Washington
Canadian border
to Oregon border 500 miles
Heading
South, Canadian Border Manning Park
After
a hearty breakfast at Manning Park we left at 9.30am on June 16th-
our second leg of the walk was about to begin.
As
we walked, we revelled in the greenery - hanging moss on the dense
conifers and a carpet of green tangled undergrowth around us. For
the first time now the path was muddy, presenting a delightful springy
surface for our hardened feet. By mid-morning we came across a small
clearing in the trees - in fact a linear strip about 10m wide and
stretching to the horizon east and west - it was Monument 78, the
Canadian/US border. After some photos we strode off and climbed gently
with occasional views out of the trees to the hills and puffy clouds
in a deep blue sky.
Our
surroundings changed quickly though as we climbed towards the trail's
high point at 7000ft. Snow clad mountains appeared
with jaggy rock spires punching through to the sky. A wide panorama
of endless snowy peaks to the south and west, the Washington cascades
were around us. On a snow covered summit ridge we took in this massive
scene. It felt as if this was the country I had always hoped to travel
in, this was where I belonged. There was much snow around but it was
patchy enabling us at least to see the direction of the path. We camped
beside the trail at a
tremendous
rocky notch between two steep mountains in the late evening well satisfied
with our 20 mile progress.
As
we packed up our tent in the morning - a huge surprise- Brian Sweet
and another hiker, Mousetrap, appeared ambling down the trail. Brian
had continued 80 miles further north than we had into the Sierra Nevada
mountains of California with his skis. He made it to Trail Pass then
descended to the town of Lone Pine and decided that it was too difficult.
From there he had made it to Canada by bus. Mousetrap is from the
state of Maine and his name was earned on the Appalachian Trail for
carrying a mousetrap to rid the shelters of mice! The four of us headed
on south together exchanging tales of of our travels and chatting
away.
The
trail kept high to the mountain slopes providing good views and we
saw our first marmots and quite a few deer in the forest. We made
our next camp at Harts Pass where there is a campsite but it had still
not opened yet as its deep in snow - oh well , plenty of room for
us!
|
Beards on the trail
|
|
There
was a definite fashion amongst long distance hikers to grow
a beard on their journey. It seemed like a sort of connection
and one-ness with the woods and the backcountry. Or perhaps
it was just easier not to shave when out on a long hike!
Some
hikers like Brian Sweet started out fresh of face and just
grew a beard as they went. Tim, however looked like his
a had been growing for a few years... Brian never
got into the habit and carried a plastic disposable razor
or two with him to shave every second day or so- maybe he
just didn't want to face the effort of shaving off a weeks
growth!
Martina
(feeling left out) got caught up with the excitement a bit
and grabbed some tree lichen to create a stylish substitute
beard!
|
 |
 |
 |
Next
day, there was much snow around in large patches but the trail could
usually be spotted in between. However we did lose the trail completely
in a long climb up to Mattow Pass but it didn't stop us making a good
23 miles that 3rd day and we were definitely going well despites some
aches and
pains
for both of us. We hit our first main road south of the border at
the well named Rainy Pass after 70 miles and sheltered in the toilet
booth for a rest!
Our
route now followed Bridge Creek for 10 miles- strolling on through
Douglas Fir and scrub beside the roaring river. We saw a black bear
here and it looked at us in a puzzled way and just stared about 50
meters off the path as we walked by. We finally emerged at our first
resupply stop of Stehekin after 90 miles feeling quite pleased with
ourselves that we were going fairly strongly.......
Next Stehekin to Stevens Pass
