Mile 2600 Winthrop

Before we made any decisions about our next steps, we wanted to check the weather and buy a few maps. Also, my Tourist visa extension approval letter had just arrived at Beth and Mary's in Seattle. I need this to get back in to the states. So we asked Mary to have it fedexed overnight. Though the weather is great today, we can't go anywhere till the visa arrives tomorrow before 5pm. 

Meanwhile, Tracy's mom was only 20 miles away, making her way slowly up to Canada to meet us. Tracy called her last night so we could spend time with her during the wait. She would also drive us up to Canada or to the trailhead, depending on our decision. 

After she arrived we had a nice marionberry cobbler and latte at the local bakery. After that it was pretty much business. We ran in to Otter our temporary roommate in Mammoth. He's hiked parts of this last section many times. He is considering taking a lower elevation route along the west fork of the Pasayten River. This route is longer, widely paralleling the PCT to the east but would avoid much of the deep snow. There is also possibility to connect with the PCT at three points. If we connected at the last point, we'd just have one 6,000 pass to get over and then be able to come out at the PCT monument. If this route is iffy, we we would just turn back and go into Canada at monument 58 further east. 

So, we upgraded from plastic bags to neoprene socks and Mammut waterproof mittens. Bought maps and new compass. Oh, and this route does not go through a national park, but a national forest, so it should be open and unguarded by rangers. By the way, Diane at the outdoor store was extremely helpful and gave us a lot of guidance regarding our hike. 

We all stayed in the hostel but Karen (Tracy's mom) cooked us dinner in her cozy camper as Tracy and I had a couple of beers and talked trail. We also had a little belated-birthday cupcake celebration for Tracy.