August 24-30, days 147-153
PCT kilometers: 4,269; kilometers hiked: 2,562
En route to Winthrop we met Tiger, whom we'd interviewed after Mount Baden-Powell, CA; at that time he was on his way home to LA for five days to celebrate his birthday. Birthday cake was Black Forest cake – which of course made Freiburg-native Sabine's day. Now he was traveling with Travis, had hiked part of the Sierras. We interviewed him a second time.
We met Ivy and Jazz, traveling with the little doll Daryl, several times as well.
We even arrived at the trailhead near Highway 20 at same time as Ivy und Jazz did, the spot from which we were planning to hitch a ride to Mazama or Winthrop.
A van stopped immediately, but only took us to the next parking lot, from which mountaineers start their tours. We were apparently assumed to be climbers. Then Chris(Tine), who was visiting friends in Winthrop, stopped, but could only take one of us. I took the lift; Olli got a ride a bit later with Cathy, who was vacationing in the area. Chris, who used to manage a backcountry ski resort, took me to a mountain gear shop, but it was already closed. Then to the terrific North Cascades Hostel.
Encounters of a Lifetime - a magic moment for Lady Magic Sunshine
In the evening, Scott turned up at the hostel, a biker with a hot machine. Olli hadn't arrived yet. I referred him to Patrick, who was managing the hostel for the owner, Paul, who was hiking himself. His words, which Sabine will never forget, were: "I need a bed just to stretch my legs." He was underway from Yakima, where he lives, in the northern part of Washington, to meet up with two of his sons. In the end, he slept in the bunk bed next to me on the ground floor.
Next morning we had an incredible interview. Scott’s relaxed yet profound perspectives on life were simply heart-warming. And humorous. Years ago, Scott had had oral cancer, as a result of which reason half his tongue had been reconstructed from tissues from various other parts of his body. For this reason, he had a bit of difficulty with sibilants. "I can hardly speak my own name," he explained, grinning from ear to ear. After the interview, he headed off, as was our plan too. But first we needed to stop at the Mountain Gear Shop: mice had chewed up our foldable rubber mug at the Miner's Creek Campsite. (Since Ashland, we'd been sharing one, since we'd forgotten the other in the motel; now we definitely needed new ones.) And we needed a pair of rain pants for Sabine, hadn't had time to look for one in Seattle – no wonder, after those mega nights ...
Beware of strange drinks
We ended up staying another night in the hostel, for two reasons: Sabine’s first experience with weed milk and because it started to rain.
Another hiker had offered her the tasty drink, which he'd cooked himself. Sabine, who assumed the effect would be like taking a couple of drags on a joint, ended up being high for hours. Exactly an hour after drinking the stuff, in the middle of the Mountain Gear Shop, it knocked Sabine out. Olli was handing er a bear canister (to text its weight for the Sierras). Sabine was barely able to grab it, staggered toward a shelf, which fortunately remained standing. Slowly Sabine realized what was going on and asked Olli to help her out of the shop. He brought her outside to rest on a bench in a corner next to the entrance. Sabine’s impressions: sounds were incredibly loud, a car key fell to the ground, after that a jeep started up, super loud, the voice of an older athletic woman who was chatting with Olli, all seemed to bore themselves into my ear. I could hardly keep my eyes open, felt deeply tired; my limbs felt very heavy, perhaps even profoundly relaxed; and I had a terribly dry mouth ... Ivy, Jazz and the weed milk hiker came by and were worried. Advised me to drink a lot. Olli brought me water, Coke, and blueberry shake. Even water tasted infinitely sweet. It began to rain...
After 2 hours we left, heading for a cafe on the other side of the street, where there was another outdoor shop. Coffee helped, after which we went to the outdoor shop. On the second floor we found mugs, pants, and karabiners.
At least the extra night at the hostel gave us the opportunity to hear a great band called Hot Damn Scandal that evening in the Old Schoolhouse Brewery. The lead singer even played the singing saw...
Besides that, Chad popped in after his shift and offered to give us a ride next day to the trailhead Rainy Pass, ca. 35 miles away. We'd met Chicagoan Chad, mid-40s, single, the night before during our dinner at the Copper Glance Restaurant, where he works as a waiter.
Trail magic - unexpected
After 2 days in Winthrop, we left the wonderfully cozy North Cascades Hostel in the afternoon. Chad kindly picked us up and took us back to Rainy Pass. There, on the parking lot, we were surprised by our first true trail magic since California! "True" meaning organized by people onsite. In Washington up until then, we'd had three hikers’ boxes with lovely things: apples, beer, cider, sodas, little bottles of vodka, coffee, a chair (not having to sit on the ground has become very important) and trail registers with great sayings ... Provided for PCT hikers.
