2018.09.15 - Day #128 - The Trail's End

To PCT mile 2652.6 (stats here).

The supposedly last night on trail left lots of room for improvement. Because of the tilted ground, I kept sliding and bumping to the walls of the tent. The tent was setup badly so it was not as roomy as it should have been. My toes kept being cold through most of the night, even as I had dry socks on them. During the past week it has come obvious that my foam mattress is not thick enough in this weather to insulate me against the cold from the ground. In addition, there was talking near my tent through the night. Still, the night was not that cold as I feared. Sleeping my puff jacket and tights on did the trick and kept me warm. I am glad that I found some use for those as I have not been utilising them otherwise.

I got up 6am and started hiking maybe 7:30am. I was in no hurry. It would be all downhill to the monument. Still, I wanted to get to Manning Park relatively early so that I could enjoy finishing the trail in daylight and have time to utilise the jacuzzi. Before I started walking, I learned that the hiker next to my tent was Gummy, and the talking during the night happened because somebody had a huge stomach pain. What a lousy way to end the hike for that person, but then again, at least you could get quickly to treat yourself without quitting the trail.

Only 10 minutes after I started hiking, Booty and Heiny caught up with me. Instead of letting them just blaze past me, I decided to tag along. There was so little hiking left that I thought that I would not need to be that careful with the feet. Also, it would be nicer to finish with other people. This was the first time that I properly conversed with them. We hiked the rest of the 6.5 miles together. The pace was fast and it took us only less than two hours to get to the border. To my surprise, the rest of the previous day's gang were already there, cheering us when we arrived. Usually they have started late, but today they must have started really early, in addition to continuing late the previous day.

You end the thing how you started, with the same dirty (but cool!) shirt and just generally looking stupid.

We spent fair amount of time at the monument, chattering away and taking pictures. There was a trail register box behind the monument without a register. It acted as a storage where people but their weed as it is illegal to cross the border having that with you. Needless to say, I did not contribute. After an hour or so, I continued hiking in Canada towards the Manning Park resort with Booty and Heiny. There was still a 1500 feet ascend over 4 miles, and then coming down the same amount. And then it would be over. It was much harder to keep up with the Germans when going uphill, especially as I did not utilise my hiking poles. It was still too cold, even though the weather was otherwise fine. No sunshine, though. Cannot have it all.

The U.S. - Canadian border from high up. Poor trees that were sacrificed.

At the top of the final climb, there was a trail head with a pit toilet. The urge to lighten my load was greater than the urge to finish the trail with company, so I jumped on to the possibility. It was around 2pm when I finally arrived to Manning Park resort. I reunited with Booty and Heiny at the restaurant. The PCT was now done. No more actual hiking for this trip.

The gang that kept me company during the last week. Plus one extra guy. Guess who!

Manning Park Resort is kind enough to give PCT hikers free access to their jacuzzi, so that was where we headed next. Remembering how cold it has been the past days, it felt quite wonderful to just lay there in the pool. We were quite out of words. Eventually, we made our way out of there and did our laundry. Originally, like most of the hikers do, I had thought to continue to Vancouver after spending a night in a hostel, but as Booty and Heiny were going to Seattle immediately, I changed my mind. It felt like a good idea to get back to U.S., with easier and shorter access to Portland where I was eventually headed. This was enough of adventure to stomach already, and exploring a new city and area could wait for another time.

We tried to hitch in the setting evening, but without any luck. Eventually a day hiker who was staying at the resort emerged and promised us a ride there the next morning. This was more than great. We lucked out again when we found elder hikers to share a cabin with on otherwise fully booked resort. Also, having a good night sleep before sitting hours in a car felt like a terrific area. We ended the day by having a great dinner at the restaurant and I was able to let myself crazy for a while and spent a decent amount of money there.

Ah, PCT. We are done. Maybe I try to make sense of you still on another postings before letting go entirely.