Days 137 to 139:
I woke up to a mostly sunny sky and left Stehekin. After almost 5 months in the United States, this was the last town I would visit. The next time I emerged from the bush into civilization, I would be in Canada. It was a bittersweet moment. Memories of the beginning of the trail floated to the surface, now almost a distant dream. There is a sense of finality already setting in, of the journey already being over in a sense. I am actually looking forward to just being finished, as cold has now set in even during the middle of the day, and there is an ever-present threat of snow. The YouTuber DarwinOnTheTrail captures this "winding down" feeling so well in a nice bit of spoken prose set to music at this end of his video that I feel the need to share it here:
今早晴天，收好帳篷就出發了。在美國活了快5個月但這裡已經是我最後一個小鎮，下一次從森林走出來接觸到文明世界會在加拿大。要出發走PCT的最後一段是苦樂參半的感覺，偶爾想起5月在南加很樂觀的日子我就會笑起來，但同時也是很遙遠的回憶，我現在面臨兩件比較煩惱的事情：第一件事是冬天的到來，現在連中午的天氣也不會暖和而且每天都有下雪的機會；第二件事是旅途要結束了，我習慣的生活步調即將要大改變而人生大改變時都會帶來一點焦慮。此YouTube影片把我現在的情緒描述地好精準，不好意思只有英文版：
The shuttle took everyone from the village to the bakery first on the way out of town. I got a few snacks for the road with the last of my US dollars and then got off by myself at the next bus stop. Most of the others on the bus weren't concerned about a continuous footpath so they were taking the bus to the trailhead at the end of the fire closure, but I had to start walking from where I had left off yesterday.
接駁車的第一站是我昨天拜訪的烘培坊，我在這裡又買了一些吃的順便把最後的美金花完，重新上車不久後又下車了。大部分的人不在乎他們PCT的路線中途有沒有中斷，所以他們願意坐接駁車坐到路底的登山口，不過我堅持自己走的路線不能中斷，只好從昨天踏上Stehekin林道的地方開始走，把昨天的路段跟今天的路段連結起來了。
這裡的海拔很低所以氣溫不像前幾天在高山區那麼涼，太陽也出來了，在這樣的天氣下沿著溪流走很舒服，我甚至不用穿緊褲，跟7月一樣穿短褲就夠了，不過這件短褲應該的壽命快到了，再穿一個禮拜可能不行。沒想到家樂福出清品可以這麼耐用，我在台灣穿了好幾年後在PCT時除了第一天以外每天都穿著，這件短褲已經不欠我什麼了。
After I got to the trailhead and finally rejoined the PCT, I noticed that the fall colours were now even richer than two days ago. Reds and yellows everywhere!
走到林道盡頭見到PCT的登山口，往南是今年封閉的路段，但往北的路是開放的，我終於回到PCT正路了。秋葉的紅黃色比前天離開PCT的時候還鮮豔，這也太美了吧！
The weather started getting worse later in the day and it started raining. My plan was to get to Rainy Pass tonight and set up camp in the parking lot or any nearby flat spot I could find. By the time I got there, I was wet, cold, and frustrated, and it was already dark. I was so disgusted with the idea of setting up in the rain and trying to cook dinner in the rain or in my tent, that I decided I just wouldn't do it. Instead, I found myself a perfect shelter for the night:
早上走得那麼開心但後來樂極生悲天氣變了，下午開始下雨了。我今天打算走到Rainy埡口，在那裡的停車場或平坦處紮營，不過我終於走到的時候已經天黑了，自己又冷，裝備又濕了。想到還要在雨中搭帳篷、煮晚餐，我就很不耐煩了，於是我找到一個很棒的避難所：
That's right. I was so desperate to have a dry space out of the wind that I spent the night in the Rainy Pass pit toilet. And you know what? It was glorious! Originally I went inside thinking I would just cook my dinner in there while keeping myself and my backpack dry, but it was so comfortable in there that I decided to lay out my groundsheet, sleeping pad, and quilt and just sleep in there with the door locked. The American Forestry Service pit toilets are designed better than what I've seen in Canada. They are well vented and as long as the seat is down, there is actually no smell. My backpack stayed dry, I spread out my food and leisurely cooked and ate my meal with perfect shelter, then lay down and had a good night's sleep out of the rain and safe from animals.
