Stehekin, Washington

9/10-
Day 153 - For the past five days, the vegetables have been on pause in Seattle, recovering from Burning Man and preparing for the last leg of the hike. Five days was a longer layover than I had expected, but I was happy reuniting with old friends and making new ones. The weather, both in the city and in the mountains, was cold and wet and I was relieved to spend the time indoors with plenty of coffee to drink. Tomorrow we're renting a car and heading off to Canada after spending 20 days off the trail. - Staggerin' Willie

9/11-
Day 154 - Wow, we finally made it out of Seattle thanks to Jonny and Maria's pal, Joe. This week's hero tolerated a long car ride with the Menacing Vegetables (which has landed some in the psychiatric ward) in order to get us here to Canada. Muchos Gracias, Joe! Of course, it wasn't without it's rewards. Alond the way in Hope, Canada, we encountered a "Beaver Eating Contest" at the local firestation which we all immensely enjoyed. Apparently, competitive beaver eating is a popular pastime among Canadians. Tonight we're camped in the chilly woods of Canada, a few miles from the American border and northern terminus of the PCT. - Kaptain Krumholz

Day 154 - It was a nice time in Seattle, a good rest, but we were all ready to get back on the trail today. Another rock star friend of ours, Joe Guillemette, drove with us up to Manning Park in Canada and then drove the car back to Seattle. He is our Hero-of-the-Week.
The border crossing was easier than the one down at Campo. The guard did confuse Maria with his first question, though; Where do you live? Ultimately they let us all in. Hopefully they let Joe back into the US. - Jonny

Day 154 - I did a side trip summit of Windy Joe today in Manning Park in honor of our friend, Joe Joe. There is a well maintained fire tower up there that hasn't been used since 1963. Panoramic views labeled by partings above each window on this 5989' summit. I can see my country from up here. - Squirrelfight

Day 154 - The Vegetables have had lots of help from different folks along the way, and earlier today Pickle suggested having a "hero of the week." Well, this week Joe is the hero for driving us up to Manning Park B.C., and dropping us off at the trailhead. Thanks, Joe! - Staggerin' Willie

Day 154 - Tonight we spend the night on foreign soil. Despite our appearance and befuddled state of mind, we managed to get past the border guard and into Canada. Because we failed to get the proper innoculations and immunizations, we are all at grave risk of contracting Canadian diseases such as Meplearia and Beaver Fever. The trail work in Canada, I must say, is much nicer than in the US. Then again, they only have 13 Km of trail to maintain. - Staggerin' Willie

9/12-
Day 155 - Boy am I whopped. Today was my first full day of hiking in nearly three weeks and I can really feel those 15 miles, but N. Washington is utterly spectacular - lush and rugged with snowy peaks and grassy basins. It's pretty damp here, though, and I suppose we'll stay moist for the remainder of our walk. We've already seen half a dozen thru-hikers finishing up their long treks.. Congratulations to all of you! - Kaptain Krumholz

Day 155 - How can I possibly describe the beauty which surrounds us? The past 4 days back on the trail have revieled some of the most incredible landscapes I've ever seen. There are deep, richly forested valleys which stretch for miles. Then, as you look up from the valley, as well as everywhere around you, there are endless craggy peaks, pinnacles, and spires. This is the epitamy of alpine beauty. It's really too bad not all of this roadless land is designated wilderness. Much of it is national forest which of course means you can say goodbye to its trees and habitat sometime in the near future. - Pickle

Day 155 - It appears Scott Williamson has some competition in his great quest to become the first person to thru-hike the entire PCT twice in one year. Walk on, who passed us back in the Mojave, reached Canada on August 12 and decided to turn around and go back to Mexico. I believe Walk On started three weeks after Scott but the word on the trail is that he is catching up to him quickly. They are both on bace to finish around Thanksgiving. Who will be the first? - Squirrelfight

Day 155 - Today, after 5 months and a day, we had our "border moment" at the official northern terminus of the PCT. While we didn't walk the whole way, it was nevertheless quite an adventure getting here, and it felt like a real accomplishment to have stood at both ends of the trail. Several hikers who started after we did have already finished, and we're planning to spend another month out here (if the weather gods allow it). We may be lame hikers, but we're definitely in for the long haul. - Staggerin' Willie

9/13-
Day 156 - We met a thru-hiker today who began hiking on June 10! He will finish tomorrow - Sept 14. That is a96 day thru-hike and a 27.7 mile per day average if he took no days off. There's tough and there's smart. - Statistician

Day 156 - One of the most entertaining aspects of this final month of hiking will be crossing paths with all the northbound thru-hikers finishing their trips. Of the 150 or so (that's a random guess) folks who will finish the PCT this year, 20 had already signed in at the border when we got there, which means lots of hikers will get a suprise "vegetable welcome." We've already met up with over 10 thru-hikers, some of whom we hadn't met before, others who we hadn't seen since So. California or the High Sierra. Many happy reunions! - Staggerin' Willie

