9/4 – Day 138
18.2 miles from Stevens Pass to Pear Lake
The continental breakfast at Fair Bridge Inn was on point. It was snowing ash when we stepped outside into Leavenworth, the result of a huge fire burning to the east. Spout went to the grocery store while I roamed the dreary streets. At 10:00am, we re-met up with Doc and hitched back to trail.
The man who picked us up was already shuttling another hiker to Stevens Pass. Ironically, he was a native Bavarian, who told us you would never see a place like Leavenworth anywhere in Germany. I believe German towns are one of America’s greatest inventions, right up there with Chinese food.
There were five wildfires burning within 50 miles of the trail. Hiking north from Stevens Pass, the air was thick with smoke. This paired poorly with the hills that left us breathing heavy. We could still decipher the outlines of some of the mountains and the landscape in the distance formed a bluish gradient. Spout said she was going to skip this section to Stehekin, then started skipping down the trail.
The three of us made a climb to Grizzly Peak, a rare occasion where the PCT actually crested the summit of a mountain, rather than a pass. The trail was absolutely popping with blueberry and huckleberry bushes.
At the bottom of the peak, we made camp with Doc at Pear Lake. In contrast to the air, the lake was perfectly clear and the setting was beautiful. The haze has a way of tinting light, so it was a blood moon that rose over the lake that night.
9/5 – Day 139
28.1 miles from Pear Lake to Large Creek
Along this section of the PCT to Stehekin, it was apparently possible to “privy blaze”. Every dozen miles or so, there would be a campsite with a privy. Before leaving Pear Lake in the morning, we took turns enjoying a brand new, open-air privy built just a month ago.
The Lower Sugarloaf Mountain fire grew substantially overnight and there was even more smoke today. I could not possibly overstate how awful it is to hike near wildfires: anxiety is heightened, air quality is terrible, views are smothered, and it just feels hotter. Despite this, we decided to continue hiking north, even as other hikers turned around. We have worked too hard to reach this point.
I am reminded once more about our society that is not only apathetic about the symptoms of climate change, but borderline proud of worsening carbon emissions. Drill Baby Drill. How much longer will it take for humanity to realize there is more to life than short term capital gains? In a bid of selfishness, I am glad I was able to experience the PCT before it is burned down entirely. I once asked Loopy if the fires were bad when he thru-hiked in ’98 and he told me that there was maybe one or two small burned areas and no active wildfires near trail. If that was fewer than 30 years ago, I do not think it is far-fetched to assume our grandkids will never have the same opportunity to hike this trail. Welp, back to hiking.
We took lunch at Lake Sally Ann. Lakes tend to be reliable highlights, even in sections where the sweeping views are greyed out by smoke. Snapshot, Doc, Spout, and I skipped rocks until we got bored and hiked out.
It was a mental challenge to make it through the day. As if the smoke from distant fires was not bad enough, there was also the Red Mountain Fire actively burning just two miles off trail. The North Fork Sauk River Trail, one of the few bail out points available, had already been closed due to the fire.
Glacier Peak had unfortunately gone incognito. However, we celebrated tremendous milestones of reaching 4,000 km, then 2,500 miles back to back. We descended from White Mountain for several miles.
The campsite we intended to stop at was already occupied by none other than Spy. He was our buddy we had last seen 2,000 over miles ago before Tehachapi, CA. Our timelines finally reconverged in the middle of nowhere Washington, along with his friend LP. We chatted with them for a short while, then hurried a bit further to the next possible campsite.
9/6 – Day 140
24.6 miles from Large Creek to Vista Creek
Jukebox and Snake Eyes were just laying around the camp when we woke up, apparently arriving in the night. Spout, Doc, and I left before them to get started on the first big climb of the day. We caught up to Spy and LP along the way. Spy reminisced on the time he first met Spout back in the desert. He presumed she was sweet and innocent, until she hit him with a devastating your mom joke after asking what a guzzler was.
The air was still smokey, though not nearly as severe as the previous day. We worked up a fairly steep incline towards Fire Creek Pass. Glacier Peak was finally beginning to make shape.
Stealing the show from the spectacular views was a family of three marmots sleeping on the rocks. The baby was crawling on mom’s back.
We cleared Fire Creek Pass and made our way down the epic descent. One strange factor to excessive haze is that you cannot gauge the weather. A popup shower appeared, seemingly from nowhere. It only lasted ten minutes, but would have been nice if it lasted longer. Just the small sprinkling was enough to greatly reduce the smoke in the air and the visibility was improved for the rest of the day. Spout and I took a quick lunch at Mica Lake, one of the finest alpine lakes of Washington.
