Day 152: mile 2626.7-2649.4
My spot was almost perfect. It offered quiet solitude, but no morning sun, so unfortunately the condensation didn’t dry and I had to pack up wet tent. Oh well, I was off to make my way toward the terminus, I had better things to think about.
The day started out pretty easy. There was quite a bit of downhill, so I flew down the mountain. As I was almost effortlessly jogging down, I stopped to move over for the hikers who were clearly struggling coming up (with good reason, it was steep!). It made me feel for the SOBOs who start their hike out with a real butt-kicker. At least in the desert we got a warm up before we hit any real tough climbs.
I got my turn at my own uphill the second half of the day with 3,000 feet to climb. At least I had views the whole time, even if it did feel never-ending.
I approached Hopkins Lake and thought about stopping, it was beautiful, but a short hike to the terminus tomorrow and the hope I might get to camp with the hikers I’d met in Stehekin kept me going to the very last campsite on the PCT.
I arrived to a bit of a disappointing situation. My new friends were not there, only a few men who were hiking the Pacific Northwest Trail (the PCT and PNT intersect here) and their dog. Normally I love running into dogs on the trail, they always put a smile on my face, but for some reason this one did not like me. She was growling and barking nonstop. I thought about just continuing on, but arriving at the terminus in the dark didn’t sound ideal. As I began to set up my tent (that I never stopped to dry out) I discovered I stuffed my jacket right underneath and it was soaked! Not ideal since it wasn’t exactly warm now that the sun had set. I have to admit, this is not how I thought my last night before the terminus would go. I threw myself a pity party over dinner, but I did cheer myself back up by looking at my short hike to the terminus! I can’t believe I’ll be in Canada tomorrow!
Goodnight!
XOXO Green Light