Chelan the next morning. We headed up to the campground to claim a tent spot instead of going to the store like everyone else. Wilco had warned us that the campground was on a huge hill and there were a limited number of flat spots. We hiked up the hill behind the store, and we all found great spots near each other with a picnic table. After setting up camp and laughing at how wet everything was, we went back to the store, bringing pastries with us, bought celebratory beer/cider, and cheered to the end of our adventure. There was a contented happiness among our crew of 5.

We ate the rest of our pastries for dinner, enjoyed Wi-Fi from the store, made town plans, and sat around talking of trail stories for the rest of the evening. We went to bed for the last time in our canvas palace, looking forward to a bed.

September 11th, 2022 by Jon

We woke up to find it so dark beneath the heavy pine canopy overhead. We got up and packed fairly quickly, giving ourselves enough time to have a leisurely breakfast. It was warmer this morning, partly due to the natural temperature fluctuation, but also because we camped lower for the first time in a long time. We hiked through fairly flat dark forest for many miles. In recent years, a bridge has been built over the Suiattle River, and the PCT has been rerouted to cross it. It added about 6 miles, but the river crossing is not very safe, so it’s totally worth the extra miles.

The hiking itself was actually quite nice. The old-growth forest has such a quiet, peaceful feel. At one point, it started sprinkling for about 45 minutes, but it was very light, making it easy to hike through. We crossed the bridge, thankful it was there, as we watched swift glacial water flow beneath. The downed trees in this valley were insanely huge. The largest we have seen on the trail. At times, we would walk an extra 100 feet around a tree because it was completely impossible to climb over. Sometimes this meant hiking straight up the side of the mountain. It was so tiring.

We had to stop at a small stream a few miles after the bridge to fill up for our last big climb on the PCT. We had about 3500 feet of elevation gain over 10 miles. Nothing too steep, but a very long, continuous climb nonetheless. After getting water, we began. The trail switchbacked up and up through pine forest. In many places, the brush next to the trail was substantial and required a bit of lush to get through. We fought our way through and felt more blowdowns on the way up. We crossed many small streams and reached a small flat spot where all 5 of us had lunch together. It’s been so humid this morning with all the rain that we all were sweating profusely. We’ve all eaten most of our food and snacks at this point, and all I have left besides meals are bars. I don’t know how long it will take before I can eat the dang things again. We finished eating and tackled the second half of the climb.

This half was much more exposed, and we climbed along beautiful ledges surrounded by towering rocky crags. It was absolutely incredible. The trail continued winding up the mountain before crossing over a ridge and entering another alpine bowl high up on the mountain. Green grass and rocks were everywhere. We had an amazing view of the valley below and the many streams that combined along the way to form the river at the bottom. I found Biscuit, Wilco, and Missile all waiting at the top, and we decided on a campsite about 4 miles away. There were some comments about nearby dead trees, but many also said it was a great site. We decided to check it out for ourselves and move on if it looked unsafe.

Hiking down into the bowl was so amazing. The rocky trail crossed many streams as we made our way down, then rounded the bowl, climbed a ridge, and reached the other side of the mountain. We switchbacked down this side for a long time. About halfway down, we passed by some burned trees before getting to the bottom and walking across a log to reach the other side and keep hiking. Shortly after that, we can go to the campsite we had been heading for. While there were one or two dead trees nearby, nothing looked remotely unsafe, so we made camp there. This is our last campsite on the PCT.

It was strange putting up the tent, and I have so many feelings about this entire experience. The gratitude I have that Singsong and I were able to take the time off to do this, the people we’ve met and made friends with, the endurance, both mentally and physically, we’ve built to sustain us through this crazy adventure, the time to ponder some deep questions during long days, the views we’ve seen way out in the wilderness away from any easy access, the sense of adventure, tactical planning, and adaptability when the inevitable road bumps come out way. These are only a small portion of what this trip has meant, and I can’t believe it’s coming to a close.

Tomorrow, we have 12.5 miles to reach a road where we can catch a bus to Stehekin. From there, we plan to ride into town, gorge on delicious pastries, and spend a night in their campground before taking the ferry the following day.

September 10th, 2022 by Jon

We woke on our little ridge, and by 7:15, we had packed and eaten breakfast. The mountains to the west glowed with a gorgeous pink hue. We hiked along a steep ledge with continued amazing views, but the trail became quite washed out and difficult to follow. I’m talking tons of loose dirt, plants that were so overgrown you had to step through them, and blowdowns that took out large sections of trail. Eventually, after much effort, we climbed the ridge and then descended for about a mile to Fire Creek. It was a beautiful, picturesque stream that flowed across smooth white rocks.