沒有錯，下雨天讓我絕望到決定要在廁所過夜。要相信我，到了這個地步，在廁所過夜其實很舒適！我進去的時候本來想說可以在裡面躲雨煮晚餐而已，煮的時候背包跟自己都不用淋到雨，不過吃完飯我發現這個環境其實不差，或許可以在裡面睡，根本不用面對外面的雨，所以我把地布鋪出來，再鋪上睡墊跟睡袋，門鎖起來後決定在裡面過夜。美國林務局無水廁所的設計很棒，地下的糞便坑會直接對外通風，廁所內只要馬桶蓋蓋好就沒有什麼異味。那一天我有一個又大又乾的空間來煮飯，在沒有風沒有雨的環境下也不會感到冷，吃完飯就躺下來入寢，我在廁所內熊攻擊不了我，雨滴不到我，風吹不到我，什麼都不用擔心，那個晚上的睡眠品質特別高。
In the morning it was still raining lightly, but I was dry and I packed everything up dry. I walked out of that pit toilet warm, dry, and feeling like a king. It's not how I expected to spend one of my last nights on trail, but I don't regret it for a second. It was cloudy all day, raining off and on, but the umbrella kept me dry, and the scenery was simply stunning: deep valleys, berry bush reds and larch yellows.
隔天早上還在飄雨但是我的裝備全都乾的，自己全身也都幹的，吃完早餐後從廁所走出去的時候我很溫暖，心情特別好。以前絕對想不到我PCT最後幾個晚上會有一天是在廁所過的，但是我一點都不後悔昨天的決定。今天都是陰天，偶爾下雨偶爾不下，雖然天氣不太好但我撐雨傘所以沒有淋到什麼雨，風景依舊美麗。
Before I knew it I had passed the last 100-mile marker of the PCT: 2600 miles. Every 100 miles took about 5 days to finish, and I had already done this sort of 5-day segment 26 times; the numbers and distances are too great to actually hold in one's mind all at once.
不知不覺就走到最後以百為單位的里程碑：2600英里。每次走完100英里都要花差不多5天的時間，代表到目前為止這種5天的路段我已經連續走過26次，數字太大了，距離太遠了，即使自己走過還是無法想像走2600英里是什麼感覺。
Then, it finally happened. I got caught in a full-on snow downpour. The stuff falling out of the sky was like chunks out of a 7-11 Slurpee. It was so heavy I thought my umbrella might break under the weight. The umbrella at least kept the snow off my backpack and upper body, but it no longer kept my feet dry. Snow floats a lot more than rain and it was able to blow onto my feet as it came down. In no time at all my feet were frozen.
惡夢今天終於實現了，我在山上走的時候突然下大雪。我從沒看過這樣的雪況，非常重又會黏在一起，很像7-11的思樂冰從天空掉下來，我怕雪的重量會把我的雨傘壓壞。撐雨傘至少上半身不會碰到雪，但是因為雪掉落的速度比雨慢，雪比較容易漂到雨傘下，落在我鞋子上，過了短短幾分鐘我的腳已經凍僵了。
Thankfully the trail descended and the snow turned back into rain. Immediately, I could see a dusting of snow on the mountain tops every direction I looked. Yes, it was definitely time to get off this trail!!
幸好過了一個鞍部後步道的海拔越來越低，不久就走到溫暖一點的高度，在這裡雪已變成雨了，不過看看周圍的山頭都披滿白雪。PCT早就應該走完，現在已經不是登山的季節了！
After the snow and rain, the clouds parted a bit and I was able to enjoy the rest of the day's walk, although my feet were still frozen. Washington really is beautiful and I can only imagine how nice it would be to walk through this area on a sunny day in July.
後來雪跟雨停了，雲稍微散開了，雖然腳還很冰但我勉強還可以走得開心一點。華盛頓的風景獨一無二，好想要某年7月在大太陽下回來走走看，沒有天氣和時間上的壓力在這一帶登山應該很享受。
I was hoping there might be another pit toilet to hide out in at the trailhead where I camped that night, but no such luck so I just froze while in camp having supper and getting ready for bed. There is just no enjoyment in hiking in this kind of weather, especially without good shelter at night. The next morning I walked past Harts Pass. There is nothing but a ranger station here and it is the very last road the PCT crosses in the United States. It was a frigid morning, made worse by the thick fog.
