Michelle Hikes

I can’t believe it, but it’s officially been a whole year since I completed my PCT thru hike. Parts of the hike still feel so vivid and real to me but at the same time it’s like another life altogether. I’m happy to have this opportunity to reflect and remember the ending of this experience on this super important day in my story. Photo cred: Dan Dodge   Bright and early on September 24th, 2018, the hikers in Stehekin piled onto the famous North Cascades red bus, shuttled to the PCT trailhead, and immediately set off into in the mountains for our final stretch of trail.  Park shuttle to the trail The next couple days in and out of North Cascades National Park were bright and sunny and the foliage had taken on a distinctly autumnal look. The few deciduous trees were displaying bright colours, but even better were all the berry bushes beside the trail which transformed the mountainsides into carpets of brilliant red. We also started encountering many bright ye...

Welcome back!! Today is my one year anniversary of my final full day on trail. At this time a year ago, I was in the mountains, unbelievably close to a goal I had been working on for months. This next blog post is about what might have my favourite part of the whole hike. Let’s dive in! When the morning came in Skykomish, neither Macro nor I felt particularly eager to get back to the trail. We had a slow breakfast at the motel restaurant, and then when we were about to start getting our stuff together we discovered someone a few tables over eating some delicious looking pie, and decided we needed some too, so breakfast continued. Further delay was caused by my needing to book my flight home. Annoying complications with the airline ensued, meaning we didn't get out on trail until the sun was high in the sky. We ended up doing a slow, easy 10 miles that day, due to the late start, and Macro feeling under the weather. Sick hiking is not remotely fun. We camped beside Lake...