9/14-
Day 157 - We've had two straight days of crystal blue skies and warm wind. This is not how I expected the weather to be in Washington. Not that I'm complaining. All day today we traversed along ridge tops, watching the snowy peaks fade to the horizon. Our elongated trail reunion continues. Today we bumped into our old pal Lady Godiva who, with the help of her husband, Charlie, is riding the entire PCT on horseback. It was great to see her again. Those two helped me in Southern California through through some of my hardest days of the hike. - Kaptain Krumholz

Day 157 - So far, the PCT through the North Cascades has been some of the best hiking of the trip. We've mostly stayed high up on the ridges, weaving from saddle to saddle, with awesome views of the dark, craggy, glacier-covered North Cascades at every bend. Since Canada, we have hiked through near continuous wilderness; the one dirt road we have seen was dwarfed by the magnitude of this remote landscape. It's helped that the weather has been near perfect. After 1 day of clouds and rain, the rest of our hike into Washington has been hot, clear, and sunny. I don't expect that it will last, so I'll enjoy it while it lasts. - Staggerin' Willie

9/15-
Day 158 - We seem to have landed right in the middle of wild berry season - Yum! So far we've seen Huckleberries (which are pretty good), Thimbleberries (which I like, but no one else does), everyone's favorite - Blueberries! While they don't grow in clusters like they do in Maine, the blueberries here are yummy and huge - the size of softballs. They grow close to the ground, so on steep, uphill slopes, they're right at chest hight, which makes it physically impossible to walk past a ripe bush without stopping to pick a handfull. - Staggerin' Willie

9/16-
Day 159 - This morning was probably the most beautiful morning of this walk. Fog rolled into our camp at Granite Pass as I was packing up, but after a few hundred feet of climbing I had topped out above the fog into clear sunshine. At my feet, an enourmous cloud filled the basin, spilling out in a river of mist through Granite Pass. And perched above the clouds was the craggy North Cascade High County. True Sky Theatre. - Kaptain Krumholz

Day 159 - This morning, I think, was about the most beautiful we've had on the entire PCT. We were camped at Granite Pass, a notch at the head of a bowl-shaped glacier-carved valley. I awoke in fog, but as I climbed the headwall above the pass, I saw that the valley was filled with fog to a level just above the camp. The top surface of the fog wasn't flat, but was rolling and undulating, and it was pouring through the gap and down into the dry, clear valley to the east like a ghostly, cascading river. All around, snow capped mountains rose out of the fog as though it were an enourmous glacier. What an unbelieveable sight! - Staggerin' Willie

9/17-
Day 160 - Jonny and I have just taken an old schoolbus into the "island" resort town of Stehekin. It's not really an island, but resembles one in the fact that the only way to get here, unless you're hiking the PCT, is to take a 4 hour boat ride. They also run a barge twice a week in the summer to transport garbage, cars, and supplies. Other than a handful of snobby cityfolk, this seems like a fabulous vacation spot. There is only one road (which dead ends on both sides), bike rentals, horseback riding, river rafting, and hiking. But the real kicker is that the town sits on a glacial lake surrounded by the high Cascade Mountains. All of which is more stunning than I can describe. Hope y'all can come out here some time. - Pickle : )

Day 160 - We're in Stehekin now; the first (or last, depending on which way you're going) re-supply in washington. What a rad little town! Sitting at the end of Glacial Lake Chelan, there's only one road in town, dead-end at both sides. All the cars here are old and funky with expired registration. With only about 100 hard-core, year-round residents, Stehekin seems like a great place to live if you don't really like people all that much. - Staggerin' Willie

I was talking to someone at home the other day who is a regular watcher of the news and she had no idea that Ralph Nader was running for president. Does he really get that little coverage? Is that how the media treats a candidate who actually has good ideas? Truthfully, this does not suprise me at all. It does, however, frighten me when I see george W. talking about strengthening our millitary.
What I would like to see is a debate between Gore and Bush and Nader. Unfortunately, after 1992 when Ross Perot appeared in the presidential debates and then won almost 20 percent of the vote, the job of hosting the debates was taken away from the non-partisan League of Women's Voters, and turned over to a commission controlled jointly by the Republican and Democratic parties.
Funded by corporate sponsors and taxpayer dollars, and legally a non-profit organization, this commision has established criteria wich essentially eliminates participation by "third party" candidates.
Ralph Nader and Winona LaDuke are seeking inclusion in this year's debates because they will be on the ballot in at least 45 states and they have demonstrated consistant poll rankings above that needed for major party status under US law. In addition, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) has introduced House Resolution 373 in congress, seeking the inclusion of Nader and LaDuke in the presidential debates.
If you would like to see Nader face off against Bore and Gush, here's what you can do: Send a letter to each of the three leaders of the presidential debate commission - Janet Brown, Paul Kirk, and Frank Fahrenkopf Jr. at:
Commission on Presidential Debates
1200 New Hampshire NW
Box 445
Washington DC 20036
Phone them at (202) 872-1020
Email Janet Brown at jb@debates.org
sign the online petition at www.votenader.org
Send an automated email to all three at www.workingforchange.org - click on "activism" and then choose "action" to find the debates info.
I mean, it's only fair. - Squirrelfight

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