PCT 2016 Blog

Start: 0715 - Hobkins Lake
End: 1000 - Northern Terminus!!! (to Manning Park)
Miles (today): 15 (6 PCT, 9 off to Manning Park)
Miles (cumulative): 2688 (2429 PCT, 175 alternate, 84 off)

We made it to Canada.

WE MADE IT TO CANADA!!!

Holy Shit, we hiked a continuous footpath from Mexico to Canada!

!!!!!!!

😃😊😜

It was a strange day, full of excitement and contemplation and, well, happiness.

The excitement started early this morning, around 0200, when I awoke, groggy and unsure of where I was, to Nick's face looming in front of mine. He was saying something about a rodent but it took me a bit to realize the rodent (a vole?) was actually in the tent with us. It was hiding behind me, actually, and Nick wanted me to get out of the way so he could ‘take care’ of it. Apparently he had hit it earlier (with the intent to kill) but he merely winged it. Poor thing. It makes sense why the poor creature was hiding behind me - it knew I wouldn't let Nick kill it. It managed to get out of the tent on my side (I didn't have the netting zipped up all the way) and so all was well and I fell asleep.

More excitement happened around 0300, when I had to pee but was working up the will to get out of my warm sleeping bag. As I lay there I heard a noise, like something large wandering around the tent. I listened more intently, ears straining to determine exactly what was out there. I was thinking it might be a bear but didn't want to cause a commotion unnecessarily (I didn't want to wake up the 4 hikers who had rolled in just as we were going to bed). After a few moments I heard a loud sniffing and a forceful sort-of huff/snort - there was definitely a large animal out there. I shook Nick awake and said, "I think there is a bear out there", hoping he would be able to confirm or deny it (because what do I know? Maybe I was getting worked up over nothing.) Nick thought he saw a large shadow so we started talking in loud voices, hoping whatever it was would go away. It didn't work - we could still hear it - so Nick yelled, "go away!" and started banging on our cooking pot. I knew that's what we needed to do (if it was indeed a bear) but part of me felt horrible for waking up the other hikers.

Banging on the pot must have worked. After a few minutes of not hearing anything, Nick and I felt it was safe to check outside - since we both had to pee at this point we decided to get out of the tent together (safety in numbers and all). No sign of a bear, although when Nick finished he went back to the tent without me because he was cold. I totally understood this but yet also felt abandoned and vulnerable (what if the bear was in the darkness behind me?). I peed as fast as I could and then ran back to the safety of the tent and the warmth of my sleeping bag, where I slept decently the rest of the night (amazingly enough).

Since we had gone to sleep so early yesterday, Nick woke up earlier than I did this morning and seemed ready to get going. Even though I could have slept for another hour or so, I got up as well (I love hiking in the early morning AND I couldn't wait to see the monument). As I went through my morning ritual (change into hiking clothes while I'm still warm from the sleeping bag, get out my hiking snacks for the day and put them in the side pocket of my pack, put the sleeping bag in the pack, make breakfast, organize the rest of the food and put it in the pack, eat breakfast ((I ate my favorite thing: Mary's homemade granola. Seriously, Mary, you should sell it at a farmers market or something)), put everything else in the pack, put on my shoes, crawl/stumble out of the tent) it felt strange to know it was the last time we'd break camp for a while.

Our camp mates were just waking up as we were about to leave the campsite so I apologized for making so much noise and explained I thought there was a bear. One of the hikers nodded and said she got up to pee without a headlamp right after our ruckus (she was tired and out of it, hence the no headlamp) and heard something big moving around and smelled something awful. I'm 75% sure it was a bear now - what a way to spend our last night on the trail!

It was a crisp, cold morning to hike - the sun tried to come out but was mostly held at bay by the fog. It even rained off and on (so I got to use my pack cover again!). I didn't care - nothing was getting in the way of me getting to the border! The best part about the rain and intermittent sun was catching a glimpse of a rainbow about 2 miles from the border.

Seeing this rainbow made me think of Marlene

Nick waited for me with 0.5 miles to go so we could walk to the monument together (I was slow because it was all downhill and I was trying to savor the hike, knowing that when it was over it would be over and I wasn't sure about how I felt about that just yet).

