What is the Best Section of the PCT?

Part 5: Washington

Miles 2144 to 2659

Washington Sections A to E, Oregon/Washington State Border to Canada Border

Summary

Cascade Locks: 22/08/17 – 13/09/17 :Manning Park, Canada

After celebrating my birthday, and meeting old friends, it was time to hike on – finally having passed all fire closures… an unbroken stretch… right? I started out alone in this section until White Pass, where I got to hike past one of the more awesome mountains on the trail – Mt Adams! Hiking past this beast was spectacular and seeing Mt Rainier coming up ahead, and even Mt St Helens at times to the West. Goat Rocks though were the main highlight as discussed below!

I made the late decision to visit the town of Packwood. It was here I met some fellow hikers that I had previously bumped into several times. We ended up getting caught up by yet another fire closure (Norse Peak fire), and saved by a friendly trail angel who put many of us up for the night in her apocalypse survival home – receiving her amazing hospitality.

We then once again needed to hitch around the closure (no official detour at this point) to resume our hike. These closures were mentally getting to me, but being able to share the experience with others took out a lot of the negatives I would have had with the situation by myself. Also, just making the most of the time was welcome.

The section of trail from Snoqualmie Pass until Manning Park was one of my favourite parts of my whole trip. I was part of a fantastic group containing three sisters and two other guys (Rise, Shine, Snakebite, Land Mammal and Fat & Sassy) who were very easygoing and great fun.

Spontaneous decision-making was a strength in our group – one suggestion, and we’d all agree! After waking up in a carpark at Stevens Pass and thinking we’d hit the trail, we decided to spend the morning in Leavenworth – a touristy German town, where we devoured amazing food and ate copious amounts of ice cream.

Stehekin was another fun trail town, as there was the one-off Orchard Dance – many townsfolk, tourists, and hikers all had a blast dancing to the awesome band playing live there. An unintentional zero-day well spent!

The pressures of fire closures were still there, and there was one not far away, smothering us in smoke. In the end, we were lucky and could push through! The border was right there… the end… but why? It didn’t hit me at first. We spent about 2 hours at the monument and had a blast, savouring the final moments on the trail together.

We all ended up in Vancouver, still having good times, but the time came to part ways. This was when it hit me… this lifestyle was over… the hike was done… I’m out of money and need to go home 🙁 Some would say ‘welcome back to reality’, but as one of my first trail buddies – Echo said, “this is living, THIS is reality”.

Favourite Section

Goat Rocks Wilderness 

This part of the trail had amazing views of endless nature, from lakes to forests to mountains and glaciers, you could see it all! It felt like you were on top of the world on Knife’s Edge, hiking along the top of a ridge line with views on either side. A spectacular section and a highlight of the PCT.

Least Favourite Section

White Pass to Snoqualmie Pass 

Why this section? Because I never saw it due to a fire closure! There was honestly no section I hiked that wasn’t as good as the last. I heard someone tell me this section was less spectacular than the previous section, so I’m taking their word! 😛 Seeing this image helps to show how bad the smoke was in sections.

Favourite Town

Packwood 

This was a hard put up against Leavenworth and Stehekin, but Packwood is too underrated not to mention here. I had never even heard of it until I got to Cascade locks to sort out my Washington resupplies. Packwood is an easy enough hitch, and the town is compact and easy to get around. It had all the hiking essentials, good Wi-Fi in the hotel/hostel and great dining options. A few deer wander the streets too, adding to the charm.

Least Favourite Town

Snoqualmie Pass

There weren’t really any bad towns or locations on the trail, but this place was one of those get-in-get-out towns. We were there only briefly in the morning and had breakfast at the (rather average) pancake diner before re-joining the trail.

Main Hiking Partners

Rise – mile 2292 – 2659 (White Pass – Manning Park, Canada)

Shine – mile 2292 – 2659 (White Pass – Manning Park, Canada)

Snakebite – mile 2292 – 2659 (White Pass – Manning Park, Canada)

Land Mammal – mile 2292 – 2659 (White Pass – Manning Park, Canada)

Mr Blisters – mile 2292 – 2461 (White Pass – Stevens Pass)

Copper (the dog) – mile 2292 – 2461 (White Pass – Stevens Pass)

Fat & Sassy – mile 2569 – 2659 (Stehekin – Manning Park, Canada)

Was Washington the Best Section of the PCT?

Washington definitely was amazing for ongoing beauty. It was certainly one of my favourite sections, but it just didn’t have the epicness that the Sierra gave. This section absolutely had the best lakes for swimming though!

~ Read more about my section review of The Desert here ~

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