There was a nice-looking camping area up on a small rise nearby that we admired as we continued up the trail. From here, we had a few miles to climb to get to the top of the ridge before we would enter the next valley over. The next few miles were very beautiful. We climbed up for a long time through open, exposed grassy areas with lots of wildflowers and perfect little clumps of trees. When we reached the top, we looked back and saw many snow-capped mountains and a large plume of smoke in the distance. The smoke was definitely better this morning, and we were thankful for it.

We switchbacked down the other side of the ridge, entering the upper part of the valley, where snow still lay in steep crevasses on the shady part of the mountainside. A stream ran down through the middle of the valley, and we climbed along the side wall of the valley. We continued down for a long time before leaving the upper valley behind and entering the forest, before switchbacking down for an endless amount of time. The bushes near the end became so thick and overgrown that it was like getting whacked with a small branch with every step. There were times when I was almost walking with my eyes closed to keep from getting smacked in the eyes. The plants were taller than Singsong or me.

Eventually, we came to a nice, long bridge over a madly rushing glacial stream, muddy brown in color from all the silt. We passed this water source and continued a quarter mile before filling up on water for the climb. It was 4.5 miles with about 2,500 feet of elevation gain. The climb was steep, but switchback by switchback, we slowly made our way up. About a third of the way up, we found a small sitting bench on the side of a switchback in the form of a fallen log, so we decided to take a break to eat lunch there. Our break was fairly short, though, because we hadn’t seen our friends all day, who had left a bit before us, and we wanted to finish this climb.

After lunch is when I throw my headphones in, and usually Singsong and I hike apart, preferring to spend the morning together instead. I cruised my way up the mountain, and without any blowdowns for the most part, the miles came pretty easily. The whole climb was through the trees, but when I got to the top, the views opened up as we made our way around the rim of a large bowl. The views from here were incredible. We could see a huge glacier above us with many snowmelt streams cascading down a large rock field. We stopped at one and filled water there. As we did, we saw a large brown animal down below that we are pretty sure was a brown bear. We continued around the bowl, rounded the mountain, and crossed over the ridge to begin a climb down into a canyon with another river at the bottom.

The climb down was brutal. There were many blow-down trees with very long trails cut through to get around them. Many of the trees that had fallen were so big that I don’t think Singsong and I together could have gotten our arms around them. The miles came somewhat slowly, but soon we made it down the steepest part and then had a more gentle descent along the river we could now hear off to the side of the trail. I caught up to Missile, and we hiked together for a while before we passed a tent site where I said I would wait for Singsong. He told me that Biscuit and Wilco were headed for a tent site 2.5 miles away, so he would keep walking and meet us there.

Singsong caught up about 3 minutes later, and we hiked the last bit of trail together. We passed a few streams and more blowdown trees before finally arriving at the tent site with our friends. We set up camp, had dinner, laughed, had more stories from the trail, and then headed to bed. Tomorrow is our last full day on trail, and it’s kind of mind-boggling. But we plan to embrace the end of this journey, and we’re excited to finish.

September 9th, 2022 by Jon

When we got up, it actually wasn’t too cold. We were up on a hill overlooking the lake, and all the cold air must have sat down in there. We did smell a good amount of smoke, though. Those fires we saw yesterday had continued burning through the night, and I guess the wind shifted and filled the valley we were in with smoke. We got up, and the sun was a hazy yellow space in the sky, its light distorted from the smoke. We packed up and hit the trail just before 7:30.

We walked along the side of the mountains for a while before climbing a small ridge and crossing into Glacier Peak Wilderness. Then we continued downhill through a small saddle and stopped for a break near a stream. We were planning to fill up here, but the stream was barely flowing. We all seemed to have had enough, so we continued another 2ish miles and came to a different stream halfway up the uphill after we crossed the saddle and started hiking up a different mountain. We were in the shade here, and without the sunlight to warm us, it was incredibly cold. Even in direct sunlight, lately it feels like the only hot part of the day is 10-3. Otherwise, it’s actually been somewhat cool.

We took a break at that cold stream, eating our bars and blowing on our hands to keep our fingers from freezing. We continued climbing for a few miles, ridge-walking for a bit, climbing more, then ridge-walking again, before one last climb to the top. We took a break there on a Lion King-esque rocky area that would have had amazing views, but unfortunately, we were pretty shocked by the smoke. We picked a campsite with a stream 3.5 miles away and decided to meet there for lunch.

