Day 164: We made it!

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Today (Oct 1st) we touched the PCT marker where the trail crosses Highway 44 near Old Station in central California. This means we have an unbroken set of footsteps from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. Almost all of the footsteps have been on the ups and downs of the Pacific Crest Trail, except for three short alternate routes that we chose because they were more scenic or were due to a trail closure.

It would have been nice to walk continuously from Mexico to Canada but we are more than happy to have covered the whole trail in different sections (due to weather) even though our finish point was the inauspicious one horse town of Old Station.

So we have achieved our goal to through hike the PCT in one season (164 days to be exact). Many thanks to all of you who wrote encouraging comments on this blog. And a special thanks to my terrific wife who has put up with so much and put in a tremendous effort, including coping with a sore shoulder.

We thank God for many blessings, including:

  • The opportunity to do a great adventure together
  • No significant injuries or sickness
  • No wild animal incidents
  • Predominantly great weather, especially little rain in Washington
  • Teaming up with OG and benefitting from his company and help in logistics (thanks also to his wife Jean)
  • Being able to complete within our 6 month visa and despite an unusually high and late snow year
  • Meeting many great people and experiencing many acts of kindness.
  • Seeing a huge variety of magnificent natural beauty
  • No detours for fires
  • Safety in snow and crossing rivers
  • No lightning storms in the Sierras

Our final day was 27.6 miles / 43.5 km. We started in the dark at 6:30 and spent most of the morning walig on snow. But the day was perfect for hiking, cool with sunny blue skies.

Crossing this icy river on a slippery log was a challenge

Mt Lassen

When we arrived at Old Station, OG’s wife was there to meet us. We then drove to a motel in Redding. Tomorrow we will say goodbye to them and rent a car. Our plan is to rent a cottage on the coast and do… nothing! Well, no walking, and try to gain back some of the weight we have lost.