[pct-l] Entry into Canada

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

On Dec 12, 2010, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
> On Sat, Dec 11, 2010 at 8:14 AM, Jim & Jane Moody  
> <moodyjj at comcast.net> wrote:
>> They don't have to stop you from entering - they check you when  
>> you try to
>> leave Canada.
>
> Does anyone actually check you when you leave Canada?

I did not know I was supposed to surrender my permit to Canadian  
authorities. No Canadian authorities ever asked me anything anyway,  
so my ignorance was never an issue for me.

I returned to the states going through Hope (east rather than west)  
and the US authorities checked my passport and my boyfriend's  
passport. The US official seemed to make things annoying for me just  
because he could. You know these things are all computerized  
nowadays. My boyfriend had driven through to Canada just a few days  
prior. He was in the system and all that information about when and  
where he crossed into Canada, what his purpose was yadda yadda was  
plainly visible in the official's little hand-held device. Yet he  
still grilled us suspiciously.

I would not risk trying to get back in to the US without a passport.  
Why make things more difficult for yourself if you don't have to. If  
getting a passport is not possible, you can opt not to go to Canada  
and instead turn around at the border (technically the trail ends at  
the border and the 8 miles to Manning Park Lodge are not the PCT  
anymore) and retrace your steps for a day and a half to Harts Pass. I  
met hikers doing that. They didn't look very happy about it, but  
that's what they were doing.