A state not to be underestimated. Washington pulls no punches, the elevation might not match the Sierra’s, but the rivers cut deep and the trail climbs mercilessly before plunging into deep valleys, over and over. The beauty of Washington, especially in the late season, rivals the Sierra and it is a privilege to witness what hides among the clouds in the final section of the PCT.
I started this section slightly behind the curve, but with nearly 3 weeks left before the nominal cutoff date in early October, I had a fair chance of making it. We were lucky this year with mild conditions and I had a good feeling that we could push our finish date a week into October.
Washington is a hard state, there’s no mistake about that. Adding to that, I was fatigued from spending so much time on trail, and no doubt my push through NorCal and Oregon was catching me up too. Throughout this section, I had to come to terms with the fact that my time on trail was coming to an end. Many of the people I had hiked with had already finished by the time I got halfway through, many others hadn’t made it so far. I began the section with one of the Party Turtles, Wow, but she was also running out of steam and had to make the difficult decision to skip ahead to avoid missing the terminus altogether.
They say that the final stage of a thru-hike is spiritual, I certainly felt this way as I neared the end of this experience. I had to combine physical and mental force to push against my fear of finishing the trail. Cliche as it sounds, hiking out here had become my life. I worried about reaching the end and not being ready to end the trip, yet at the same time I could feel my body falling apart underneath me. It was difficult to keep going, and harder still to consider stopping.
In Washington, the conditions changed rapidly, I found myself waking up in a frozen tent more often than not. Further north, snow frequented the evenings, and the foliage on trees turned to vivid yellows and reds. I was lucky to be in the Northern Cascades as the larch trees turned yellow, thousands of people flood into the wilderness from nearby cities such as Seattle to witness the event. I was able to truly experience it in the back-country, away from the crowds.
I had timed my passage through Washington perfectly, arriving just in time to experience the real end of season conditions, but avoiding major storms. I made it to the Northern Terminus on 7th October with heavy snow in the forecast, just days away. Heading back from the terminus was a radical trip of reflection and awe. I met dozens of hikers from the trail, many of whom I hadn’t expected to see again. I will always remember Washington as the most powerful section of the PCT, and I would encourage any future hikers not to underestimate the beauty, challenge, and significance of this section.
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Day 154, 23 September: Cathedral Rock
I had a late start and early finish today, out of camp just before 9 am, then into camp just before 5 pm. I started out on a gentle climb above the northern shores of Waptus Lake, the trail turned up Spinola Creek and began to get steeper. After passing Deep Lake, the trail climbed
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Day 155, 24 September: Fisher Creek
Another late start – early finish day, it seems as if I’m building up some fatigue by now. On reflection, I had been pushing since trail days without an awful lot of rest. I had needed to push a bit if I was going to see the end of California, most of Oregon, and still
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Day 156, 25 September: Deception Creek Trailhead
I woke up with the campsite all to myself this morning. I had seen no hikers on the trail since I left the PCT and it really felt like I was in the wilderness. I left camp and hiked down Deception Creek, crossing Sawyer Creek on the way. I reached the trailhead around 1 pm
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Days 157-159, 26-28 September: Leavenworth
When I arrived in Leavenworth, I was in need of a break. The terrain in Washington is not to be sniffed at, even without the high altitude of the Sierra it was deceptively harder. My plan for the trail gave me plenty of time to rest in Leavenworth before heading to Stehekin to pick up
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Day 160, 29 September: Stehekin
I caught a ferry from Chelan to Stehekin today. The journey uplake is 55 miles, 90 km over water, which took a bit over 3 hours. Once at Stehekin, I had another couple of hours free before the shuttle to the trailhead. I left from the drop off at 3:30 pm to hike 5 miles,
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Day 161, 30 September: Six Mile Camp
I had such a cruisy day today, just moving around the corner into the next valley. The PCT long distance permit is only valid for limited campsites within the North Cascades National Park, which meant I had two realistic possibilities. My choices were between a campsite 12 miles away and outside the park, rumored to
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Day 162, 1 October: Porcupine Creek
Another easy day today, I hiked up Bridge Creek this morning and then up to Rainy Pass on Highway 20. From the highway, I hiked just a little way up the hill towards Cutthroat Pass and set up an early camp. I walked 10.2 miles, 16.4 km today. I woke up early this morning and
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Day 163, 2 October: Methow River
After a very cold start this morning, I climbed up Porcupine Creek to Cutthroat Pass. I traversed a long ridge and over two spurs, each revealing stunning views to Granite Pass. The trail traversed Tower Mountain to Methow Pass with distant views of Fisher Peak and Mt Arriva to the west. I then dropped down
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Day 164, 3 October: Grasshopper Pass
Another cold start this morning, there seems to be a trend here. All day today, except for the very end, was climbing. The trail followed the Methow River, but gradually climbed the valley wall while the river dropped away below. I turned up Bush Creek and began a brutal climb through Glacier Pass, up to
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Day 165, 4 October: Harts Pass
Surprisingly, this morning wasn’t as cold as the last two. I say surprising, because this morning when I woke up it was snowing. I followed the trail around the ridges of Tatie Peak, high above Trout Creek. At one point I found a rock lookout with good cellphone signal, which was the perfect place to
Trekkin Weka 
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