Sunday 30 September 2012

Completing the Trail

It feels crazy but I am now sitting in front of my computer back in Victoria, BC and have completed my journey. As you could probably tell my blog was not in real time and I crossed the border into Canada around 2 PM on Thursday Sept 27th. This trail has been everything I ever could have asked for and I think it will take a while before I fully digest everything from this experience. Best of all I know that backpacking truly is my passion because after 138 days on trail, hiking over 2,668 miles, I can proudly say that I'm ready for more hiking. I also wanted to let my readers know not to fear because there will be plenty more posts to come. Washington truly was one of the most beautiful states so I have to post those photos and I hope to provide future hikers with some gear reviews of the equipment I used on my trip and other advise I wish I had known beforehand. I know my last post left a cliffhanger of what the end might be like so I thought I owed it to everyone to share my last day with everyone.

I woke up after one final night sleeping in the hammock and was very glad we camped where we did. One of my bigger fears, that I would wake up in some crazy Groundhogs Day like situation back in San Diego waiting to head to the Mexican border, luckily did not happen. I had hiked the last section from Stehekin to the border with another awesome hiker, Jack Flash, who I hadn't met until the end but got along really well with. We were hoping to get closer to the border and make camp but ran into one of my other good friends, Mad Dog and two cousins hiking together, Bacon Bit and Gumby, who I only recently began to cross paths with after not seeing those two since Walker Pass around mile 650. It was great to spend that final night with fellow hikers even if that meant we had 19 miles to the border and 27 to Manning Park.

Jack Flash and I headed out after everyone else but still earlier than normal around 6:45 AM (it has been really hard convincing myself to get out of bed when the sun has yet to rise). Right from the start I was already feeling the excitement build knowing I was now less than 20 miles from the border. I had been playing the game of saying "this is the last..." mostly to help try to convince myself that this 5 month trip was actually about to come to a close. I felt that my body could sense we were at the end but my mind was largely still in denial so this was a good exercise to keep the end from being too overwhelming. We headed up a large climb and passed some horse people who told us we still had some spectacular views ahead of us and it almost looked like Middle Earth after the next pass. Jack and I stopped to fill up our water and I knew this would likely be the last time in the US I'd be filtering water because I'd be too anxious to stop the closer I got. I apologized to Jack beforehand that I knew I wouldn't be stopping for lunch before we got to the border even if it was 19 miles from camp which would mean we'd be lucky to get there by 2:30 PM.

We got to Rocky Pass where there was a very sketchy trail that skirted along a steep mountainside/cliffside of rock scree that you could take to cut over to Woody Pass but we opted for the much safer switchback route that went down to come back up. At this point I was a bit more risk adverse especially after hearing about the thru-hiker who had to get helicoptered out just 6 miles from the Canadian border. Climbing up Woody Pass I just felt like I was soaring up the trail and at the top I started screaming knowing that this was my final big climb. I was only slightly embarrassed when I met two other hikers out doing a round trip through the North Cascades coming back on the PCT who heard me. Soon after passing them I ran into two thru-hikers who finished yesterday and it was so cool getting to congratulate them knowing I was just hours away from getting there myself. At this point we were getting down to the final 10 miles and again I just started shouting out "WE'RE DOWN TO SINGLE DIGITS!". I was most surprised how the scenery around us was still phenomenal and we were still seeing new views we hadn't gotten before out to the west of the hundreds of snowcapped peaks in North Cascades National Park and the monumental Mt Baker. The PCT has truly delivered incredible views all the way to the border. However we started dropping and I knew that meant it actually was all downhill from here. We went by a beautiful clear lake and Jack suggested we go swim for a bit but I couldn't even conceive of taking a long break like that at this point. We passed the 6 mile mark and I could see how that guy injured himself because I was so excited practically running down the switchbacks and would stumble more often then normal. Those next three miles I hiked with Jack still jogging behind me at full stride. He tried to keep up conversation but talking about anything besides the border at this point simply seemed mundane and all that was racing through my head was Canada. We dropped down into Castle Pass, the final pass of the PCT, where the Pacific Northwest Trail apparently intersects the PCT just 3 miles from the border. Now I was really moving and saw an old guy heading back who I later learned was a thru hiker that just finished who I never met but I just blazed passed. I got to a water source knowing Jack still had to fill up but looked back and he wasn't there. I waited for what was probably just five seconds but it felt like forever and I clearly had no patience so turned north and took off on the final two miles.


