Day 148 – Friday, September 5
I made it to the northern terminus of the PCT or the Canadian border on Friday, September 5th right about 5 p.m. to finish my thru hike. It was a pleasure to spend the last couple of weeks on the trail with Red, Daniel and Timberline.
From White Pass I entered Mt. Rainer National Park and had some wonderful views as I hiked along the trail. I ran into a guy with a team of Llamas which was pretty cool. He was a super nice guy and he was giving thru hikers Hershey’s Bars for trail magic. I stayed at the Urich Shelter on my way into Snoqualmie Pass.
It’s always great to see so many folks out volunteering their time to do trail maintenance. A BIG THANK YOU to all those who give their time!
Timberline and I both took the Goldmeyer Alternate out of Snoqualmie Pass to go to the hot springs for some R&R. It was well worth the trip! The alternate trail passes by Snow Lake…what a beautiful site!
As I hiked further north into the Northern Cascades, the scenery just continued to get more and more awesome. However, I did miss some great views of Glacier Peak due to the clouds and rain.
The North Cascades National Park and Stehekin were great! I stayed two nights at the Stehekin Valley Ranch. The food and the property were just super awesome! It was a great place to relax some before finishing the trail! It’s also super cool because you can only get to it by hiking in, taking a four-hour ferry or a float plane ride.
The Bakery in Stehekin was not to be missed either. It was amazing how good this place was to be in the middle of nowhere!
Here’s another story that I didn’t tell you about coming out of Cascade Locks. I met Matt, the guy in the photo below, center, hiking shortly after entering Washington. Matt is from the U.K. and I found him to be a super enjoyable guy to be around. Carlos, Paul the Frenchman and I were camping with him on our second night out from Cascade Locks. The next morning as I was packing up to leave, Matt stuck his head out of his tent and told me that he was really sick. I went over to see what was up and he went on to tell me that he had gotten up in the middle of the night to throw up and that he somehow blacked out and couldn’t find his way back to his tent. I could immediately tell he was in really bad shape. Paul had already left camp that morning before Matt had found his way back to his tent. Matt had slept out the whole night in the woods, lost, with no cover on a very cold Washington night. He was probably pushing hyperthermia. The man was very sick!
I called Carlos, who had camped on the other side of the trail and was just leaving, over to explain what was going on with Matt. We quickly figured out that we had a forest service road five miles ahead and that we needed to help Matt get there and off the trail somehow. After a pretty long process, Matt got packed up and we all headed down the trail together. As we started down the trail, I called Mrs. Whitewater (Mary) once again on a very weak cell signal and was able to tell her our location and what was going on and that once again we needed help. After that brief conversation, we totally lost any further cell phone service.
Carlos and I had gotten Matt down the trail at least three miles when I suggested to Carlos that I thought one of us needed to go ahead and head down to the forest service road to see if any help existed, drop a pack and come back and take Matt’s pack the rest of the way. Carlos told me he thought that was a good idea, so I took off for the forest service road. When I got there, I was glad to see that Mary had made contact with Stevens County and we had an ambulance and two EMTs waiting. I dropped my pack and went back up the trail with one of the EMTs to help get Matt the rest of the way down. We met them about a mile out, I took Matt’s backpack and we slowly made our way to the forest service road. Matt went right into the ambulance and off he went. Neither Carlos or I had any contact information for Matt.
After a long recovery, Matt skipped forward to where he thought he should be on the trail, which turned out to be Stehekin, where Carlos and I ran into him again. It was great to see him and that’s when we found out that he had spent five days in the hospital and seven additional days in Portland recovering from a bad case of Giardia. Carlos and I were both glad to see Matt was back and we had a great time visiting.
Below are a few additional photos from my final three days on the trail. We all decided to finish at the border with a thirty mile day just for fun of it.
We had a pretty good group of thru hikers who ended up at Manning Park at the same time. Pictured below is Wasabi, Lucky Strike, Carlos, Timberline, Whitewater and Quiet-man. Some of the others around (but not in this photo) were Red, Daniel, Tarzan and Asswagging.
