The Lady II (ferry) is warming up take me back to Stehekin from Chelan. If the stops are quick today I’ll be just in time to catch the last bus of the season back out to the Pacific Crest Trail.
North Cascades National Park runs the shuttle bus ten miles down a rough road to a ranger station at the trailhead. The small town of Stehekin is unique amongst the other small towns I’ve visited in that this road dead ends in the middle of nowhere. Stehekin is only accessible by foot, ferry, and plane.
Today I’ll return to the trail. And most likely I’ll be all alone. This past weekend’s weather front sent the hikers home in droves, many stopping just 30 miles from the border. At least one hiker reported knee deep snow at 7,000 feet and turned around (right where I’m heading).
To surmount this obstacle I picked up a pair of rubberized boots, Gortex gloves, gaiters, snow shoes, and additional base layers for hiking and sleeping. High temperatures will be in the low 30s and lows will be in the teens. Rain at a minimum is gaurunteed most of the week.
Yes I’m nervous.
I’ve also picked up two separate external batteries to charge my phone which will serve as my gps for navigating the USGS Quadrant maps for the area. Most likely the trail will be covered in snow with no footsteps in front of me.
I have 90 trail miles to get to safety, 81 to the border. The last highway is 20 miles ahead. The last road is 50 miles ahead.
This morning I gave my dad the plan on what to do if he doesn’t hear from me within 10 days. I’ve got a week’s worth of food I can easily stretch to that point if things get bad (plus 4 normal weeks worth of fuel).
Hopefully you all will hear from me within a week, else I’ll be just another 20 something year old white guy you hear about on the news.
This is what finding a way looks like. God bless America.
