We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time. -T.S. Eliot

Manning Park.   Waiting for the bus to Vancouver:

MP 2646     Camped at a small spring.   Weather getting colder and I am hiking with a windshirt and gloves.   There is a beautiful aroma in the air, somewhat like Parmesan.    The golden-yellow Larch tremble and quake in the wind.  Berries at this elevation are all gone now.   The North Cascades are stunning in their beauty.   I love the beep of the picas which dodge behind the rocks when they see me.   There are sprinkles of rain but my luck is still holding and I have been able to stay dry.
     I reached the PCT terminus monument on the Canadian Border today.    The hike is officially over.   There are nine more miles to Manning Park where I will finish the hike at MP 2669.   

MP 2623    Camped up high on Butterfly Pass.   Very cold at night.  Freezing.   Got down to maybe 20 degrees would be my guess.   Still sleeping outside the tent.  

Larch at Butterfly Pass:

MP 2601   I crossed a highway and headed up as it started to get dark.    The trail switchbacked up a mountainside with a steep grade, maybe 100 degrees  (45 degree angle).   Finally found a small niche in a hollow next to a large, old-growth fir tree.   No room for the tent here.    Unfortunately it did start raining, lightly, during the night.    I pulled my tent over myself like a sheet and fell back to sleep. 

 

MP 2580   Ten miles to High Bridge and then catch a bus to Stehekin.   This is the last stop for resupply before I get to Canada.   The Agnes River Gorge is breathtaking.   I am sitting around with a bunch of hikers waiting for the bus.
     After coming out of Stehekin I camped out at High Bridge C.G.      The CG looked liked an invitation to other hikers so I broke the rules and camped on a ridge above.

Waiting for the bus:

 Gnu:

 Hiker Trash:

MP 2570   Continuing to hike through the Glacier Peak Wilderness.   Mountains on all sides tower above.  Crossed over the Saddle Bow Mountains which were as impressive as any I have seen on the hike.   The forests are more quiet than usual, probably because the migratory birds have started to fly south.   Vine maple colors the landscape.   Bear scat is purple from the huckleberries.   Fungi are abundant.   I frequently see mushrooms which I think, but an not sure, are edible:  Lion's Mane, Chicken of the Woods, boletes, rusula brevipes.     Saw a growth of chicken-of-the-woods that must have stair-stepped about 20 feet up and around a tree.    Don't feel quite confident enough to try them out though.   It has been many years since I collected edible mushrooms.  

MP 2547    Mistakenly thought I'd hiked to 2550 and camped out on an old spur trail  where I could avoid other hikers.   Turns out I was camped on an abandoned trail that is designated as a short cut on some maps and rather than avoid hikers I had several of them troop through my campsite in spite of my best efforts and much to my dismay.
          I have started putting up my tent at night, which I must do if there seems to be any chance of rain, and there always is.   If I had stuck with my tarp I would be able to wait until it actually started raining before pitching the tarp.    The tent feels like a clammy little cave.     So now I pitch it, but just  sleep next to it.     When other hikers come by and see this they must think it is strange.
           I have been hiking in the valley of the Suiattle River into deep old growth which is very ancient and beautiful.   There are Western Red Cedars that I estimate to have a diameter of 12 to 15 feet.  

MP 2527     Camped on a high ridge above the trail where I would be unnoticed so as to avoid other hikers.   Had a tremendous view across to what I believe is Glacier Peak  (this being the Glacier Peak Wilderness).    Clouds had settled in the valley below.   As the sun began to set the clouds seemed to well up into an enormous wall of fog that moved toward me with startling speed.   Suddenly thick wisps and fingers of fog flew right past.   It was thick like smoke and everything was eerily quiet.   The sun was blotted out in a matter of minutes and I could not see more than ten or twenty feet in any direction.  I have never seen anything quite like it.   When I awoke the next morning, everything was wet with mist.

This is where I camped:

The advancing fog:

MP 2506     Camped at Sally Anne Lake, a gorgeously beautiful, isolated alpine lake.   No sign of anyone.   Very few people on the trail today.    Thank God.   Didn't have to hide out.  September 24

Glacier Peak:

MP 2486    Back on the trail.    Fall colors are a spectacular mix of red and yellow, mostly Larch and Vine Maple.   Later in the day I hiked up into the clouds and everything became eerily quiet.    I am getting to hate the tarp/tent and do wish that I had stuck with my rectangular tarp.   I took a bad fall and am bruised on my knee, ribs, wrist and cheek.    The ribs were quite painful and made it difficult to sleep.  
    It was wet last night; very quiet and secluded this morning.  Have been actively avoiding other thru-hikers.    I am hiking high above the clouds now.    There is a thick haze from smoke.
     Didn't start this morning until 9:00.   Am having trouble getting up when it is cold and wet.    I did hit the 2,500 mile mark today.

     This day is the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, I believe.    Food for thought.

MP  2476    Resupply in Skykomish.   Finally got a ride into town with a thru-hiker turned trail angel,  Leisure Suit Larry.   I decided to skip the Dinsmore's and am staying overnight at the Cascadia Inn.    Gnu is here also.

MP 2469     Camped alone at a beautiful lake.   Did not record the name of it.
       This last section has been tough hiking.   Going slowly because of injury which is gradually getting better.  Trail surface is broken rock.   Fires are everywhere.   Air is so hazy that I can not see much.   Shrubbery is turning red and fall colors are evident.  Stopped at Skykomish for resupply & had a difficult time hitching a ride.    It took hours.  No rain this last week.  Freakishly good weather continuing to hold.  With luck I will finish in about 1 week.

Hotel in Skykomish:

 

2449    Finally caught up with Gnu.   We camped at Cathedral Pass.   Getting cold at night.

Cathedral Pass:

 Note the smoky haze from forest fires: