In Stehekin, our last zero was spent. The porch of the general store provided an excellent place to hang out and watch the new arrivals pour in via the shuttle bus we’d taken the day prior. Among them were Cookie, Smiley, Disaster and Big Oil.
‘Oeh, a deep dish pizza. Don’t get lost in there!’, Big Oil called after me, as I was getting out of the store with said pizza. I don’t know how I’m going to survive after the trail without his occasional observations.
Everyone who’d made it this far made their final plans and decided how to best deal with the unfortunate closing of the terminus. Lots of people were getting off at Hart’s Pass, even more at Rainy Pass. Disaster’s group was aiming for the alternate posted by the PCTA and bushwhacking the last miles to the border, as the described alternate only went ‘near the border’.
A final option, which quickly gained traction, was the one that Feathers, Captain Something, Booster, Billy Goat and Poseidon had done, namely go to Canada by kayak. Ross Lake, a long lake stretching from south to north, lay to the west of the PCT and was by nature unaffected by the fires. The resort on the south side of the lake rented out kayaks. The idea latched on to me. It seemed a way better way to end the trail than at Rainy Pass. I briefly contemplated joining Rolls Royce, Cookie and Smiley on this endeavour, when my group got on board with it too.
It was decided then! We would go to Seattle for three days and then come back to Ross Lake to paddle the final miles to the border. The fellowship was going to Canada after all!
In the late afternoon, Lavalamp suddenly disappeared. At first, no one showed any concern, as the man often wandered off without telling anyone. We only got worried once he missed his reservation at the Stehekin Valley Ranch, the only restaurant in the area. Lavalamp would never miss out on a restaurant meal. We mounted a search party to find our missing member. Mash quickly located him on the bathroom, vomitting and having diarrhea for the last 2 hours. He was sick again. The cause was unknown, but it was obvious that Lavalamp would be doing no hiking tomorrow.
Every hiker in Stehekin came out in the evening to sit on the porch. For almost everyone there it was the last town night on this journey. The atmosphere was both joyous and melancholic. Th end was so close now, a momentous achievement for everyone present and the end of the way of life we’d lived for so long now.
Once my group went to bed, I joined Cookie and Smiley at their table. It almost seemed like it was meant to be that I saw both of them here again. Smiley, the man who never ceased to inspire me to wonder and dream about the beauty of our journey (and all the inevitable journeys that will come after) and Cookie, kind, loyal Cookie. My dear friends, gathered here on what would be our last evening together. Our paths may have parted then and there, but I do not doubt they will cross again in the future.
I don’t want this to end.