The trail would wind its way down the mountain we were on before crossing over a pass and entering a gorgeous valley. It was basically all rocks and a few patches of snow; the trees were only high up on the side walls. Glacier Peak loomed in the distance, and we got to look at it through the haze the entire time we descended. We blasted down through the valley, quickly descending as we passed a few streams and pretty camping spots with amazing views. We dropped down some more and all of a sudden entered the forest again. We could hear a stream in a small gully to our left, and continued hiking before coming to the point where the trail crossed it. We ate lunch under some trees right next to the stream and enjoyed a leisurely stay there.

After lunch, we continued climbing down through the valley and making our way towards Kennedy Creek, a somewhat notorious glacial stream crossing. The trail was in the woods for a long time, with numerous blowdown trees. These weren’t regular trees, but instead massive old-growth trees. The going was slow as we made our way to the bottom. The last mile to the creek had so many blowdowns, a horribly overgrown trail from brush, and many streams that came from under the plants, making for a very muddy trail. Eventually, we made it to the creek, and after a bit of searching up and down, we found the least bad spot to cross the raging, brown, silty water. There was a log, about 10 feet long, that crossed the water, and about 2 feet of it had water going over the log. We stepped carefully across, getting our feet kinda wet in the spot where the water level was over the log, but made it across safely.

We took a break there for a moment before climbing a steep ridge out of the creek area. After 2.5 miles, we made it to another stream, but the tent sites here weren’t great, so we decided to push another mile and some change to the next one. We were halfway around a bowl, tall rocky peaks surrounding us in a semi-circle, when we came to another stream and found a great flat spot to pitch our tents on top of a rock. We had spectacular views of the smoke-filled valley below and the relatively clear skies above. For the first time today, we actually had blue skies.

We collected very cold water from the nearby stream, had a long dinner hour, and watched the sunset afterward. Smoke is pretty awful, but I will say it makes for some amazing sunrises and sunsets. After the sun went down, it got cold, so we hit the hay and fell asleep with the creek as white noise in the background.

September 8th, 2022 by Jon

The morning cold came like a freight train, and it was very difficult to get up. There was frost on the ground when we finally got up, and the only thing we wanted to do was get walking to warm up. Labor Day has come and gone, and so it seems has Washington summer. We had a long descent down into a valley and passed Lake Janus, which sat pristinely at the bottom. We took off our sweaters there and began the climb towards Grizzly Peak. We stopped for a while at a small stream on a steep, loose-dirt side trail. We ate a snack there before continuing on through the shaded forest.

When we got to the top of the first ridge, we would hike for a while and have great views of the surrounding valleys. Unfortunately, we could also see a large plume of smoke directly east and lots of small shoulder fires on the side of a ridge two ridges away from us. Now all the planes we heard about all morning made a lot more sense. They were checking on this fire. Hopefully, it goes out soon. It seems like it should as long as the wind doesn’t pick up. We continued hiking along a ridge for a while before making the final push to the peak. It’s rare that the PCT actually takes you over the peak of any mountain; it usually prefers to go along the side, and there would be a side trail or something to go to the top.

But the views were incredible from here. We could see the top of Mt. Rainier, other snowy peaks to the south and north, and Glacier Peak towering above everything in front of us. We sat on the ridge for a while, enjoying the view and eating another snack. Small meadows covered the peak, and they really added to the Sound of Music ambiance. Soon we began our descent, climbing way far down into a very narrow valley, passing a small trail junction where trails led out of the mountains and became a straight-up climb into another set of mountains. We crossed the side of a ridge, slowly making our way up and over a rock wall that held back the lake in the basin we climbed down into after that. We walked down to the water’s edge and found where Biscuit had already found a tent site that made for the perfect lunch spot.

We sat in the sunlight for a while, soaking up its warmth before pushing out. 5-day stretches are hard because it’s tricky to try to make your snacks last that long. Thankfully, we have plenty of food, which also means our packs are heavy. But it’s the last stretch, so we keep telling ourselves it’s only a few more days. We climbed out of the lake area, then got up and over another ridge and descended the other side. When we were at the top before going down, we could see that the smoke had stopped blowing east, away from the trail, and instead was causing a haze to fill the sky. Already, Glacier Peak was pretty obstructed from view.

