July 10th High Bridge to Stehekin

I woke with the dawn to make sure I covered the remaining five miles to High Bridge before the Stehekin bus departs at nine. It was a slow, liesurely pace as my feet were hurting from the downhill pounding they took yesterday. Such an early rise was rewarded with my best animal encounter yet. Hiking around a curve in a woody section of the trail, there standing no more than 10 meters from me was a moose. We stopped and stared at each other for a minute before he turned off trail and crashed up through the woods. What a magnificent and powerful animal! I reached High Bridge at a quarter to eight marking the official completion of my first PCT stage, which brought a certain sense of satisfaction tempered by the fact that I still have such a long way to go. Physically I'm pretty beat up with sore knees, achy feet, and a general feeling of exhaustion. Mentally I want to be back on the trail as soon as possible. I'll see how those two can reach a happy medium. Stehekin certainly is a unique little community isolated as it is at the western end of Lake Chelan. Most people come here by ferry from the eastern end or perhaps fly in by seaplane. The National Parks Service runs a shuttle bus up the valley from Stehekin landing to High Bridge dropping people off at various places along the way (Stehekin Ranch, the Bakery, Rainbow Falls, rafting or cycling centers, etc.). I set up camp in the overflow campsite not far from the visitors center and the landing. Quite peaceful since I'm the only one here except for the deer who has decided to join me. Enjoyed my first hot meal in a couple of weeks---chicken strips with a double order of fries. Extra salt for the thru-hiker. :-) It was a great change of pace from gorp/trail mix and tortillas with Nutella spread. I spent the hot (90 Fahrenheit) afternoon at the lakeshore soaking my poor tootsies in the cool water. It felt so good I decided to take a dip, which was amazingly refreshing. An afternoon siesta, a hearty dinner and an early bedtime after doing some wash will hopefully contribute to a total rejuvenation.

Doe and Fawns


Atop Cutthroat Pass

5 Miles