Day 157 - To the Border and Beyond

I cannot believe this hike is over.  Since I still haven’t processed this fact (and since we have lots of celebrating to do) I’ll let pictures tell the story today.

On the way to the border:

a last look at the interesting mountain before leaving the Kootenai Campground. I really should have downloaded peak finder

seriously, Glacier is a much better park for hiking than Yellowstone

it’s obvious not many people hike this way, but the overgrown trail on the way to the border wasn’t terrible

Waterton River

the last and longest suspension bridge we crossed (over Waterton River)

Boundary Creek as seen from the bridge - the water was beautiful

Upper Waterton Lake

The bridge over boundary creek

At the border (where we spent over 2 hours):

Seeing Cross Creek, Shredder, and Google was a perfect way to end the trail. Sometimes I think we have to be in a simulation because I was thinking about them and wondering where they were just last night. When I saw them at the border I couldn’t contain my excitement, as you will see in the video below

Cross Creek, Shredder, and Google with the figures they chose

Trying to replicate our beginning picture

Obligatory fist bump

Nick replicating the superman pose he did after finishing the PCT

Nick and I celebrated our finish by jumping into the Waterton River/Lake - it was FREEZING but 100% worth it. Nick then swam across the border

selfie after getting out of the water. To warm up after our cold water plunge, we sat in the sun and drank coffee (Nick) and tea (me)

I read the letters from my squad while enjoying my tea

Two more hikers finished shortly after we did (one, Cash, I haven’t seen since the first week on trail!) so we all took a picture together.

just as we were about to leave, The Family showed up, along with Ypsillon. We took a huge group pic (not sure where Google was, though).

the holes in my shirt after 5 months of hiking. Also, my shorts used to be black. Hahaha

During the 4 mile walk from the border to Waterton:

Nick is always entertaining

we had some uphill to do

!

looking down at Waterton - of course, since we went up, we had to endure one final downhill. Unfortunately for me, I failed to take a supplemental dose of ibuprofen at lunch, so it was an agony. However, the pain was probably a good thing because it reminded me why I desperately need to stop hiking for a while - without it, I would want to keep going (other than my annoying ankle, I feel absolutely fantastic)

these mule deer didn’t care about us at all

No more trail and no more hiking for a while - not sure how I feel about that. My ankle is happy about it but the rest of me is conflicted

In Waterton Lake Village:

we walked along the water to get to our hotel - it took longer (and I struggled, walking/limping very slowly) but it was gorgeous

loved the shape of this tree

Now we are going to shower, eat, and take the rest of the day to celebrate our golden anniversary (17 years on the 17th) and our finish of the CDT (we managed to keep our continuous footpath with no skips, no flips, and no slack packing!). 

I still can’t believe the hike is over.  I’ll post some final thoughts after I’ve had time to process everything.  Thank you all, so very, very much, for being a part of this adventure!

Nick at the end of the PCT and now the end of the CDT!