We got down the other side and stopped at a small, flowing creek where we grabbed more water. I think all of us have different small injuries that bother us, and there was a quiet reluctance as we got up again afterward to hike. We walked along the side of the mountain before climbing over a small saddle and entering yet another new valley. The sides of the valley were covered in green grass and dark red bushes. It made for pretty dramatic scenery. We climbed down, and the forest became quite lush as we finally reached the bottom after 4 miles and crossed our largest stream of the day, which rolled over many white stones. We grabbed a bit more water, then had one last 4-mile section where we climbed up another ridge, walked around the edges of a few peaks on that ridge, and found a small lake sitting in a bowl high up in the mountains.

We walked past the lake and ignored many of the small open sites. We wanted to be higher up so that there would be less cold air settling in the basin overnight, making for an uncomfortably cold night. We hiked up from the basin about 200 feet and found a series of small, flat platforms on the side of the hill. We made camp there, each choosing our own little platform, making an almost vertical stack of tents on the side of the hill. Once set up, we had dinner together and talked about the trail more and some of the personal reflections we’ve had about the experience. Finally, around 7:30, it got too cold to stay out any longer, so we hopped into our tents and sleeping bags.

September 7th, 2022 by Jon

We woke up in our hotel beds and boy… I did not want to get out of it. Eventually, we got up around 7:30, and after getting ready, we wandered down to the coffee shop at the end of the street. We had two delicious coffees and some yogurt before spending a bunch of time looking at lodging options in Chelan, coming up with a plan, and figuring out the logistics for the end of this thing. Around 9:30, we headed back to organize our food and pack our backpacks so we were ready for the next section. At 11:00, we checked out and headed over to the laundromat, which actually ended up being the perfect hangout spot for the rest of the day. We did laundry, sat in super comfy chairs, and could do last-minute charging of devices. It was also only a block away from the deli, so we could get more sandwiches during the day.

As we did laundry, we found lodging in Chelan, reserved ferry tickets, our friends started buying their tickets for home, and it started to feel all too real that this crazy adventure was actually coming to a close. Only 107 miles stand between us and the end of this thing. We spent the rest of the afternoon doing internet chores and catching up on the news of the world, and then at 4:00, we met our ride out in front of the gear shop and caught a ride back up to the pass. We got out, thanked the driver, who actually owns that gear shop, gave him some gas money, and then spent some time hanging around at the ski lodge. We picked up a package that Wilco’s friend had sent him and enjoyed some of the contents before finally hitting the trail.

But first we had to walk over the highway on the pedestrian bridge, cross a huge overflow lot for the ski area, and then finally get on trail. We had a 5.5-mile climb up out of the pass. We went through thick pine forest, passed a few babbling streams, and enjoyed being with Biscuit and Wilco again. The trail was fairly easy, and the climb actually didn’t feel too bad. We finally reached the top and then climbed down into a small lake basin, with Valhalla Lake at the bottom. We found a large tent site where all of us could fit by the stream, which ran through a meadow and fed the lake. We sat around for a long dinner hour, talking about favorite parts of the trail, lowest moments, and lots of random memories. I feel like now that the end is coming, all I want to do is savor every moment.

September 6th, 2022 by Jon

When we woke, Griff noticed us stirring and snuggled his way up between us, and we cuddled with him for 20 minutes before finally getting up. Thankfully, the lake didn’t actually cause too much condensation to form on our tent this time, so putting it away took little effort. After breakfast, we crossed back over the stream and made our way up and around the west side of Surprise Mountain. The trail was fairly steady as it gained elevation and ran along the side of the mountain before becoming steeper and turning into switchbacks. The view from the top was spectacular. We looked down into a lake basin on the other side, and as we descended, we could see a field of bright white rock forming part of the hillside.

We climbed over a small bump on the hillside, and as we turned past some trees, we could see Glacier Peak in the distance, dominating the skyline, and the valley we were in pointed at it, framing it perfectly. We continued down the side, and when we got to the end of the valley on the floor, we came across a small stream, where we took our first break of the day. Afterward, we continued walking along the valley floor, going farther downhill into the basin and passing a few large lakes. Soon, we reached the bottom and started going up again. This hill and the one we’ll go up in a little bit can both be considered butt-busters. They were incredibly steep, and the switchbacks were small and very intense. At one point about three quarters of the way up Missile was a switchback ahead of Griff and I and I think Griff heard Missile. He looked up, saw Missile, and instead of following the trail, charged straight uphill. When I caught up to him and Missile, who stopped to wait for me, he looked very smug.

