Day 42

11 miles
This is it! Last 3 miles to the border and then 8 more to the highway. This makes it 670 miles from Sisters to Canada in 42 days. About 90,000ft of elevation gain. One zero in Leavenworth, 5 nearos (Timberline Lodge/Govy, Cascade Locks, Trout Lake, Snoqualmie/Seattle, and Stehekin), 1 hero (White Pass). Sent the bear can, puffy, and microspikes home in Trout Lake (250 miles in). Got new shoes after 400 miles. Also got a belt, since the cinch on my pants wasn’t cutting it anymore. The belt didn’t really do the job much better, but at least my pants weren’t falling off. I had gained weight before the trip in anticipation of the calorie deficit, but I struggled to eat enough each day. Not for a lack of trying. I lost a fair bit of weight in a short time, but I still feel healthy. I feel strong, like my legs could go far longer each day. My feet are battered, but tough, and I only got one blister early on. I haven’t used leukotape in weeks, my feet do just fine in my Darn Toughs. I’m sick of Injinjis, but they were nice at the start to prevent between-the-toes blisters. I eventually switched solely to Darn Toughs and have been happy with them. My sun shirt smells so bad, and I think it has stopped being effective at blocking the sun because the back of my neck has felt burned the past few days. Switched to an Ursack back in Leavenworth (8oz instead of 40oz for the bear can), worth it. The 3 miles before the border were effortless and full of anticipation. The monument was great to see and we shared the experience with some hikers from the class of 2022 who had similar stories about finishing their hikes. It was fun to keep the mood light, especially after such long distances. Lots of photos and laughs. Once we got moving again we first encountered a bridge that was quite rickety and made me nervous while walking across, but it held out. Mostly downhill with a few inclined sections, the miles went quick enough. Although I sent some confusing text messages to my waiting parents, they figured out what I meant and met us along the trail about 1.5 miles in from the trailhead and finished it out with us. It was great to give them a hug and walk out of the woods together. We learned that they had met Strider and her tramily at the Manning Park restaurant earlier in the day. We got food and went back to the AirBnb to shower. It felt so nice to take a shower and not have to rush through it. And to sleep in a bed! The next day we learned of new fires near the trail that closed the section we just hiked through. We got out in the nick of time! What an end to our PCT hike.
-Drop