There was a lot of anxious anticipation for this day to begin. I was going to finish the Washington section of the PCT. All it took was about six miles of walking downhill with a very minimal pack. So when I was awake before the sun was up, this was not that surprising. I didn't have to pack too much as I just left my tent where it was and knew I would be back later. It was very strange to only be walking around with a small daypack, but I was happy to leave the big pack behind for a short little bit. As I went out to Hopkins Lake, I could see the moon just barely left in the sky after a night of brightly lighting it up. It was peaking out over the hills above the lake. The illumination from it was a brighter sight than the picture made it out to be.
I went up the trail and felt like I was definitely one of the first people on it. It was pretty easy hiking. I was just moving along downhill. I ran into a group near Castle Pass. They were out on their own exploratory hike, but I got some congratulations from the group leader. Really, I was just cruising and each step felt like I was a little bit closer to achieving my goal. I could check my map on my watch, so it wasn't a big surprise when I started to see some signs come into view. Here was the Northern Terminus! I had finished the entire Washington section of the PCT! This feeling of excitement took over my whole body and I just felt accomplished.
I was soaking it all in when all of a sudden I heard a dramatic scream. It was another hiker, one I had not met before, letting out a yell. He was middle aged and his clothes were in tatters. He had done the entire thing from Mexico to Canada. This was an even bigger accomplishment for him, but it did not take away from the accomplishment for me. We chatted quite a bit and we were able to take pictures of each other at the monument. The most interesting thing to me about being at the monument was that the border actually looked like a border. There were trees cut in a wide swath on both sides of Monument 78 up the entire hillside. This was surprising to me as I did not see the point of it.
I lingered for a little while, but my victory lap had to begin at some point. So I bid my new friend adieu and I started up the trail knowing full well that he would catch me in a short amount of time. This truly was a victory lap as I started to see the other hikers going toward the monument on my way out. We congratulated each other and chatted for a little bit at each crossing. I enjoyed the light pack going uphill, but it only lasted so long. Eventually I made it back to the lake where I needed to pack up my entire tent. This took me about an hour which I used to also get a little bit of food. With the big pack back on, I was definitely going to be moving slower, but there was a sense of accomplishment to keep me moving.
Now I got to go back up the Devil's Stairway. This was a little bit more challenging than going down, but also it just didn't matter anymore. It didn't matter how fast I moved. It didn't matter how far I got. All that mattered was that I accomplished the goal I set out to do. This truly was the victory lap. The route was unsurprising as it was the same trip I had taken the day before. I enjoyed the views along Lakeview Ridge. Woody Pass was amazing as I listened to the Tale of Two Cities while going down the switchbacks. I climbed back up to Rock Pass where I got to go down the easy, open meadow that took me downhill to Holman Pass.
The views were just so striking all around. Usually the wilderness experience is about being out and absorbing as much from nature as your body will let you. Today, it was all about just hauling my body and my stuff back to that trailhead at Hart's Pass. I knew I would not make it out today, so I just kept going as far as I could. From Holman Pass, I went uphill and nearly made it to Shaw Creek, but I knew of a campsite before it. There was one other person camping there.
I asked him if there was water around. He said no, but I did not need it. I set up camp and was happy to get into bed as fast as I could. I knew I would not sleep that great because of the excitement of being done the following day, but I gave it my best shot. The campsite was nice. It was forested and pretty close to the trail. Occasionally there were people going by, but there were no bugs which was a bonus. I did not talk to the person next to me much because he did not seem too friendly, but we had our distance anyway. Overall it was a great last full day. I put in about 26 miles and would only have about 11 miles left to go on the following day.
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