When we got to the top, we had another seriously amazing view of the valley and Trap Lake down below. We sat at the top, taking another break and starting to see a few day hikers pass by going the other direction, having come in from some trailhead just off of highway 2. We began our descent down the hill, passing by the lake. The switchbacks were fairly gentle, and it felt pretty easy going down. We passed through lots of pretty pond areas and small tent spots, all with excellent views, as we made our way down. Soon we got to the bottom, passed yet another gorgeous alpine lake, and then climbed for a mile to get on top of a little plateau area and stopped to have lunch at Mig Lake.

As soon as we got there, Griff charged into the lake before I could get his harness off. When he came out, I took it off to dry in the sun and then watched as my dog rolled around in the dirt trying to either dry off or rub himself in some smell. We all ate there and watched as Griff moved many times between the shade and the sun, getting too warm or too cold. Over an hour later, we finally got moving again. We walked the rest of the flat area next to the lake before a quick descent, and then the steepest climb of the day brought us back up and over a ridge. I was seriously tired at the top, but then you know what we did? Immediately back down the other side of the ridge into a valley where high voltage power lines ran. We walked by some lakes, Griff swam some more, we grabbed water at one last creek, and then it was up the back of Stevens Ski Area. We passed under the ski lift before finally reaching the top. We called Biscuit to see where she and Wilco were, and they were staying at the Cascadia Inn in Skycomish. That worked out great because Missile had a package there, and my dad could easily give us a ride. I called the hotel to book us rooms, but left a message after no one picked up.

We started down the front of the ski area, the highway looking very tiny at the bottom. This would be our 4th large hill we had climbed and then come down today. As we went down, I got a call back from the hotel and was able to book our rooms. We took 2 of the last 3 they had, so I’m glad I called. That taken care of, we pushed the last few miles to the ski lodge parking lot and met my dad, who had ciders and Gatorade for us. He also had fruit, cookies, and lemon zucchini bread! What a treat. We hopped in the car and drove down to Skycomish, stopping at the deli for some town food. The sandwiches were excellent, and I got a massive milkshake with mine. It was nice to talk and catch up with my dad, and Wilco came over from the hotel and hung out with us, too.

We drove over to the hotel, got all our food from the car, and exchanged it for all of Griff’s stuff we’d been carrying. We said goodbye to him and my dad and got into our rooms. We said hi to Biscuit, then showered and relaxed a bit before Wilco, and I went next door to the pub to grab food. Missile was already passing out, and Biscuit and Singsong wanted us to get them takeout. We did exactly that and had a great time, then came back and sat around talking for a while before finally going to bed. We’re leaving at 4:00 tomorrow, which means we have all day to do some more eating, relaxing, and laundry.

With the fire closures at the end of the trail, we have decided that this next section will be our last. We plan to make it to Stehekin, then celebrate by taking the Lady of the Lake ferry to Chelan and spending a few days there as a hiking crew before everyone heads home. It’s not what we wanted, but it feels like the choice that gives us the most closure.

September 5th, 2022 by Jon

We woke up on our little ridge above the river, and after getting Griff out so he could pee, we took turns watching him while we packed up our stuff. Soon we were out and eating breakfast, watching other hikers get ready at the nearby tent sites. It seems like everyone is getting up slightly later these days. We hit the trail just after 7:00, and we walked down off our rock and along a flat forest trail among the trees. We walked along a gentle slope. Down the slope was the edge of Waptus Lake, which we couldn’t see through the trees. Uphill was the side of the mountain we were skirting around. We walked over a number of streams that crossed the trail before turning more steeply up and to the left, so we could enter a large valley with a stream running through the bottom.

We hiked more steeply here, gaining elevation to get on the western wall of the valley and continue climbing both along and up it. The switchbacks were numerous, and there was a good number of just straight-up steep sections as well. We saw 3 different dogs at different times during the morning, all of them with people who were headed south. One of the dogs looked so much like Griff; the other owners, Singsong, and I all oogled at them in disbelief and just laughed at how crazy it was. I’m sad that I forgot to ask for a picture. We continued hiking and eventually reached the top of the mountain, where we took a short break. We had great views of the surrounding peaks and sat admiring them and eating lunch for a while before descending. Lying in the sun also helped all of us take a quick 5 or 10-minute catnap that was extremely enjoyable.

