I am leaving the quaint little town of Stehekin with a big group of thru-hikers: Astrid & Israh, the British girls, Sherpa, Swiss Army, Bristlecone & Uberbitch, Giggles & Sundog, Skip, Caveman, Berkely Bill, Solar Time, Siesta, and WeeBee. The others that left just behind my group, later that day were, Sagitar, lullaby, Rocks, Butters, Safety First, Cartwheel. WHEW! What a large group. And to think, I had been alone the last 4 days prior to getting to Stehekin, until I ran into the British girls 9 miles before Stehekin. Crazy!
I am very happy to be leaving with a large group, because it is supposed to continue raining and even snow in elevations above 5,000 feet, which is pretty much the the entire section. Bad weather is definitely easier to cope with when friends are around. Skip, Astrid and Israh and I pretty much said we would stick together since we all have roughly the same hiking pace and we all want to finish by Thursday. I have to finish by Thursday, so that I can make the 10 am bus from Manning Park Friday to get my plane Friday night. Here we GO!!
Summary of details for this section:
-Not that strenuous of hiking this time around
-Hiked with Skip every day
-Astrid and Israh are in front of the group, havent seen them since we got off the bus
-Good campsites (designated, no stealth camping, YAY!)
-Did not freeze, but wore my wool mittens, beanie, and rain jacket every day because of the cold wind
-Did not freeze at night because of my wonderfully warm bag and extra warm clothes 🙂
-Tent did fine
-rained one night, snowed one night
-walked in snow and fog up to Cutthroat Pass–very beautiful!
-Ate thimble berries!
-Best views were on the last day, as we approached and passed Woody Pass
-the mudslides/washouts from Rock Pass to Woody Pass were FINE! Had no troubles and it didnt slow us down 🙂
-Got up at 6am every morning and arrived to camp by 5pm every day
-Ate very well my last few days
-No new or worse foot/leg pains
-No tears this time 🙂
-Finished the trail with Skip, Astrid, Israh, Sherpa, Berkley bill, Solar Time.
Great section, but not as extreme as the last one (Stevens Pass to Stehekin)
