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 7^th 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.