Washington
Canadian border
to Oregon border 500 miles
Introduction
Prelude
After
our rest in San Francisco and short tour of Vancouver area we arrived
at the Canadian/Washington border eager to start on the trail again.
Our
arrival in Canada was somewhat premature- we had intended that it
would be the finale of our grande crossing of the USofA walk on the
PCT. Instead we touched down at Vancouver airport on Friday 12th
June from San Francisco. After being discouraged by the snow depth
of the Californian high sierra , our new 'great idea' was to fly to
Canada and resume the walk southward. Finishing at our trail exit
point of Walker Pass, south of the high sierra. To get there, though,
we still had 2000+ miles to walk through Washington, Oregon and north/central
California.
In
Vancouver, we felt much more comfortable than we had in south California.
It had less of the out-and-out commercialism of the south and a lusher,
more forested look to it. A boat trip out of Vancouver Island to spot
Orca killer whales was a wonderful diversion from the walk and made
us lust for more of the sea and coast. We both vowed to return for
a more extended stay. On the two hour bus trip east from Vancouver
we met 2 other hikers (Paul & Holly) who were thru hiker refugees
from southern California as we were. They were intent on the same
plan as us to complete the walk southward from here. They looked lean,
fit but tired due to the 48 hour bus journey from the south the had
just completed. We felt our flight and week's rest was justified.
Our
destination was Manning Park, a small resort and campsite tucked away
in forest and rolling hills, 8 miles north of the USA border. After
a hearty breakfast we left at 9.30am on June 16th- our second
leg of the walk was about to begin..........
The
PCT in Washington We could
expect a great contrast in conditions between Washington and Southern
California. The Cascade mountains dominate the centre of north Washington,
an alpine range of jumbled snowy peaks cloaked with dense forest of
lush mountain-hemlock at lower altitudes. To the south, a range of
dormant volcanos take over with Mt Rainier being seen from afar. The
trail travels through the forest and over alpine passes and often
maintains its height above forest as it contours round the sides of
mountains.
Chipmunks
and ground squirrels are the most commonly seen mammals whilst deer
are abundant and both brown and black bears can be seen.
Next,
we start hiking south from Canada........
