Passports needed?

imported
#1

so do I need a passport to finish the pct? can i hike to the end and backtrack a day into the states? i dont have a passport and trying to save the money for some gear adjustments

MysticNNH

#2

Yes you can backtrack and be fine, but it’s more like 2 days back to the nearest road. You might also do fine going all the way to Manning Park, hitching or hiking west to the Ross Lake route and going back into the states that way. That might be shorter and a better way to end up in Seattle.

Maybe someone from 2007 knows about this, since early snows pushed a lot of hikers to take the Ross Lake route instead.

markv

#3

in 2008 I hiked to the monument, turned around and hiked back to Hart’s Pass where I was able to get a ride from a ranger in her POV. A few other people did this same thing, for various reasons. Sitting on a bus for hours and hours is not my idea of fun, much less dealing with the border when I didn’t feel like shelling out for a passport.

Anyway, it depends on your hiking speed how far it is back to Hart’s Pass. I did it in an afternoon and a morning (one full day, technically). It’s something like 30 miles from the border to Hart’s pass (Hart’s pass is northbound mile 2624, the monument is northbound mile 2655). At that point on the trail, I’d say most people could do it in one day.

My plan was from Hart’s pass to hitch down if I could, or just walk the road down to Mazama (I want to say it’s about 15 miles by the road at hart’s pass down to Mazama – shorter than staying on the PCT all the way to Rainy Pass, even if you can’t get a ride from the Hart’s Pass road) and hitch on highway 20. Thankfully, I got the ride to Mazama and then hitched on 20 west to Sedro Woolley and caught a couple of short bus rides to Seattle, where I was living.

I don’t know much about the Ross Lake route, though.

Joker

#4

In '97 a bunch of us finished at the border along Ross Lake in early October due to a heavy snow. Half of the group hitched to Manning and the other half (including me) took a boat shuttle on Ross Lake back from the border to HWY 20 (to a boat landing about 24 miles west of Rainy Pass).

I have no idea if the boat shuttle is still available, but the Ross Lake Trail itself is quite nice with a few cable bridges and well marked / maintained.

So… You could walk the border swath from the PCT Terminus west to Ross Lake (maybe also check if the PNT would take you to Ross Lake) and hike or take a boat ride out and then hitch from HWY 20.

Happy Trails!

freebird

#5

From Castle Pass, just south of the border, you can take the Three Fools Trail down to Ross Lake (it’s part of the PNWT). A fairly recent report I saw indicated that this trail hasn’t been maintained so has lots of deadfall in places. It’s also a long downhill. Search trip reports on www.nwhikers.net You then hike south along the east side of Ross Lake to Ross Dam as mentioned in the previous post. You could probably phone ahead from Skykomish to Ross Lake Resort to arrange for a water taxi. I suspect this route would take longer than hiking back to Harts Pass.

grannyhiker

#6

After June 1st,2009, all US citizens will need a passport to cross into Mexico and return. I don’t know about Canada, but it seems that the regulation would pertain to Canada also.

Take-five