Day 144-148:Spoiler Alert...We did it!

September 26-29
Day 144-147
Mile 2585-2660.1
Bridge creek campground to Monument 78 & Manning park

Day 144-The Rocky Road to Canada

Today we woke up at the Bridge Creek Campground in North Cascades National Park. We camped with Nugio and Pounce and several other hikers who left Stehekin with us. The walk out was all uphill but was a very low grade and very beautiful.




Unfortunately we left the National park fairly early in the day. PCT hikers only get to visit a sliver of this National park. Around midday we reached Rainy Pass and took a lunch there with two people we hadn't seen since Mt. Whitney.








After lunch we hiked up to Cutthroat pass. This is one of the bigger ascents we have left on the trail. At Cutthroat pass we enjoyed the views for a bit and took in everything we were seeing.








From what we hear it is views like this all the way to the end of the trail. We hiked on another few miles to another pass to end the day. As I was starting to cook dinner it started to sprinkle rain on us. You just never know in Washington. It was a really great day and we had some of the most amazing views we have had in Washington. We also had an amazing sunset, one of the best on trail.




That is one great thing about this state, there are amazing sunsets.

Day 145- Nom Nom

We slept in a bit today because it was kind of chilly out. It has been some really amazing hiking. Jagged peaks and exposed views everywhere.




It was a pretty normal day, we descended into a canyon and then ascended up to a beautiful saddle where we took lunch. The views in Washington are so amazing. Lunch at the saddle was one of the best lunch spots in Washington.We laid out and dried our damp clothes from the climb.



After lunch we walked along some exposed ridges and descended down to Harts Pass, the last little evidence of civilization until the end of the trail.







At the pass there were some people doing trail magic and we sat down and embraced the goodness. We ate some yummy tacos, soda, cookies, and a few other snacks. We reluctantly left the awesome trail magic done by Chuck and hiked on a few more miles. The distance from where we camped to the Northern terminus monument is 26 miles.




We are going to bed very excited but sad.

Day 146- The End and The Beginning

It was somewhat sad waking up...knowing that today is the last full day of hiking. We ate the last of our cinnamon rolls from the Stehekin bakery and set off on our final 25 miles. We entered the Pasayten wilderness within the first few minutes of the day.















We didn't take many breaks, as we wanted to get to the monument before the sun went down. This wilderness was absolutely amazing.



We passed the highest point on the Washington section of the PCT, a little bit after Woody pass. This point was somewhat anticlimactic. About a mile before the pass we started to get a light rain. It wasn't much but it felt kind of good. Today we passed many hikers who were hiking back to Harts pass from the monument. Some hikers choose to do this for a variety of reasons (no passport, denied entrance to Canada, etc.) They were all really happy and congratulated us and we started to get excited because we were getting so close and it started to feel real.The hike down to the monument flew by. Before we knew it we could see the cut trees that marked the border and we were at the monument. We sat there for an hour taking pictures and looking at the register.













It felt really weird to walk to our last camp spot on this trip. We set up the tent and ate our celebratory dinners. There were lots of mice running around so we knew we were in for a sleepless night. We went to sleep knowing our trip was almost at an end, a very sad but exciting feeling.

Day 147-Canada Eh

Last night, as expected, the mice were running around keeping us up. Also, the moon was shinning on our tent with clouds occasionally moving in front of the moon.This made the view of the moon interesting and slightly creepy. We woke up and hiked the quick nine miles into Manning Park British Columbia.




Once there we met several new hikers and went and ate at an all you can eat breakfast buffet.




We sat around for a few hours waiting for our friend Max and his girlfriend Denise to pick us up.They got there and we made our way back to Seattle. We stopped in Hope for some lunch and got to the border. We had a little trouble getting back in to the US. We had to get out of the car and have everything searched and we got asked many questions. It was a pain but we were happy when we got back into the US and into Seattle. A lot of people get car sick after not taking drives very often, but we were fine. It was a really fun day and night. It was very weird to be back in a big city and it hasn't really set in that we are done with the trail. It is hard to comprehend what we have accomplished and it will take awhile to sink in.

The Last Days

We spent 2 full days in Seattle relaxing and taking it easy.We visited our other friend who lives their, Zach, and went and saw the University of Washington campus with him. Also while we were there we visited the boat locks, ate at yummy restaurants, and hung out with Max and Denise. On October 2nd we flew out of SEATAC airport into Salt Lake City where our families were waiting. It was a happy reunion and it felt really good to be home, although a bit warmer than Seattle. The few days in Seattle still felt like we were on vacation. It is a very strange feeling to be home. It is happy, but at the same time we both miss the trail and our lifestyle on the trail badly. This was an amazing trip and we had the time of our lives. Thank you to everyone who has followed us along the way. All of your love, support, and well wishes have helped us through these past five months. Jenna and I hope you have enjoyed our blog as much as we enjoyed writing it for everyone. We are going to post more things on the blog so this is not the last post. We'll post a statistics page in the coming weeks in addition to Jenna and I each writing our final thoughts. We will also have advice to future hikers, things we would have changed, and some gear reviews, among other things.

One final thought...

 Roads go ever ever on,
  
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
  
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown,
   
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
   
And under mountains in the moon.
Roads go ever ever on,
   
Under cloud and under star.
Yet feet that wandering have gone
   
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen,
   
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green,
  
And trees and hills they long have known.
The Road goes ever on and on
   
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
   
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
   
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
The Road goes ever on and on
   
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
   
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with weary feet,
   
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
   
And whither then? I cannot say.
The Road goes ever on and on
   
Out from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone.
   
Let others follow, if they can!
Let them a journey new begin.
   
But I at last with weary feet
Will turn towards the lighted inn,
   
My evening-rest and sleep to meet.
Still 'round the corner there may wait
   
A new road or secret gate;
And though I oft have passed them by,
   
A day will come at last when I
Shall take the hidden paths that run
   
West of the Moon, East of the Sun.

Poem by JRR Tolkien

-Natey