Post Trail Road Trip

We reached the Canadian border on August 31st.  It took us a couple of days to hike back to the car, and then we traveled with Tim's parents to Bellingham, where we met up with some hikers.  We also spent time exploring Seattle with the Smocks before putting them on a plane back to Iowa.  

From Seattle, we drove to Hood River and spent time with my brother, Keith, and my friend Chelsea. Needless to say there was some hiking involved (you cannot just go cold turkey!), but we also squeezed 6 yoga classes into 3 days!

We made our way south through Oregon to a little town called Wolf Creek, where my mother's cousin has property.  It is amazing!

This is his chicken coop.

The swing on a hillside, that make you feel like you are going to fly out across the valley.

His wonderful and gorgeous wife.

Cousin Lyman reminds me so much of my mother, my brother, and my uncle all rolled into one.  I am lucky to share genes with someone so creative and smart.

Lyman's project :)

Another one of his projects :)

This will be the chimney in the 1st project.

His Spring.

His porch that makes a wonderful place from which to watch stars and listen to elk much on bushes in the middle of the night.

Cindra's creative touches can be seen throughout the house!

And some body's creativity can be seen near the entrance to their driveway!

Rio LOVED roaming the property!  As did I.

From Southern Oregon, we made our way further south to San Fransisco to visit my friend Angela.  

And Ashi as well!

Washington Part 2

The last resupply point on the trail for us was Stehekin, a small town accessible by ferry or foot only.  It is at the western end of Lake Chelan.  Apart from the lake, there are two incredible things Stehekin has to offer.

1. An organic garden.  

You tell the man what you would like, and he goes and picks it for you.  

2. A Bakery

I am not the biggest connoisseur of baked goods, but Tim is.  He was blown away.  We spent a small fortune here.  And things were reasonably priced!

It was so much fun to be with these fellow hikers, all of us knowing that it was just a matter of a few days before we would be off to the "real world."  I think we all wanted to savor what time we had left on trail, living this simple yet fulfilling lifestyle.

Our first day back on trail we ran into a bear.  It could care less about us.  We had to yell to get it to move off, which it finally did, but at a slow and leisurely pace.

Tim's parents drove our car from Iowa to Washington for us and brought our dog, Rio as well.  We had invited them to meet us near the end of the trail, and hike the last 35 miles to the border with us.  

Our first day, we hiked over 11 miles.  I cooked our normal fare for dinner.  Rice and cheese wrapped in a tortilla. 

The following day contained difficult terrain.  There was allot of elevation gain and loss.  Plus, the mountains in the north Cascades are steep, so there are often dramatic drop offs to the side of the trail.

Despite the challenges, we hiked over 20 miles making it to the Canadian border as dusk set in.  To our surprise and joy, our friends had waited for us at the border!

The crew:  Hawkeye, Kombucha, Cheese, Toast, Focus, Caveman and Wrong Way

The Smocks!

Our wonderful friend Wrong Way.  We met him on the CDT in 2010, and knew we would see him again some day.  It was such a fun surprise to run into him on this hike, and to hike over 1,000 miles with him.  This is his double Triple Crown, meaning that he has hike the AT, PCT, and CDT 2 times each.  He also just completed a hike/bike circumnavigation of our country.  What an amazing guy!

Our celebration revolved around chocolate!

We built a campfire (our second of the trail), stayed up late chatting, and camped together one last time.  The next morning we chatted some more and then said our goodbyes.  All of the other hikers packed their bags and continued hiking north another 8 miles into Canada.  There, they would reach Manning Park, and would catch a bus to Vancouver, and then catch trains and planes to wherever HOME was for each of them.

Tim, Rio, Dennis, Doll and I packed our bags and turned around, hiking south, back to the closest road at Harts Pass, 35 miles away, where our car waited for us.

It was fun to southbound.  We met hikers who were almost to the border, exchanged congratulations and said our goodbyes.

Tim's parents and Rio hiked close to 65 miles with us.  It was a wonderful way to end the adventure.

Washinton Part 1 - The Begining of the End

The Columbia River creates the border between Oregon and Washington.  To cross it, we hiked across the Bridge of the Gods.  There is no pedestrian path or sidewalk.  The bridge is narrow.  The river is quite visible beneath your feet, swirling, as you look through the metal grating that serves as the bridge's "surface."

At this point in the hike, 507.2 miles seems like nothing.  

We are here on August 11th.  We are hoping to finish by September 2nd.

My friend Chelsea came to hike with us near Mt. Adams.  It was is this section that we began encountering ripe huckleberries, which slowed our pace considerably.

Chelsea hiked with us for a day and a part, and then we spent a day hanging out by a lake.  We played cribbage and swam in the lake.  It was the first down time that Tim and I had spent on trail, and it was extremely enjoyable.

This butterfly enjoyed my company.  It kept landing on me, and even followed me when I would get up and move.  It reminded me of my mom.

Mt. Adams at sunset.  While we were camping here, there happened to be a bit of a heat wave, and the entire afternoon and evening, there were continually rock and snow slides setting off cascades of rumbles down the valley. 

Mt. Goats!  The kids were kicking up their heels and romping across the hillside!

The Goat Rocks Wilderness.  My favorite area on trail.

Mt. Ranier, as seen from the south.

Trail Angels!  They fed us fresh produce!

Mile 2,???

The Alpine Lakes Wilderness.

Mt. Ranier from the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.

Feasting with the Cousins.  

Some kind day hikers had given us all some food, and we decided to share with eachother.

The following day, we feasted on blueberries and huckleberries.

Hitching to Hiker Heaven from Stevens Pass took longer than we had anticipated.  We tried various antics to convince motorists that we were a fun and harmless bunch, despite the condition of our clothes :)

 It tool over an hour to make it to Hiker Heaven.

We spent the night, bathed, and laundered our clothes at Hiker Heaven, hosted by Andrea and Jerry Dinsmore, two wonderful trail angels.  The next day we were eager to get back on trail, knowing that the next section was a particularly beautiful portion of the trail.

In 2009, my favorite campsite had been Fire Creek Pass.  It was my favorite this year as well.

The next morning, marmots bathed in the golden, rising, sunlight.

And we were hiking with our friends again!  We caught back up!

Glacier Peak

Toast is wearing my old gaiters and Tim's old shoes!

We crossed the Suiattle River on a log.

Reaching North Cascades National Park means that we are less than a week away from finishing the trail.