Day 125-128 (September 11th – 14th)
Mile 2655.2- 700.8 (Lost 1954.4 miles)
Today: 0 miles
PCT hiked: 2208.1 miles
We’ve gone back in time!! The last 4 days have been very eventful and ultimately ended with me being back at the same hotel that Salty, Thunder, Corpsi and I stayed at on day 44 of trail (June 22nd).
Let’s recap. My wonderful friend Quinn picked us up at Manning Park Provincial Park and drove us to her home in Mission. On the way we stopped at A&W (which I have missed desperately while in the US) and ordered 90$ worth of food for the 4 of us– including two burgers, onion rings and fries just for me! We stayed overnight at Quinn’s and the next morning she dropped us off at the commuter train into Vancouver on her way to work.
Thunder, Salty and I spent the morning at Kitsilano Beach and then headed to our AirBnB. Salty and I went to MEC to look at some upgrades for gear and then we headed back to meet our friends Pinecone, Chairbear and Lost & Found who were joining us for the night at the AirBnB. Lost & Found was one of the few thruhikers this year who managed to hike through the Sierras in a continuous footpath. She started her hike in late March in snow, and made it to Canada the same day her 6 month visa expired! The 6 of us went out for dinner and the waitress, upon hearing of our adventures, brought us free shots to celebrate and then took one with us!
My bed at the AirBnB, while amazingly comfortable, was also up in a loft and required me to climb a ladder with round rungs– very painful on my poor macerated foot muscles.
The next morning we had a little time to relax and enjoy each other’s company as we ate breakfast and packed up. We had to be at the airport for our flight back to LA by 3– and before then we needed to find a vessel in which to check our camping items that couldn’t be brought into the plane cabin. I dug through a few recycling bins before I found a quality cardboard box at Shoppers that would do the job. Then the six of us went out for a sushi lunch. By this point, the noise and bustle of the city had completely overwhelmed me.
While everyone else went for a pre airport drink, I decided to head to a park for a few moments of quiet. Salty was feeling the same way, so he joined me and we walked and sat in silence. Then we said goodbye to our friends– Lost&Found who was fully done trail and Pinecone and Chairbear who are headed back to the Sierras via a different entry point then us. Finally, it was off to the airport and to our flight back to LA– and so the time warp began.
I flew into LA back on May 7th before I started trail and it really felt like no time had passed. That night we slept at the airport hotel and we picked up our rental car in the morning. Driving out to Ridgecrest was even more of a time warp. We drove past signs for Vasquez Rocks, Agua Dulce and other parts of our desert stomping grounds nearly 3 months ago. In Ridgecrest, we checked into that same hotel we stayed in all those weeks ago and talked to the same front desk clerk. We resupplied at the same Walmart. I started to wonder if I had actually hiked to Canada at all, or if all these months and memories were just a dream– maybe it was still June and I still had thousands of miles of hiking ahead of me. But no — Hiking all these miles may have been a dream, but it was also my real life.
Next came the truly hard part– perhaps the hardest thing that has happened yet on trail: saying goodbye. Sadly… heartbreakingly… devastatingly… Salty, Thunder, and I will not be able to hike the Sierras together. Salty has injured his knee and will be taking about a week off to see if it heals. Thunder left for Kennedy Meadows this morning to start hiking. I am waiting one more day for a package before getting back on trail.
It is what it is but, honestly, my heart hurts. I don’t know what I will do on trail without my tramily. Maybe I will see them again on trail, but maybe not. Probably not, in Salty’s case at least. We’ve cried together, hugged each other, and reminisced, but nothing makes this easier. It’s the end of an era– a beautiful era. Thunder, Salty, Corpsi– hiking with you has been one of the great honours of my life. I know that you know how much I love you. Whether it’s on trail, in Germany, Belgium, the US or Canada, I know I will see you all again.
In my mind, I finished this trail in Canada with my tramily. All the miles that remain are just bonus miles– a victory lap. I’m out here to enjoy myself. After all, I have already gotten everything I could have possibly wanted out here– and we said goodbye today.