These two miles were some of the most intense miles of the whole trail. It was just a simple downhill through forested trail at this point but I could just feel the border pulling me closer. It was like I had some sort of giant magnet in my heart tugging me towards the finish line. I had adrenaline coursing through my veins and must admit that is one of the best highs I have ever felt in my life. I doubt there is nothing more pure, more of a rush, or more rewarding than that sensation I felt for those final two miles, which no drug could ever match. While the rest of the day had flown by, these final two miles seemed to last forever but it was such an incredible experience as my body was no longer in my control and was just racing towards the end. I kept thinking back to all the memories along the trail, all the places I visited, the people I met and everything I had experienced in those past four and a half months. While I still was unable to conceptualize the trail as a whole this was everything I could have hoped for at the finish where it wasn't just another part of the trail but such a rewarding end. I remember having to pass through a few brushy areas which were frustrating because I had to slow down a bit so I didn't trip over the roots. I was coming to yet another brushy patch still waiting for the final four switchbacks when I suddenly realized this wasn't just a brushy patch but the clearcut they maintain to demarcate the border. Then the trail turned back to lead me down those final switchbacks. Once again I just started yelling, "CANADA! CANADA!" as I flew down that final stretch of trail. I turned the final corner and saw some fellow hikers up ahead. Then there it was, Monument 78, marking the end of the PCT. I ran up yelling and touched the monument completing my continuous set of footprints from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. It's really hard to describe all the emotions going through me at that moment but it was primarily a sense of satisfaction beyond anything I had ever experienced. I was able to realize one of the biggest dreams of my life and was fortunate to have been able to finish the whole trail without anything beyond my control keeping me from doing it in a single season. I felt like the luckiest guy in the world and now was time to celebrate.


Pictured here are Dyno, Busted Magic, Zumi, Jack Flash and Nino
I remember looking around seeing everyone else there and the others who came in shortly after me. It was amazing how everyone dealt with it in different ways. One of the girls I hiked with off and on towards the end of the trip, Busted Magic, had gotten there just before me and was so overwhelmed. She had actually hiked the trail last year but had to get off because of the conditions at the end. Instead of just finishing off that final section she felt she needed to hike it all in one season and started from the Mexican border again and now after two summers and over 5,000 miles on the PCT was finally at the end. Then there were other hikers like Mad Dog who crossed without loud celebration but just this look of disbelief that it was all over now and much more withdrawn trying to process the amazing accomplishment we had all achieved. There ended up being ten of us who finished that afternoon (Dyno, Zumi, Busted Magic, High Life, Nino, Jack Flash, Mad Dog, Bacon Bit, Gumby and I) and by the end it felt quite crowded there at such a significant location. While I loved finishing with friends it also felt a little strange like we all kinda just wanted our own privacy to sit at the monument and reflect on our trip. I finally grabbed some food and just hung out there celebrating with everyone else and staring at Canada in disbelief. As I said before though we still had another 8 miles to travel into Canada to reach Manning Park. Manning Park had a nice lodge with a warm bed and showers which I really wanted to get to. Jack Flash and I were the only ones able to rally and press on leaving the rest still sitting there meditating on the end of the trek. That last stretch surprisingly flew by. The whole way I just felt like my body was glowing in this wonderful, zen-like state. It was very evident the disconnect between my mind and body. My mind was still in disbelief trying to process what the end meant (and even now is still trying to realize it is done) while my body almost had sensed the end for a long time and made that final push and now was celebrating and knew it would finally be given a break. Then I remember finally getting to that paved road in Canada know that was the end of the this journey. However I know there will be plenty more to come.



