DAY 143 MON SEPT 8th!!!!

So excited! Up and hiking by 6:15 (we slept in a little on our last morning) The miles came fast and easy, it was COLD, I mean there was frost on the plants on the side of the trail! Our feet were wet in no time from brushing the plants as we walked. Neighbor and I saw the border swath just ahead of us and knew we were soo very close! Then we saw part of the monument through the trees and we were there! 0840am, we were standing at the border swath and end of the PCT, the end of our long walk. We took a few pictures then Slider and Thrust came along and we took more pictures and signed the register and hung out for 40 min or so, but it was too cold to stay any longer, so we started our 7 mile hike to Manning Park which couldn't come fast enough (for me). I wanted DONE (Neighbor says that he wanted to yo-yo...) We got to the pavement a few hours later and walked the 1 mile to Manning Park resort and got a room for the night. Washed our clothes and enjoyed the hot tub. I started feeling just awful and realized that I had caught some kind of stomach bug (bad food or bad water somewhere) but thank goodness we were in town and done, so I could rest!!! What a day to remember!!

Day 142 Sun Sept 7th

Chilly morning, had the mittens on. Sunrise reflection on the big peaks around us and we could see Mt. Baker off to the West. More amazing views on this eastern side of the Cascades where the air is drier (and the weather is nicer!!) We hiked over the highpoint in WA of 7100 feet and we could SEE Canada!!! Amazing views (which I'll attatch pictures to soon) We took picture after picture this day, in all directions, just beautiful! So glad we had nice weather on this last week of hiking. Camped by Hopkins Lake for the night a mere 6.8 miles from the END of the PCT!! What a beautiful spot for our last night on the trail (camped with Slider and Thrust)

Day 141 Sat Sept 6th

No mice! Pretty big climb out of Rainy Pass, but it was easy walking as usual, this is where the amazing views on this stretch started, what beauty all around. We just meandered along the mountainside for endless miles today taking in the views. Ended up hiking close to 30 miles by the days end and camped at Harts Pass (at a small campground) It was downright cold out this night and we were at 6200 feet. Only 30 miles left to the border from where we camped!

Day 140 Fri Sept 5th

Warm night sleeping with lots of active mice around, beautiful stars and first night in a VERY long time without the rainfly on! Up at 6am and had one last breakfast at the Landing, then caught the 8am bus back to the trail (with a quick bakery stop on the way!!) On the homestretch, 89 miles to go! Pretty easy hiking, we camped at Rainy Pass (Route 20) basically at the picnic area after a 19-20 mile day out of Stehekin. Lots of Canadian Jays around just waiting to steal any food you might drop.

Day 139 Thurs Sept 4th

Got to sleep in and it felt great! Packed up and were out of the room by 1030, decided that we liked Stehekin so much that we'd spend another day here! (but would camp for free instead of spending more money on a room) So, we moved down the street to the Purple Point campground where the free camping was and set up shop. I jumped a ride to the bakery with one of the same ladies as the day before and saw Flippy, Swiffer, Antfarm and the 3 guys from Washington there. I got one of the bakery's famous cinnamon rolls (they are huge!) and took the bus back, basically hung around and relaxed the rest of the day away. Neighbor got an e-mail from Chief that he was leaving Skykomish today (so he's only 4 days behind us!!) We might get to see him again afterall!

Day 138 Wed Sept 3rd

Had a great night's sleep, went to the Landing for breakfast (amazing food there) I had pancakes with berries and cream on top! Neighbor had the French toast, yummy! Then we finally hit the showers and did some laundry (though I think our laundry may have been cleaner when it went in the washing machine than when it came out) We got a room at the Landing Resort for the night and were able to enjoy a real bed for the night. The PO opened at 10am and we picked up our many packages! Almost missed one from Yappy (because she addressed it to "Neighbor and Chickety" :) ) Gram and Papa mailed some homemade cookies! Letters from Chels, Grammy Peg and Mom (with $$ in it that we put towards are night's stay!!) Thanks!! Then we caught a ride to the bakery with a couple of nice ladies and had a great lunch there. Managed to get a ride back to "town" (the bakery is almost 2 miles up the road) and bought a few postcards, hung out on the deck and filled them out while taking in the beautiful day. Our buddy MJ bought us a gift certificate for the Landing Restaurant (where the food is amazing) and we had a great dinner on him and even split a bottle of wine :) Thank you MJ!!!