September 11th Morning

I have to get off the trail. There is nothing more that I want to do than continue hiking, but sadly I can not continue. My funds have been stretched past a comfortable level, so I must leave the trail to return to what once a normal life. I am accepting of this fact and knew that it was a possibility before I set out for the trail. In fact, I even had a pre-trail panic where I almost decided not to go because I did not feel that I was financially secure enough.

In retrospect I probably was, but the choices I made along the trail effected the outcome. I have no regrets with the decisions I made because the path I chose introduced me to several wonderful people. In the end the solitude of the trail was hard to handle, so I made several trips back home. These frequent trips cost me unnecessary money, burdened my friends who put me up, and made each trip back to the trail harder than the last. Nevertheless “The Trail” has its way with the hiker, not the other way around.

No regrets.

A Summary of the Hike:

I started hiking on April 28th, 2005. The last ten miles I hiked August 30th with one of my original trail partners Debi, aka Ladyface. It seems fitting in a way to have had the opportunity to do the final stretch with her. I did plan to go and hit the 53 miles I hit in Southern Oregon around Mt. Thielsen as an end to the trail, but the job I acquired starts too soon for me to do that. Four months of backpacking. The last month to month and a half the mode of hiking changed quite drastically. After my hiking partners, Jon and Debi, left the trail I was hiking solo. This was hard to deal with so I made a few trips home, hiked with the few hikers I did meet, and even took a week long vacation down to the Trinity Alps to spend some time with “Boone” and “Sas,” two long-distance section hikers I met at Crater Lake.

My total trail miles is just under 1100 miles. Adequately gaging the figure is difficult as I spent time hitchhiking, slackpacking, did road walks, had snow reroute myself on a few occasions, and turned back twice. However in the end, well actually early on, I realized the hike is not about the miles covered. (Even if it is an ever present factor in your mind; how far you have gone, how far you have yet to go, how many miles to the next water source, and how far should you hike each day.)

“The Trail” is about the experience. I can say, without hesitation, that the trail has been one of the best experiences of my life, if not, the best. I pushed my limits on a daily basis. I met some of the most amazing people in the world. I was shown how caring, great, and wonderful strangers can truly be. I have had strangers take me into their cars, into their homes, and into their hearts. Upon telling them of your adventures, their eyes light up with excitement for you, and they do whatever they can to help you achieve your dream. People, friends and strangers alike, have driven many miles to drop me off at the trail, pick me up at the trail, and even drop cookies off in the next trail town (complete with an ingredients list, in case we had diet restrictions).

While we as hikers are exerting ourselves endlessly, are often tired, smelly, and hungry, there is something to be seen in the eyes of a hiker. I have met several people that are so “Alive,” a trait that I did not fully understand until I hiked with people who had that look. It is a hard “expression” to understand, but you see it in the eyes. More than one hiker has agreed with me on this. There is an internal psyche change you undergo when you are achieving your dream, and it shows in the eyes, or the way you talk to a person. This look of being “Alive” can be found in any hiker.

I did not have any downright horrible days. Several days were very hard, including two where I became overly dehydrated and weak, too many mosquito filled days, and a few hard days in the snow. I only was scared one day, a day filled with intense wind, rain, and sleet.

I saw countless lizards, 10-20 rattlesnakes, a mountain lion cub, several deer, and two bears. The bears don’t count though because one was in a cage, and the other I saw from a car window as I was driving. The animal life was fantastic, but the flowers, trees, pastures, lakes, and views are what made the trail so magnificently beautiful. I had the good fortune of hiking through the Southern California section after a year of heavy rainfall, so I saw flowers in bloom that rarely are seen by thru-hikers. This heavy rainfall, of course, meant lots and lots of snow in the Sierras which diverted my hike up to Ashland, where I hiked north on a nearly empty trail.

It is not possible to adequately capture the trail in a summary. All my journals are posted on my website, feel free to read those to paint a much more vivid picture. I recommend, however, that you go out and hike some of the trail. There is no better way to understand nature than to be in it.