This trail magic was organized by Eagle’s mother, Leann, and stepdad Kevin, together with brother Grey, for Eagle, Patience from Estonia, Disco and Tea Leaves from Georgia, and Bugle from Maryland (who spent some time in Bremerhaven), including any hikers who happened to be there at the time. Brats and sauerkraut, burgers, M&M's, cookes, nuts, chocolate and beer (Irish Death) made our hiker hearts beat faster. Incredible, and all this at the last resupply station before Canada! Dogs Mackey (a pug) and Athena enjoyed the extra cuddles.
We also met Zero from South Korea here – who was nearly done hiking the entire PCT, including the Sierras – and two French hikers, who sported holes in their socks nearly as big as Sabine’s. Zero seemed very familiar to us. The trail magic was also enhanced by a beard trimmer, which Sabine used to style Olli's beard and trim his nape hair. Eagle happens to be a real archery expert, and after a round of archery, we set out again, well fortified, around 16:45. After 17 km and nearly 2100 meters altitude, we found a beautiful campsite at 9:15 pm. At this point we began to realize we'd interviewed Zero once before, during the early days on the PCT in California. Since we knew he'd planned to camp near us that night, we hoped we could catch him in the morning and interview him again.
Final sprint in Washington
It rained that night and the next morning (August 25). We were wakened by a hiker's footsteps passing by: it really was Zero! Olli jumped out of the tent, armed with the camera. Zero indeed remembered the first interview and was now prepared, months later, to answer our questions again. After Claire from Alaska, he's the second hiker whom we'd met in California who's overtaken us prior to our goal. For our documentary film, this second interview with Zero was a gift.
We broke camp around 11 am. The weather was still a bit iffy, but stayed dry. Still, it was cold. The decent was from 2,010 to 1,313 m over 12 km. Had lunch on the bridge at Brush Creek.
Met Eleanor and Libby, who were hiking the section from Rainy Pass to Manning Park on their vacation, a relaxed 10 miles a day. They informed us the small red berries with the "weird texture" are called thumbberries. Because we'd been short of food on the stretch from Stevens Pass to Stehekin, we'd eaten a lot of them.
This time we had enough food. A 9-km ascent followed (from 1,313 to 2,100), then a descent of 8 km. We met Eagle, Patience and Bugle a few times en route; they were planning to be at the Terminus before us and then return to the Sierras. In the evening we found a campsite at Bear Trailhead (1,958 m), were an information panel explained the differences between a black bear and grizzly. A few grizzlies are reported to be in Washington's northwest, but have never been sighted on the PCT.
August 26, decamped 9:45. After an hour and 3.5 km, we reached Harts Pass, trail head and for many hikers the terminus: It's the last exit from the PCT if you don't have a permit to enter Canada. Those hikers must turn around at the US-Canadian border and walk back to Harts Pass – a good 50 km! We were given a terrific sandwich by a young American hiker who, after splitting his PCT hike over 2 years, will end his hike in a few days (he didn't have enough food with him). Interviewed 70-year-old Nancy, who has been tackling the PCT in sections since 2012 and now, 8 years later, will soon complete the trail when she does the section from Dunsmuir to Ashland in September. (She has now hiked back from the border to Harts Pass.) Lunch break after 11 km; found a great campsite at Rock Pass at just under in 2,000 m altitude around 8:45 pm. Stunning views, with the campfire and awesome star-studded sky.
August 27 was to be an important day: only 23 km lay between us and the terminus vor uns! Headed off at 9:15, break after 12 km at Hopkins Lake, after the last two ascents. Took an hour and a half to cook lunch and have a swim in the lake. It was really hot that day, fine weather to fish. After that we covered another 10 km downhill to the border, which we reached at 5 p.m. Terminus and boundary stone stood in the middle of the woods; a treeless path, about 10 m wide, threads its way through the mountains. Absurd! Signed the registry, took photos and made videos. Hiked 2,562 km in 150 days, reached the border, but not the PCT! Not a soul around, until Save arrived, a 21-year-old software developer from France. He'd started out a week after us, on April 6, and had done the entire PCT, including the Sierras. He was overwhelmed. We stayed a good 2 hours at the Terminus, till the sun slowly went down. Save took some photos of us (including the cute kiss-pics) and we returned the favor. He even let us take a photo of him kneeling at the Termins holding a baguette. A real Frenchman! As a parting gift, he gave us a piece of aforementioned baguette, which he'd purchased at a bakery in Mazama, a town near Winthrop and an alternative resupply point. We in turn gave him a protein bar with the Eiffel Tower imprinted on the wrapper. After that we continued on the Canadian side; it was 14 more kilometers to Manning Park Resort. After a 6 km ascent, we pitched our tent aroiund 9 pm, not far from Save.
