Mile 2,155.0 - 2,194.1

An exciting day for us - we crossed over the Columbia River and into our third and final state: Washington. It's been a long time coming and now here we are after putting one foot in front of the other for thousands of miles, and we have made it to the Bridge of the Gods. The Bridge of the Gods is a very narrow two lane bridge with open holed steel decking, so as we walked over it we could look down at the river below.

We had to make a decision once we crossed the bridge. We can either take the PCT or take the alternate road walk, which goes through two small towns. More importantly, it's about 15 miles shorter than the PCT. We are meeting Balance's family in less than a week about 150 north of here, so the need to save miles made our decision easier. We choose the alternate road walk. Though the towns were nice to walk through, the road walk was not great and a little dangerous with the windy turns.

Just after crossing over the Bridge of the Gods, we took a right heading east on state highway 14. Cars, trucks, and log semis wizzed by at high speeds and we hugged the shoulder as best we could. We were on highway 14 for 7 miles and then we had 10 or so miles on a smaller and less busy Wind River Road, which the trail intersected. It took us until 3pm to reach the trail junction and were happy to be done with the road walk. Our feet, ankles, and knees were happiest of all. Road walking does a number on the body with a loaded pack on. 

We connected with the PCT and hiked a few miles before setting up camp on a nice soft mossy site. That's Washington for you, and we are so happy to be here.

Balance walking to Washington state over the Columbia River on the Bridge of the Gods.

The Columbia River.

We have made it to Washington.

Y-Knot on the Washington side of the Bridge of the Gods. This bridge is the official route over the Columbia River for the PCT and the lowest point on the entire trail at around 150' above sea level. A far cry from Mt. Whitney at 14,505'.

It has taken almost 4 months to walk from Mexico to the southern border of Washington. We are happy hikers to finally be in the Evergreen State.

Balance hiking along Highway 14 with big rigs blowing by.

Trail angels Dale and Janet gave us watermelon slices at the Panther Creek bridge. We love watermelon. Thank you Dale and Janet.