From here, we descended to Milk Creek over dozens of switchbacks. Section K, where we were currently, has been overgrown and littered with blowdowns for quite a while. It was not the worst we have encountered, but it certainly slowed us down.
The final challenge was a massive, 2,500′ climb over 4 miles. There were at least 30 switchbacks, possibly more, no one could actually keep track whilst disassociating. The reward for the ordeal was an absolutely baller view of Glacier Peak.
In the distance, we could see what was likely the rugged terrain of North Cascades National Park. This was the backdrop for a few miles until we dropped beneath tree line, then navigated another handful of switchbacks and bad blowdowns leading to Vista Creek.
The camping options were not great. We found some flat space along Vista Creek behind a massive fallen tree. Doc was cowboy camping without a tent. He told us that he had the unique ability to sense whether or not it was going to rain and declared that tonight would be dry.
9/7 – Day 141
31.6 miles from Vista Creek to Pass Creek
It absolutely poured overnight. Doc left before we even woke up. Spout and I packed up our sopping gear and began hiking through the lush rainforest. The environment that truly embodied the Pacific Northwest: old growth trees and fog everywhere.
At the bottom of the hill, we crossed a sturdy bridge over the Suiattle River, then began another long climb towards the pass.
We stopped to filter at a stream halfway up, when 100 Grand, Stag, and AC came steamrolling behind. Energized by the new company, we crushed the remaining 4 miles to Suiattle Pass.
The sky cleared up as we traversed two epic basins. Rather than a million switchbacks up another mountain, the trail made a fairly gradual descent through a canyon, parallel to Agnes Creek. The cruisey terrain convinced us to hike with a little more gusto, so that we could catch the morning shuttle into Stehekin, WA the next morning.
Spout and I ate dinner on trail, then night hiked with Stag and AC to squeeze out another four miles. At one point, an enormous tree fell over ahead of us, shaking the Earth beneath our feet. It could not have been more than a few hundred yards away. For the rest of the hike to Pass Creek, the creaking trees seemed to taunt us until we made camp.
9/8 – Day 142
5.1 miles from Pass Creek to High Bridge (Stehekin, Lakeview Campground)
The morning mission was to reach the road to Stehekin by 9:00am, which we accomplished handily. We hiked with Stag through the woods and crossed into North Cascades National Park. We made it to the road shortly after, along with a familiar group of hikers. We played Pass the Pigs to pass the time until “Big Blue” rolled up. Steve was our driver/tour guide of the remote town of Stehekin, WA.
What made Stehekin unique was that it is only accessible by boat, plane, or foot traffic. The town was sprawled out along the shore of Lake Chelan. There was no cell service and the only decent wifi was a Starlink network from onboard the town ferry. Its remoteness was its charm, as well as its serene beauty in the heart of the Cascades.
The Stehekin Pastry Company was our first stop from the bus. It may very well be the best bakery on trail; amazing setting, efficient service, reasonable prices, and unbelievably delicious pastries (GOATed sticky buns). We spent hours there and I would plan a future vacation to the area just for a good excuse to go back.
The hub of town was near the docks of North Cascade Lodge. While the amenities were not particularly special, we could shower, do laundry, pick up our resupply package, eat food, and drink beer. We hung with 100 Grand, Stag, Snake Eyes, Jukebox, AC, Doc, Snapshot, and a few others.
It was obvious to most that this was the last hurrah of our great adventure. The last town, the last 80 miles, and, to be honest, the last time we would see many of our new friends. While it has felt like the end was near for quite some time now, the monsoon of bittersweet emotions was really starting to swell at this point.
Spout and I went swimming, trying our best to balance on a slippery log. Later that evening, we ate dinner with the group. We joked, we laughed, we said what we were most looking forward to the most after finishing the trail, and confessed what we would miss. We sat on the dock and watched one of the most beautiful sunsets I will ever have the opportunity to see.
Being out there, being alive, and experiencing the beauty and freedom of life in all of its glory, it was so obvious during these moments that the rest was noise.
What’s Next?
The Canadian border is only 80 miles north of Stehekin.
How’s It Going?
Spout started to experience some pretty severe discomfort due to one of her wisdom teeth pushing against a molar. There is nothing she can really do except stick it out until we finish the trail and can go to a dentist.
Wow! Hang in there! Almost finished. Spout, hope you can get o a dentist quickly after you finish! Hugs🙏👍
Seems like the pain has been subsiding the last couple of days. I was worried it could be an infection, but I think it is a wisdom coming in sideways.
Take it easy the last 80 drinking In all of your accomplishments you are super tough 👍❤️😎
Thank you! 80 miles has never felt so short and so long.