Walking to the monument was weird and conflicting. I was thrilled and elated and really wanted to celebrate somehow, but at the same time felt a tiny twinge of sadness, which surprised me since Hiking and I did not fall in love with each other over these past 5 months. Nick seemed less than overwhelmed with the whole thing (probably because he hiked for the simple love of hiking and didn't really care if we made it to the end or not) and wanted to get hiking again because he was cold. Sadly for him, I was there and made him suffer for some pictures at least. We were the only ones there so pictures were a little difficult, but we managed with a timer and a carefully balanced phone on a log.

1 - how we looked at the start of this whole adventure on 04/26/2016  2- my attempt to recreate the same pose at the end of this whole adventure  -I'm still wearing the exact same shirt! — 1 - how we looked at the start of this whole adventure on 04/26/2016 2- my attempt to recreate the same pose at the end of this whole adventure -I'm still wearing the exact same shirt!

After pictures and after signing the trail register, it started to rain again. Nick really wanted to get hiking at this point but, despite the rain, I wasn't quite ready to leave. I ended up staying behind and reading the trail register for a while before officially entering Canada.

I couldn't stop smiling as I stepped into Canada

The 9 miles to Manning Park were surreal. If someone told me the past 5+ months were a dream I could almost believe them. It was such a wild, wonderful, incredibly difficult journey that to be at the end felt (and still feels) conflicting. Physically, I'm thrilled to be done because my body needs some serious recovery (my feet in particular). Emotionally, however, I'm not ready to leave the safety of the trail, of nature, of being outside, or of being around so many like-minded folks. Emotionally, the trail was my recovery from things like rush hour traffic, unproductive meetings, and my lost faith in humanity - I hope I won't relapse!

When I walked into the lodge at the Manning Park resort, a few people (non-hikers) in the lobby clapped for me and said congrats, which made me smile. l saw Fret and chatted with her for a bit (mostly exchanging congratulations) and then went to the front desk to get the key to room I knew Nick booked. In addition to a key, I was given a voucher for a free drink at the restaurant (they give all PCT hikers a free drink, how nice!). Hikers planning to board the 0200 Greyhound bus to Vancouver (instead of booking a room for the night, like we did) also received access to showers and a special room in which to relax/chill/congregate (because boarding a Greyhound at 0200 in the morning isn't exactly convenient).

Canadians are so nice (although I really want to fix all the little grammatical errors and weird formatting.

Nick had already been relaxing in our room for an hour by the time I showed up, cold and ready for a hot shower. Then Nick did laundry (I was stuck in the room again because all my clothes were being washed) and then, when I had clean clothes again, we made our way to the restaurant for our free drinks and for some dinner.

At the restaurant we sat with Meerkat and her father and brother (who came all the way from Australia to celebrate with her), Six, Fret and Bud, Outro, and the four hikers we camped with (and woke up) last night (although I can't remember their names, darn it). Outro talked about having 'Christmas Toe' - she said her feet were numb until Christmas after she did the Appalachian Trail. OMG, will I have to wait until Christmas for my feet to feel normal again?

As we were finishing up dinner we saw Dirt Squirrel and Sprout making their way to the restaurant. I ran outside to greet them and to give Dirt Squirrel a huge hug (sort-of what Ducky did to me at Kennedy Meadows). As she was entering the dining room, however, I hung back a little because I wanted her to enjoy the cheers and claps bestowed upon her (we started a Kennedy Meadows type trend by clapping for hikers as they walked in- even the non-hiker patrons at the restaurant joined in!)

Nick liked this sign informing us of Canada's alcohol rules

After dinner we planned to hang out with Dirt Squirrel and her mother and cousin and Sprout and whoever else was in their suite, but once Nick and I got back to the room we lost all energy. I called their suite to see if they were back from dinner yet but didn't get an answer, so I collapsed on the bed and started writing this entry.....

And now I'm too tired to continue. More to come later - right now all I want to do is sleep on this delightful bed with pillows.

Along the way to the Manning Park resort: