Chapter 12 - Stehekin to Rock Pass
Stehekin is inaccessible by roads and rests on the western shore of Lake Chelan. Typically, visitors take a ferry or seaplane from the eastern side, but hikers can walk in from the trail, which is on the west side of Stehekin. As the walk into town is fairly long, Stehekin provides a free shuttle from the trailhead, which I made just in time. It briefly stopped by Stehekin Valley Ranch, as well as the legendary Stehekin Bakery. Both were exceedingly welcome stops, as I had run out of food the night before.
I intended to resupply in Stehekin, but once we reached Stehekin proper, the town was absolutely packed. It had gotten to where rangers were asking any hikers who could leave to do so. I knew that in about a day, I’d reach Rainy Pass where I might be able to get a hitch to the tiny town of Mazama, so I packed out some extra bakery goods and returned to the trailhead.
The rest of the trail between Stehekin and Rainy Pass was in North Cascades National Park, which only allowed PCT hikers to camp in two specific campsites. I picked the one I thought I could make it to with the amount of day I had left. Upon reaching there, the campsite was also packed with hikers, so I found a small spot on the edge and planned to wake up early.
Compared to the previous sections of trail, the final 15 miles to Rainy Pass were a breeze, and before too long I ran into Honeybee, sans-McMansion, and we hitched into Mazama. I stopped by the bakery and enjoyed it much more than the one in Stehekin. It was already late afternoon, so I stayed in Mazama for the evening and went over to Lion’s Den. Lion’s Den was a home owned by a former PCT hiker who allowed hikers to stay during the PCT hiking season. With the fires causing havoc, this generosity was extra appreciated.
Knocking on the door, an older man opened the door and invited me in. I blinked and realized that it was Ghost, a trail angel I had met my very first week of the PCT. He and his wife were supporting another hiker and planning to drive her back down to San Diego when she finished.
I showered, did my laundry, and walked back into town, where I hung out with Rich and Ben. They had been just ahead of me for the past few weeks and they had just returned to Mazama after reaching the Canadian border. As I went back to Lion’s Den, I heard someone softly call out my name, and I was reunited with Bandit. We hung out for on the side of the road well past dark, chatting before bed.
As the fires north were intensifying and threatening to close the PCT, I left early the next day, intending to get to the border the day after. After Rainy Pass, the trail was beautiful, but the wildfire smoke was settling in the valley and anxiety ran up and down the trail.
I made it to Grasshopper Pass at sunset and setup for the night. I was only 37 miles away from the border and vowed to finish up the rest of Washington the next day.
Harts Pass, a difficult to reach pass by vehicle even in the best of times, had rangers organizing cars as a recent landslide had made access challenging. The rangers were also nervous, but optimistic about the fire situation, so I trekked northwards. As entry into Canada from the United States was closed this year, hikers returning from tagging the border cheered me on as they returned to Harts Pass. The first of which was Mug, who I last saw on my very first day. He had been ahead of me almost the entire trail and wished me the best of luck, warning that the smoke would get worse.
Walking into the Pasaytan Wilderness, I looked at the border, where the smoke clouds made an eerie scene. I congratulated a few more hikers I knew on their way back to the border, including White Stripe, who decided not to stay in Mazama.
Around 15 miles from the Canadian border, I was making great time when I saw a hiker I had been around for most of Washington. I was about to congratulate him on reaching the monument when I noticed his sullen demeanor, and he informed me that the trail north was now closed. I hiked on, as he told me to confirm with the rangers that were up ahead, where I found them comforting a woman who was sobbing. They let me know that fire was visible from the trail just up ahead. Apologizing, they let me know that I’d need to turn around, since I was technically inside of a fire closure.
I was sad to have to turn around, but the mood as I made my way back to safety was extremely somber. I did my best to be there for others, but as I wasn’t as heartbroken as many of the people around me - especially as this wasn’t the end of my time on the PCT - I felt less than effective and instead camped on my own that evening. The next day, I ran into Shapes, who had been just behind me. He planned on at least making it to the edge of the fire closure, but let me know to wait for him at Harts Pass.
At Harts Pass, locals from Wenatchee had set up a kitchen, providing pancakes and hot chocolate. Because Harts Pass was the closest road to the border, many hikers who were behind me stopped here. With that said, the difficult access to the road meant that getting hitches took a significant amount of time. Several hikers flagged down every vehicle they could find that was willing to drive hikers down from Harts Pass, while I kept a list of hikers and the order they signed up for a hitch.
Here, I ran to hug Magma, and we caught up as the number of hikers stranded on Harts Pass diminished. After returning from PCT Days, Magma had found a new group she was tight with, and they planned to return to Cascade Locks and hike south. I also glimpsed Misplaced and Stellar Jay, before they found their ride down.
When Shapes returned from the border, he let me know that his mother was on her way. Before too long, I had my ride not just to Mazama, but all the way back to Seattle. I left my list with some other hikers and walked them through the process, and we took the next few people on the list down with us. We did a pit stop in Mazama, relishing the bakery goods one more time, and began the long drive to Seattle.