On August 28, day 151, we hiked the remaining 8 km to Manning Park, arriving around 10:30 a.m. First thing was a terrific and ample breakfast. After which we needed figure out how to get a ride Vancouver, about 2 1/2 hours away. An older man approached us on the restaurant terrace: Meander (trail name) asked us if we needed a ride to Vancouver. He had a few spots available. Wow, of course we immediately accepted the wonderful offer! On top of that he spoke German because he'd been in Austria as a child, and Dutch because he'd lived in Tilburg from 1964-68 and had been in Gronau/Westphalia 50 years ago (where Olli lived in his 20s, after childhood and adolescence in Holland, and where his father still lives). Meander had an aunt in Hiltrup, right next to Gronau!!!! Small world. Incredibly nice. Lives in Washington; in the summertime, he does the tour every 10 days to pick up hikers. Two other hikers, Rory and Highnoon (Christopher from Frankfurt), also got into Meander's state-of-the-art Mercedes Sprinter, which doubles as a mobile home. Both Rory and Highnoon had hiked the entire PCT: Rory (video game developer) in about 4 months; Highnoon (pharmacologist, had once started a doctorate in toxicology) in about 5. Great conversations, great interviews. Sabine was able to extensively pick Highnoon's brains on the effect of weed and eatables. Arriving in Vancouver, we disembarked at King George Station, said goodbye to Meander, Rory and Highnoon; took the obligatory photos; Meander and Sabine shot some video footage, too. Then picked up some delicious Indian food, which we at sitting on a park bench on the big street directly opposite Holland!! Park. In the evening we took the Skytrain to our AirBnB in East Vancouver: we'd booked a studio apartment on the ground floor for three nights. We needed to plan our return to California. Besides, we wanted to do some sightseeing around Vancouver, which some consider the most beautiful city in the world.
August 29, day 152
Vancouver, zero day
We spent our first zero day in Vancouver relaxing. The sun shone and we had breakfast in our little studio's garden, remaining there for a few hours. Our landlords weren't home. We'd scheduled communications, sending photos and particularly planning the next leg of our trip. How to get to Walker Pass in the Sierras cheaply and quickly? The place where, three months ago, we'd flipped to Ashland.
Decided to fly from Vancouver to Bakersfield, with a layover of only 52 min. in San Francisco. Arriving just before midnight in Bakersfield. Contacted Franziska, whom we'd met at Dagny's Cafe in Bakersfield while waiting for the bus to Ashland and who'd offered her hospitality. Her answer came promptly, we could stay overnight and she'd pick us up from the airport. Super! Thus we were able to resupply in Bakersfield, then take the bus back to Walker Pass, where we'd get back on the PCT.
In the evening, we met Jonas (Herbal Witch) at a Brazilian place (Boteco) around the corner from our flat (East Vancouver), which we can warmly recommend! Jonas had just arrived in Vancouver on that day. His buddy Andi (El Problematico) had returned to Germany weeks ago, last stop Cascade Locks, since he'd only had 2.5 months for the hike. Jonas, too, had left the PCT and is heading to Vietnam and Thailand. Lovely evening. Just before we were leaving, a woman at the table next to ours spoke to us in German: Nicole's parents originally came from Hamburg; they'd moved to Überlingen during WWII because they'd heard Hamburg was to be bombed; later they emigrated. Nicole herself was born in Canada, but is a dual citizen. She was dining out with Oriana, originally from Chile. Eliane, the Boteco's owner, has a potluck party in the upstairs rooms every month; downstairs the restaurant does its normal business. After the restaurant closes, Eliane's private guests come downstairs, and we were the last customers, we got to meet everyone. Oriana had recently hiked the John Muir Trail in the Sierras (the JMT largely coincides wtih PCT); she told us the Sierras were magnificent and absolutely doable. Conversation deepened, so we got to know a few others: Adrian, a former programmer at Apple, who can now afford to travel around the world. He has relatives in the Netherlands, spoke Dutch quite well. Olli was pleased. (In the meantime, Sabine can hold her own in Dutch).
August 30, day 153
Vancouver, zero day
Worked on the blog and booked our flights to Bakersfield. Dined on fish-n-chips and chicken gyro at Bon's Broadway around the corner, super delicious and really cheap! Headed downtown, where we purchased 20 SD cards (128 GB) at Best Buy. A real bargain at 18 € a piece! In the evening we took a long walk in Stanley Park, then had a bite to eat and drink around midnight in a bar downtown. Caught the last bus back to East Vancouver to our studio apartment.
Photos (August 24-30):
August 24., back on Trail
August 25.
August 26.
August 27, Terminus/boarder
August 28, Manning Park & Vancouver
August 29, Zero day in Vancouver
August 30, Zero day in Vancouver