Life Continues on Like Time:

While away on the trail life at home continued on. A friend is pregnant. Another friend just had a baby. People have fallen in love. People have split up. Career advancements have been made. My sister has entered another faithful year of school. My brother went to Iraq. My other brother continues to raise his twin sons. My parents are “the cool people on the block,” having frequent parties on the porch looking at the ocean.

Slowly I will assimilate back into the life I once had…or not.

What Now?

I took a job as a Program Leader for Outdoor School. This means that I will get to spend the next seven weeks up in the mountains still, pursuing two things I love; the outdoors and teaching. In early November I will come back from Outdoor School and find a job and a new place to live. One possible thought of mine is to do Outdoor School in the fall, find a short-term winter job, then do Outdoor School in the spring. If I have made enough money then I would return to the trail to finish off the Thru-Hike as a two season Thru-Hike. If I have not dissolved my debt enough then I will stretch the PCT into a three-four season thru-hike. Nevertheless, in the end, my passion for long-distance hiking is now rooted deep in me. I have already started looking at the possibility of doing the Appalachian Trail in a few years. Looks exciting. Hiking the trail has taught me the importance of having dreams, achieving dreams, and not being held back by “the norm.”

To quote my hiking partner Jon (”Zing”)

“Don’t postpone your own happiness. Not for one fucking day.”

A note of thanks:

“Serendipity is not serendipitous, but ubiquitous.”

Bonnie, while “The Trail” has had an profound impact on you, you taught me the incredible importance of dreaming, and for that I will always love you.

Amanda, you once told me that I should read up on the trail again to remind myself of what it is to dream. So I did. In fact that night I went home and talked to Miranda about it.

Miranda, in that talk you told me to go out and do it, and asked why I could not. That was a good question, there was no reason why I could not hike, so I went out to hike. Thank you for pointing that out to me.

Lauren, you have always been one of the greatest supporters of my hike and its importance to me. I love you dearly and will make it to NZ to finally hike with you.

Jon and Debi, you two carried me 800 miles and taught me endless things about myself, nature, food, and life. You will always hold an amazing part of my heart.

Trail Angels, far too many to name (the Saufleys, the Andersons, the Canfields, Mike & Christine Poe, the Kimlers, all those that I hiked with, James and Paul, Christina Anderson, JeanPaul and Judith, and an endless list of other people), with your assistance and others like you the trail is possible for anyone.

Joe and Mike, thank you for mailing stuff to me, putting me up for more than too many nights back in Portland.

Miranda, Cory, and Aaron, thank you for putting me up as well as some hiking friends on more than one occasion.

Mom and Dad, thanks for doing my resupply and helping out in any way that you could.

Mark, thank you for helping with the web page and photos, and motivation.

Robin, thank you for the frequent emails and words of encouragement.

Doug, while you are off in Iraq, you still found time to drop me a couple emails, thank you.

Denise, the cabin was fantastic, but getting to know you was a trail blessing in a time when I needed one.

Loren, likewise, a fellow hiker when the trail was empty, a trail angel, and now a friend.

All those I met on the trail. Thank you for being out there t0o. Part of the experience was getting to know you, and all of you were worth getting to know. Thanks for making on-trail days fun when they were hard, fantastic when they were easy, and off-trail days both fun and relaxing.

Urban Grind Coffee, thanks for posting my postcards and following my trek, helping raise awareness about the Cause I was hiking for, Cherryville Heartsongs (for more info on Heartsongs, go to my webpage http://geocities.com/roger_pct)

Thank you to everyone who emailed me on the trip. I looked forward to hearing from all of you. Jillian, I fully enjoyed getting your emails, as they were thought-provoking and responsive.

To those I missed, I am sorry. The things to be thankful for and the people to thank is so long for so many people have helped.

Finally:

If you have questions, please email me. If you want to check out old journal entries, visit my webpage.

Love Love

Happy Trails, Inner Peace, & Harmony