Today’s Miles: 24
Total Miles: 116/2690
I wake up to see Victor shuffling things into stuff sacks right outside his tent. My watch reads a couple of ticks before 5 a.m. but there’s enough light for it to feel two hours later. Well, no time like the present to start hiking.
It’s shoes on, shoes off, and then repeat as the trail goes through a number of creeks and small waterfalls. After 3 miles or so, I pop out on Highway 20 where the PCT crosses the highway. I was here just two weeks ago when John was driving me to the border and it was totally socked in snow then. Now, it’s nearly 100% clear with only a few small patches here and there of snow.
There is an official reroute to the PCT in this section, due to a bridge collapse. The rerouted trail is called the McAllister Trail/Rainbow Trail and gives us pretty much exactly the same miles as the PCT. Also, it will drop us directly into the town of Stehekin, as the PCT route would have required a bus into Stehekin. So it works out pretty well.
It’s a day of hiking in solitude, as Victor is ahead of me and Mousetrap is behind. I stop at McAllister Lake for a lunch break, having logged 14 miles or so by 1 p.m. I sift through my giant bags of food while musing how I ended up with so much. I’m probably carrying 4 days worth of food right now when I’ll be in town tonight. Cousin Brad hooked me up with some Backpacker Pantry meals in Bellingham and I also did an unnecessary but fun extra resupply at the Whole Foods there. Well, maybe I’ll just eat a bunch of trail food while I’m in Stehiken to even things out.
By late afternoon my feet are hurting. It’s not any type of shooting pain than would indicate tendon or muscle injury, but the skin feels suffocated and the bottom of my feet feel raw. I’m feeling these past two 20+ days and realizing how much weight my feet are being asked to hold. Just get to town and I can rest there is my motto.
Around 6 p.m., the trail drops me directly into the one road that Stehekin has. While there are cars on the road, they are all from folks who live locally. You can’t drive into Stehekin, you have to ferry, hike, or fly in. If you live locally, you can get your car shipped over via ferry.
Even with the lack of traffic, a guy pulls up in his pickup and offers me a ride. I don’t really know where I’m going besides some vague notion of a couple camping spots in town. The guys who picks me up tells me he was heading to grab food to-go at the one restaurant in town, and I tell him that will be my location too.
We put in our orders and I buy my driver a beer as we wait for the food. His name is Jim and he works in Stehekin as a guide for fly fishing. He gives me some local history as Lake Chelan, the lake the whole town borders, is the third deepest lake in North America and the largest natural lake in Washington. The views around the lake are simply stunning. He tells me the lake was formed when two glaciers, one originating in the Canada area and the other in the Idaho area, collided headed on forming this deep gorge that is now the lake.
After the beer, Jim helps point me in the right direction and drops me off at a campground in town. I follow the signs to where it says group camping, no reservation needed. Incredibly, I hear my name being called and turn to see Lisa. Lisa from the first day and initial hitch to Harts Pass Campground! I hiked with her and her brother for the first 3 days of the trail and we got separated at Rock Pass. She tells me Victor and a couple of other hikers are up above and I walk to join them. There are 7 of us hikers total, and all are familiar faces besides two. We share stories from the trail into the night, until finally sleep gives way and I head into my tent.
Love that lake!