Day 185 & 186 Miles 2642——>2655.8 (Finish)—>2642—->2624 (Harts Pass)

Day 185

Start: 2642 End: 2642 Total 27.2

We woke up at sunrise in anticipation for the big day. We would hike 13.6 miles to the Canadian Border. It was Mantiss turn to carry the flag!

We had a steep 1.5 miles down then 1.5 miles back up to Woodys Pass. Then we followed along a super scenic ridge line with views of the cascades. We stopped right before the big long descent into Canada and soaked in the surrounding views.

After the mini break we started the big steep descent past a lake then all the way down into Canada. At this point I started to realize that we would have to go back up this steep descent, but it didn’t really matter. Excitement took over. We stopped to gather some water and eagerly made our way to the famous monument.

Rocky ran ahead and Mantis and I were close behind her. There was a large group of people already sitting all around the monument. Among them were Tinder and the group of “Mangos” Paparazzi, Queen b, Shark bate, & Space Cowboy.

It was a surreal experience seeing that monument that I have seen so many photos of before. Being there in person and seeing the other side of things that isn’t ever pictured. I wasn’t overwhelmed with any grand emotion of being finished, but it sure felt good to see that sign. To officially be done, to have made it. To have walked from Mexico to Canada. There was a stark division between the trees behind the sign, marking the US/Canadian border.

I went and sat down on the Canadian side, soaking it all in. We cracked open our mini bottle of champagne and sipped it while everyone around us sat soaking in the monument in their own ways as well. Eventually folks started to take their photos and we all watched and got inspiration for our own. We took a bunch of ourselves making sure we got ones that we liked. All in all we hung out there for a couple hours before starting the journey back to our stuff.

As we left Beer Run and Captain were approaching the monument. We then did all that hiking in reverse, going up the long hill back to America and stopping at the alpine lake before the steep set of switchbacks. We took one last alpine lake swim, got enough water for the evening and trekked back up hill. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. At the overlook at the top we took a brief moment of looking around us again. It was such a rugged, remote, beautiful part of the trail and very unlikely we’d ever return to this spot.

We made our way down the ridge and the sun was starting to set. We got back to Woodys pass and could see our campsite, we just had one last steep down and up to get there. We arrived pretty exhausted and made a quick dinner and appreciated the stars and landscape before going off to bed.

Day 186

Start: 2642 End: 2624 Total: 17.5 miles

We agreed to wake up early and hustle back to Harts Pass. My friends Chris and Claire would be picking us up later that day but we wanted some time to chill at Worldclasses palace. It was also forecasted to rain that day so we didn’t want to spend too much time in the rain.

We were up around 5 and out just as the sun was rising. Beer Run and Captain had arrived shortly after us the night before and decided to share our campsite. Mantis and I were the first ones out and we had a long downhill which we went pretty quickly on.

We were on a mission to get out and maintained a pretty quick pace. I made it my goal that Beer Run wouldn’t pass us. Beer run is extremely fit older ex military man who has already done the triple crown and many other long distance hikes. He has his gear down and has a sub 10 lb base weight. His actual backpack is so small it looks like he is going to school. It didn’t take him long to catch up and we all hiked a bit together as it started to drizzle. He stopped to take some layers off and we kept going.

Mantis and I filled a liter of water pretty quickly but other than that never took a break. It got cloudier, colder and rainier as the day went on. We went our own paces as I wanted to move as quickly as possible to stay warm. The beautiful views were soon covered by endless clouds. I got more and more excited as I started to recognize things as being closer. I knew when I hit the stream I’d be a quarter mile away but that was the longest quarter mile yet. Every turn I was sure I’d hit the road but it lagged on.

When finally I got back to Harts Pass, I walked in the white tents which were full of hikers. There had to be 30 hikers in there, warm and dry and waiting for the rain to ease up. Most of them were still heading towards the border. Among them in the tent was Kiki, Fish Fry, Bushwack, Toro, and Bin Chicken. They had gotten there in the morning and were waiting for the rain to ease up. I thought it was hard for us to leave but I really wouldn’t want to leave Hart’s Pass to hike to Canada in that weather.

Slowly people started to head out in the rain to finish their journeys and very gradually more and more space opened up in the tent. I was able to chat with Kiki and some of the others for a bit but everything was quite chaotic with how many people were there.

Eventually there was only a few people left who had finished. Beer Run, Captain and Rocky all left in a hurry when a ride was offered to the nearby Mazama, the closest town to the pass. Mantis and I hung out for a couple hours with Potato Couch and Jubilee who has also just finished the day before. I eventually realized how far out of the way we were and when another ride was offered to Mazama I accepted as it would make the drive much shorter for my friends.

Mantis and I went down to Mazama and to the bakery, famous for their sea salt baguettes. We had one and some Brie while we waited for Chris and Claire. They eventually arrived and we were off on the 4 hour drive back to their home outside of Seattle.

And that concludes my journey on the Pacific Crest Trail folks! Thanks for following along. It was a beautiful, tough and rewarding experience. It’s a hard task to quantify it in words but maybe someday I will attempt to. Since I finished I have made my way back to Michigan, seeing loved ones here and along the way. Next up on the docket, Nick (Mantis) and I are heading to South America for a few months! I’m not sure how active I’ll be on this blog but I’d like to keep doing some level of writing so stay tuned 🙂 happy trails y’all!

Much love,

Lioness