"Life is never more fulfilling then when you can live out your dreams. 
Guess its time to keep dreaming" 
-Stryder, PCT '12-

Friday 28 September 2012

The Final Push to Canada

I wrote this entry to Emma from sitting in my final resupply town of Stehekin and staring at the final 80 miles of trail left to get me to the border. It is so surreal being here at the end, and it's crazy to think back to these past 4.5 months on the trail. The PCT has become my life now, and I've developed a close relationship with the trail, its culture, and all of the other crazy hiker trash out here with me. I've gotten so used to just viewing the trail as an endless path I can keep walking forever but now the end is soon approaching. While I will be sad to leave the trail, I am also ready to be done. It's hard to capture all my thoughts and feelings right now but I'll try to do my best in this post.

The Bigger Picture

As I've mentioned before, thru-hikers are never really confronted by the picture of the full trail because we break it down into sections. However, I am now at the final section, Stehekin to the Canadian border, and I can't help but think "Really, I'm here?!" I've been trying to think back to the whole journey that got me here and am surprised how even now, I can't think of the trail as a whole, and I must divide it into the thousands of memories along the way. Just like I may associate certain memories to my childhood, I have certain parts that certainly stick out but the whole trail is just too big to comprehend and look back into as one thought. This makes is difficult as I approach Canada because I guess I have always thought I'd be able to package up my PCT experience into one nice little spot in my memory book when in reality, these past few months feel like a whole lifetime of memories. I think my best strategy as I approach Canada is to keep taking in the trail and appreciating it as I have the whole way and treat this section just as special as any other section.


Reaching the Border

This leads me to my next dilemma, which is what happens when I get to the border. I have visualized the moment of reaching the Canadian border since I was first planning this trip ages ago. As I get closer, I'm trying to predict what I will be thinking and feeling when I get there to prepare myself. I know it will be an exciting, rewarding, and fulfilling experience, but part of me worries it will feel just like another spot along the trail (because it really is just an arbitrary political boundary). One of my favorite quotes I found on the trail was in a register at the California/Oregon border by a hiker I had met, Just John, that said, "I feel nothing." I find it hilarious but at the same time, I have to take it a bit seriously because I wouldn't want to feel that way at the end of my trip. I know I have benefited greatly from this trip, being exposed to so many different lifestyles, forcing myself beyond my comfort zone, and just feeling like I'm living my life to the fullest out here. Therefore, maybe, I don't need to reach enlightenment when I get to the border, but as I get down to my final three days, I keep wondering what it will be like when I reach that monument. 
Tired, yes, but not a Zombie.

My Biggest Surprise

I think the most shocking thing I've discovered as I near the end of my journey is just how it feels right to be coming to a close, and I'm ready for the end. One of my biggest fears of hiking the PCT was becoming a trail zombie. A trail zombie is someone who is just so burnt out of hiking and is now a slave to finishing the trail, blindly dragging themselves to the finish and getting no more fulfillment from the trail. Luckily, that was not my fate, and I'm so glad that I do look forward to hiking more trails in the future and believe backpacking truly is my passion because after 135 straight days and 2,580 miles I can still say that.






Then, my other worry was I would never be able to let go and get off the trail. I still realize that transition will be hard but my biggest surprise is that I'm not getting all sad and emotional about leaving the trail. Instead, I am actually ready for the end and excited to move into the next phase of my life. At first, I felt guilty and ashamed when I would look forward to getting off the trail, worrying that those thoughts make me less of a thru-hiker or will ruin my last bit of trail, but it's totally natural. I am so happy I've been able to strike this perfect balance where I am excited to get off and finish at the end of my trail and not midway through or still be aching to hike more trail once I get to Canada. So, as I take off into my final stretch and step up to that monument, I can't wait to celebrate such a phenomenal life experience this has been, and even though I will be ready to conclude this journey, I know that in my heart there will be plenty more trail in my future.