Thanks again for everyone’s support! Once Again Another Great Journey!
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David,
Congrats for achieving your goal of hiking the PCT. Very impressive indeed!
Hope to see you after you return to ATL.
Take care,
Mike
Thanks Man!
Wow, a hearty congrats for completing this trail! I hope you enjoyed it as much as i enjoyed the photos, and then some–quite an effort. The photos have been really amazing, and I’ve shared them with family every time. We all look forward to visiting and hearing your favorite spots.
Bruce
Thanks! Enjoyed having lunch with you the other day.
I followed your trip north with great interest. Really enjoy the photos and commentary. Well done. My wife (who is now suffering from severe dementia) and I finished the PCT in 2007. Unfortunately, we cannot hike as a “team” any more due to her illness. I cried when I saw familiar scenery; it reminded me of the joy that both of us derived from many years of backpacking. Be well and continue to stay active. Todd (Slim Gym) and Kaye (Mona Lisa) Russell from Presque Isle, Maine
Thanks Todd! Glad my photos brought some joy your way. Best wishes, WW
Congrats again! I have enjoyed following you on your adventure, only wishing my health would allow me to take on such an adventure! I will be looking forward to following the next!
Thanks Bill!
What an adventure! Good job! Also to Mary – Mrs. Whitewater – I think she should be known as “trail angel”! She bailed you out several times – on this trip and others. Go eat a hamburger! Super proud of you all!
Thanks Mr. Bob!
David, Congratulations !!!!!!!! Praise God for another successful adventure. Thank goodness for Mary, Mrs.Whitewater, being able to make contact with you and the Stevens County rescue squad. God had His hhands on that crisis. So glad that you were able to meet up with Matt again. Can’t thank you enough for taking me and so many more folks on your adventure through your posts and pictures. I truly have enjoyed them. Your pictures have been outstanding. I have shown my grandkids some of the pictures and told them. This is why you hike. To see and experience what so many folks will never be able to experience from a car. Looking forward to anymore posts in the future. Quick note: Gray Ghost had some foot problems, broken bones, and had to get of the AT for them to heal. He’s back on heading South from Katahdin and is doing well. Thank you again. Stay safe. Prayers going out. RC Slowpoke
Thanks for following along Will, greatly appreciated! I’m following Gray Ghost closely now that I’m back home. Take Care, WW
Congrats to you Whitewater! Loved seeing all those stunning photos, and looks like you got to hike with some incredible people. Way to go!
Thanks Hemlock!! I’m enjoying seeing your photos as well! Glad your still making progress up the trail. Take care, Good Luck and Enjoy the rest of your journey.
WW
You are now in an extremely small percentile, much less than 1, having completed not one but two difficult trials on opposite coasts but as well having been bitten by a rattlesnake. Congratulations. Either the trials or the snake standing alone would have been enough, but both……….!!!!!
Thanks James….Hope all is going well for you guys!
David
Congratulations on another completed thru-hike. Thanks again for the opportunity to meet you in Stecoah Gap last year while I was on a section hike. The burgers hit the spot. I again enjoyed the photos of your adventure and thank you so much for sharing with the rest of us who can’t get out and thru-hike just yet. Good luck on your next adventure, although I think you’ll have a tough time topping this one. –Glenn Williams
Thanks Glenn!
Come back and enjoy another burger with us this year (last weekend in March). Hope all is well! Thanks again for following along. WW
Congrats Whitewater in your finish. It was great to meet you in SoCal on my SoBo section hike.
GoalTech
GoalTech,
Thanks Man…It was that trail magic that got me through :).
Hope all is going great! Good luck on your hike! Keep Going!
WW
Whitewater, congratulations on another great hike and accomplishment! I finished all of the AT except 185 miles in VT and NH. I plan to knock that out in August of 2015. I have been home about three and have been busy making up lost time with family.
Now that I’m back, I will have time to enjoy your blog and pictures. Hope to catch up with you soon to get a first hand account and compare AT experiences. Take care .
Thanks Dan!
Hope all is well! Let me know if you want to join us on our winter hike after Christmas.
David