當天晚上也是在一個登山口紮營，原以為會有廁所可議躲雨但抵達的時候好失望，什麼建築物都沒有，那天吃晚餐準備睡覺的時候好冷，要每天在這種天氣下睡帳篷好難受。隔天早上我在霧濛濛又冷的天氣下走過Harts埡口，這裡只有一棟給林務局人員住的小木屋，也是PCT在美國經過的最後一條馬路。
Soon after Harts Pass the PCT is closed due to a fire, so I took the alternate route that would allow me to get around the fire closure and back onto the PCT to get to the Canadian border. Unfortunately this trail was not up to PCT standards, and a team of horses went through just ahead of me that day, totally tearing up the trail and leaving a muddy mess. This was made worse by the fact that my shoes now have huge holes in them!
PCT在Harts埡口過後不久因為前方的森林火災而封閉。有走替代路線，可以繞火災區再接PCT主線，不過替代路線的路況沒有PCT路況好，而且昨天有馬隊走過，馬蹄把不到弄得亂七八糟的，步道在很多地方只有爛泥巴。我的鞋子下載破了很大的洞，走泥巴路時泥巴會跑到鞋子裡面。
The fall colours all along this alternate route were spectacular and I enjoyed staying out of the cloud (fog) high up along the ridge where the PCT is. I could see it hanging over the mountains all day long.
替代路線的黃色葉子好漂亮，而且看得出來稜線上的PCT都是霧，但比較低海拔的替代路線則讓我走在雲層下面欣賞一整天的風景。
Eventually I did have to climb back up and rejoin the PCT on the far side of the fire closure. Right about this time, it started to snow again, like yesterday but even harder. This time the snow started to accumulate and I had ice all over my shoes.
今天下午已經走完替代路線，又爬升到貨在範圍後面的PCT主線。這時候又開始下雪，跟昨天一樣是思樂冰雪，但今天下得更大，今天也開始積雪，不只地板連我的鞋子也積雪。
I couldn't see anything, the trail kept going higher and higher into the snowing clouds and I couldn't feel my feet. Also, the forecast had called for no precipitation today. I was so over being out here in bad weather and not being able to warm my feet up that I actually screamed out in anger at the mountains. I'm sure any hikers within a few miles heard me. At this point, I couldn't wait to finish the trail tomorrow and get back to civilization and shelter.
能見度接近零，前方的不到越來越高害我沒有辦法走到還擺比較低的地方躲雪，腳又凍僵了，而且今天的天氣預告本來是說下雪的機率很低，沒想到會下這麼多。我不想再冒著這種冷天氣走，腳趾冷到痛，對氣象局也很生氣，當下因為這些因素我崩潰了，對山大喊責罵，幾公里遠的其他登山客應該都聽到我的聲音。好期待明天結束PCT後不用再忍受這種壞天氣了，隨時都可以到室內避開風雨。
Eventually the snow did stop and I made it to Hopkins Lake, my campsite for the night. There were others at this campsite who had already finished the trail and just turned around at the border to go back to Harts Pass instead of going into Canada. I congratulated them and tried to eat my supper whlie ignoring the extreme discomfort of my still-frozen toes.
雪下了一陣子後終於停了，日落前我抵達我PCT的最後一個營地。營地在Hopkins湖旁邊，那裡已經有一群人的帳蓬。跟他們閒聊發現他們已經走完PCT但因為沒有要進加拿大所以到了邊境就折返了，現在已經在回Harts埡口的路上了。跟他們說聲恭喜然後在腳趾還冷痛的狀況下準備晚餐。
This night, my last night on the PCT, ended up being the coldest night of all. My olive oil had already congealed in the evening and I woke up to a heavy frost the next morning. The good news was that the sun was shining on Hopkins Lake beside the campsite.
我PCT的最後一夜也是我整個PCT歷經最冷的一夜，吃晚餐的時候橄欖油已經凝固了，在半夜溫度降了更低，早上起來的時候發現霜結得很厚。幸好早上太陽出現了，我的最後一天不會是陰天，營地旁邊的湖泊在陽光下很美。
My friend Chris should be waiting for me at the border today. It's only a leisurely 2.5 hours from here to the border, so I slept in and took my time having breakfast and packing up this morning. That was my last night out in the wilderness, and tonight I should be in Vancouver sleeping indoors again. I can't believe I've actually made it to this point. It's all downhill to Canada now, just 6.3 more miles to go!
我加拿大朋友今天要走到美國邊境等我，而我今天從這個營地到邊境只要走兩小時半，所以我睡到自然醒，早餐跟拔營都慢慢用。在野外過夜的時間已結束了，今晚應該會在溫哥華朋友家睡室內。很難相信我真的快走完了，從這裡走到加拿大都是下坡，再10公里就搞定了！
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