Stehekin, Washington

Dave did get into Stehekin, Washington yesterday and spent the night there with Zero, Fire Marshall, and Redhead. Tonight they will get a bus ride back to the trail head at PCT mile 2574.

There is no cell phone reception, but Dave was able to purchase a calling card for the satellite phone that is available to hikers from the National Forest Service. He called around 10:45 am, but I was on a conference call, so he left a message. Then he called back around 2:30 pm. I could hear him perfectly, but he could not hear me. He did say it was storming, and that it may be interfering with his call. He tried back two more times.

He said that they are staying a place where you can only get to by boat or plane (or hiking!), The people staying at Lake Shilon were trying to get away from civilization, where Dave and the guys were trying to find civilization!

Three days ago, Dave had 5 encounters with different bears. All, thankfully, uneventful. They have had deer in their camp. It really is in the middle of nowhere!

When they got off the trail yesterday, they took a bus ride (in an old red bus) to Steheiken. When they tried to pay for their bus fair, they found that it was already paid for by some tourists. When in town, they went to a bakery and others bought them pastries. Dave said that this adventure has shown him that there are many thoughtful and kind people in this world.

All Dave's packages arrived, including the Canadian Whiskey that I had recently sent. Bad news is that the Whiskey bottle must have opened somewhere along the way - there was no liquid in it!! Good news is that Dave has food and fuel!

I will be overnighting Dave's passport to him. He found that in order to fly out of Canada, he'll need more than his passport card. If he doesn't get the passport in time, he'll take a bus to Seattle and fly out from there. At this point, it looks like Zero will be traveling with him, sticking together so they can hike the California section together (412 miles). Zero's feet have gotten pretty sore and he figured why hike 60 miles off the trail when he can save that for the California section!

Dave figures he'll be in Canada in 5 to 6 days. This portion of the trail has been pretty difficult. The elevation changes have been very dramatic. The rain has not made it easier.

Good news on the weather, it looks like our hikers will be having some nice weather. Thursday is the only day with rain in the forecast (besides tonight!). It'll be nice for them to be dry for a bit!

Dave also mentioned that he had not hit his Spot the last two nights because of rain and last night being in a building. He most likely won't hit his Spot tonight because he'll be at the trail head.

Here is an invite to anyone in the LA area - Dave wants to hike from Baden Powell to Little Jimmy (approximately 7 miles) upon his return. When Dave was hiking that location here in the San Gabriel Mountains, there was a PCT reroute in place. Most PCT hikers went around Baden Powell, as did Dave. He now that wants to go back and hike that section now that it is open. He wants to get a group together to hike this section with him. Are you interested? This will take place on a weekend and we'll end the hike with a BBQ. (or should I say a CigarBQ!). As we get closer to Dave finishing the 412 mile stretch in California we'll set a date. I'll be providing more information about the hike, but you can let me know if you are interested in hiking with Dave!

Trail Angel Jane