Miles this section : 81
Miles completed : 2650
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| Many fish in the Stehekin. |
Stehekin isn't actually on the trail, indeed it is fully eleven miles away along a little used road, which actually has a regular bus service, I guess intended for the use of tourists arriving in town via the passenger ferry, and as you'd expect popular with hikers. But I have got this far on my own two feet, I'm not going to get into a vehicle now, so eleven miles of walking it is. In fact I rather enjoy the road walk, even with the resurfacing work that is going on... It runs through a deep gorge alongside the fish filled Stehekin River, the riverside makes a nice place to stop for lunch, and I guess those fish are attracting predators, as while I'm eating a Bald Eagle flies directly overhead!
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| Some fine walking in this last section. |
I get back onto the trail, thankfully the weather has turned dry again, quite sunny in fact, which isn't without potential issues - I nearly step on a rattlesnake sunning itself on the path at one point, did not expect them so far north. I reach the campsite that the rangers gave me a permit for, this is in a national park, hence all the regulations I guess. They really didn't want to give me a permit for this site, no idea why as it is empty, at least until some more hikers join me - they have a permit for a different site, but somehow the world does not end. I look at the wire from which I'm supposed to hang my food, I think if I spent ages removing all the guy ropes from my tent, tying them together etc. I might produce something that would maybe result in a hungry and frustrated bear lurking around the campsite. I don't bother, but of course now I worry about rangers for much of the night.
Well, in the event I am troubled by neither rangers nor bears, but after a less than great night's sleep I have a long climb to do, up to seven thousand feet, although it's an easy enough grade so I make steady progress. There are some last mountain passes to go through, with proper wilderness names such as Cutthroat, Granite and Glacier, they are most scenic, kind of cold camping up among them mind you - I imagine it is getting cold for the wildlife too, as at one point as I'm getting to sleep I hear some sort of critter running around between my tent inner and flysheet.
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| A brief escape from the clouds on the last day. |
Some excitement to liven up the last few miles, a couple of hikers just ahead of me have found a gun on trail! It's loaded with birdshot, though there are other types of ammo, plus the owner's bag and phone nearby - they carry it off to the nearest road hoping to find somebody to give it to. I'm into the last fifty miles now, walking under blue skies to Harts Pass, where the trail crosses the last road before Canada - I did plan to camp here, but there is no water and they want eight dollars! And yes, there is some kind of ranger / guard present to enforce this, and presumably keep a watch out for invading Canadians.
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| Woohoo! |
One last day or so and I reach the end of the trail, something of an anticlimax of course, the country on the other side of the border looks much the same, though there is a strip of cut forest running off up the hills to either side, and a couple of monuments. I'd hoped for a moment of quiet contemplation here, but of course there is a steady stream of hikers turning up, and enjoying celebratory drinks or indeed other substances. Well, still another nine miles to go until I can rest, but it doesn't take long, and on reaching the road the small resort of Manning Park has all I need - yes, there is burger, beer, and somewhere to sit while I wait for the (2am!) bus to Vancouver. Oh thank goodness, it is over at last.
Photos to go with this post can be found here.
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