[pct-l] Hiking SOBO to meet up with NOBO Finisher late Sept

Bill Langton blangton at blangton.com
Sun Sep 2 15:26:24 CDT 2012


This is a copy of the personal message my wife (Pinball) sent to Patricia 
for the benefit of the list...

**********

Hello Patricia...

"Pinball" here...I just finished WA Section L of the PCT and was at Manning 
Park week before last so I can let you know what I found there.

When you drive out to Manning, you will be on Hwy 1 heading east until the 
junction with Hwy 3.  Take Hwy 3 East towards Princeton / Penticton.  I 
believe it is exit 177.  Follow Hwy 3 to Manning Park.  It is a pretty drive 
and does not take that long to get there.

As you come down the hill where the Manning Park Lodge is, watch for signs 
to the "Gibson Pass Ski Area".  It is a right hand turn (S/B) just past the 
lodge.  Turn right on this road (Gibson Pass Road?) and follow it up behind 
the lodge for about 1/2 of a mile.  Watch on your left for the PCT 
Trailhead.  There is ample parking there as well as some signboards, etc. 
It is just past a creek as I remember.  The trail up to the monument starts 
there.  The first couple of miles are well maintained and easy to follow. 
After that, the trail was quite overgrown and more difficult.  Signage was 
poor and if you have a smartphone with GPS capabilities and Half Mile's PCT 
waypoints, it might come in handy.  It is about 8.5 miles to the border and 
Monument 78.  I heard that there was a trail crew scheduled to come in and 
clean up this section of trail before the herd comes through later this 
month and next.  So - it might be better now than it was even 2 weeks ago 
when I came down. Of course, as more and more folks finish, it will get 
beaten down even more!

I finished with another hiker on the trail (Lucky Nalgene) who's girlfriend 
and her father were supposed to hike in to the monument to finish with him 
but they never arrived, apparently having gotten lost along the way.  He 
waited around for almost 2 hours and then came on down into Manning looking 
for them.  Hopefully, you will not have any problems!

Take care, have a great trip and congratulations to your friend who is 
finishing!

Nana  (aka "Pinball", class of 2010)

**********

I'll add my own $.02 here as well.  Please remember, you can not enter the 
USA on the PCT from Canada legally.  You can only enter at a recognized, 
manned border crossing.  So, if you hike up there, you should wait at the 
border (which is the actual "Terminus") to avoid any problems.  You will 
still have 8.5 miles of hiking time to finish with your friend.  There is an 
easily recognized campsite along the creek on the Canadian side of the 
border.

Bill 




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