After a good cooked breakfast at the Stehekin Restaurant, we caught the 8 o’clock bus to the trailhead and commenced the final section in Washington. We started in Chelan National Park where the campsites are well maintained and have bear proof food safes.

After a couple of hours we stopped at the first of these campsites and sat at a picnic table for morning tea with a couple of other hikers – Doug from Canada and Ranger Rick (used to be a park ranger at Cascade Locks). There was a deer wandering around the campsite who didn’t seem very shy – animals in the national parks are generally less afraid because they are protected whereas in other areas they can be hunted in season.

The PCT trail here was very recently maintained and, although it was a long uphill climb for 19+ miles, the gradient wasn’t too steep and most of the rivers had bridges or log footbridges for safe crossing. A rocky creek supplied a convenient lunch spot and we enjoyed a pastry we had bought from Stehekin bakery.

We arrived at Rainy Pass at about 6:30 pm and were joined by Doug who is hiking Washington this year to complete his PCT hike.

Although the tent site at the trailhead has the convenience of a nearby clean toilet, unfortunately it is located right near a fairly busy road with loud traffic noise. A first for us on the PCT.

Getting close to Canada!