The trail warned people traveling with stock animals to use an alternate trail since this one would cross a body of water marked on our maps as “cascading steam”. We haven’t seen that title before, so we’re a bit suspicious of what we would find. We switchbacked down the mountain through thick pine trees and dense green brush that covered the side of the trail before dropping down to the opening where a thin slot canyon opened up into the valley. From it, a raging creek tumbled down the rocks. So here was our cascading stream. The actual trail led us to a part of the stream that was completely impassable, so we looked upstream and found a spot where it was a little less raging, with some great logs and stones to get over. I held onto Griff’s leash, but he followed my exact footsteps, and we made it over just fine.

After a small break there, we hiked up the other side of the canyon and trudged up a forest-covered hillside, making our way towards a small low spot on the ridge above us. There was more water and mud on the trail in this section than there has been in a long time. When we got to the low spot, we walked through relatively flat forest for a while, passing streams, tent sites, and small sun-filled clearings along the way. Eventually, we reached one last large stream and then began an uphill ascent towards the top of a pass. The climb was tough, especially since it was at the end of the day.

We came to a small rise, and once over it, we walked along the side of Lower Deception Lake. We reached the connecting stream where Upper Deception Lake flowed into the lower lake. We crossed it and found ourselves a great little flat sandy patch of ground where we made camp. We were joined by Peter and Pippin, a human and a dog we have been seeing all day, and Griff seemed to like them both. We admired the lake, had dinner, and found a nice pit toilet in the woods up the hill a little ways away before getting in our tent by 7:20. Tomorrow we have just under 18 miles to get to Steven’s Pass where we will meet my mom who will take us down into Skycomish so we can meet Biscuit who is there waiting for us, get Missile’s package, sleep in a hotel, do all the town chores, and make a plan for how we want to end this thing. Griff continues to absolutely crush these miles and then crash hard each night.

September 4th, 2022 by Jon

When we woke up, it was sooo cold. The wind died down for the most part, thankfully, so we didn’t have as much dust in our tents as we thought we would. It also got much colder than we expected, though. We got dressed and started our usual routine of packing up while Griff sat nearby stoutly, watching us as we got everything done. Soon, we were ready to go, and right when we started, Griff was right on my heels.

We climbed out of the basin and began up a small ridge so we could drop into the next valley. The trees here were small pines, and the ground was mostly covered in brush. There were small huckleberry plants everywhere. We climbed as the morning light was still stuck behind the mountains to the east, everything lit from the glow of the sky. Soon we reached the top and had amazing views of Spectacle Lake and the surrounding valley. We began a long descent down the ridge on the other side and probably took about 30 switchbacks to get all the way down.

About halfway there, we passed a hiker who told us that new fires near the Canadian border have closed the last bit of trail, including the northern terminus. This is just about the worst news we could get at this point, and frankly, it takes away a lot of motivation that we have to finish. Without being able to get to the monument, there really isn’t a meaningful closure to this adventure, so we feel extremely disappointed. We plan to take some time in Skycomish to resupply, grieve, and come up with a new plan for how we want to finish this adventure.

We took a break at a waterfall before finishing the rest of the descent through a burn zone. When we reached the bottom, we found that the bridge going over a large creek was totally gone. We walked a bit downstream and, thankfully, found a fallen tree that spanned the entire stream, so we used that instead. We took a break on the other side of the trail before continuing. We passed by a nice meadow that was next to the stream before beginning the switchbacks that would take us about 6 miles uphill. We stopped a little ways up for some water, and then again about 2/3 of the way up to eat some lunch on a log that was precariously wedged in place against a few trees.

When we finally reached the top, we would see snow-filled basins at the very tops of the cliffs that surrounded the valley we had just climbed out of, and snow cascaded down the mountainsides. It was absolutely gorgeous. We walked along a flat section at the top of the mountain briefly before getting off the trail to go sit by a small alpine lake about 100 yards away. We sat there for a solid 45 minutes, half-dosing in the grass, half-chatting with some other hikers. When we finally roused ourselves to move again, we had another 7 miles to go down the ridge we were on, so we could camp.

The trail switchbacked down the other side of the mountain, and we had more great views. The trail also overlooked Waptus Lake, which was really cool to see from such a high elevation. We took a break on a rock to admire the view before pushing the last 3 miles to camp. They went quickly, and after crossing a bridge over the river, we found a nice couple of tent sites to make camp near a cliff overlooking the water. We ate dinner and headed to bed, feeling tired and proud of our dog Griff, who did really well. Today was a beautiful day, made even better by the fact that Singsong and I celebrated our 7-year wedding anniversary! I love her more today than the day we got married, and can’t wait for the next 7 years! She is the light of my life.