Celebration - A Change in Perspective and an Ending of a Chapter

klamarre5
3 days ago
5 min read

Hey everyone!

I made it.

I made it to the northern California mountain town of Dunsmuir, the place I am calling the end of my hike for the season.

The last 24 hours have been a great closing and I'd like to share the highlights.

As I walked the final miles into town yesterday, there were no big views, just an easy gentle downhill surrounded by enormous pines that shaded the trail wonderfully from the hot sun. As I neared town, the trail came within earshot of the railroad tracks. I could hear the train echoing through the trees—the very same train that carried me home three months ago after I had to leave the trail, and the same one that will take me home again in a couple of days. Three months ago, I ended my hike in this exact town. Stopped by the trail conditions, snow, and my sore leg, I was filled with disappointment. I threw my pack and myself on the train and went home. The sound of the train at that moment in time was comfort in a disappointing time. But, the sound of the train at that time also meant I was leaving the trail and not completing what I came out to do.

What a difference 3 months makes.

What a difference when you change your perspective. As I have written in my blogs recently, when I returned to the traill, I slowed down my pace and took it in more. While I did put some decent miles on, I never felt pressured to go, go, go. I realized, with a help of a friend, how privileged I am to be out here. No matter what happened on the trail, it was a privilege to be out here. I know there's folks out there that think I'm crazy for going out and hiking this trail, but I also know there's a lot of people out there that would love the opportunity to do this, but can't. I appreciated the trail this time much more and didn't try to fight or conquer the trail like I did in the desert. These past few weeks have been absolutely phenomenal, even with the challenges, the heat, the burn zones, the prickly thorns that bloodied the shins. It was an amazing adventure!

When the trail neared the train tracks close to town yesterday, a train came through. It blasted it's horn a few times and my first thought was one of celebration from that sound......it's the same sound many NHL teams play when a goal is scored. It's a celebration......and I'm not going to lie, I raised up my hands in celebration walking down the trail like I had just scored the winning goal.

What a difference 3 months make. What a difference changing your perspective makes. What a difference when you slow down and really look and listen.

The hikers I met and the kindness of trail angels will always be the highlight of this trail for me. I really wish everyone could experience that sense of community and pure kindness and joy that trail angels exude. I do plan to come back and continue to section hike the rest of this trail. But, I would like to bring along friends to experience what this is. I very much look forward to sharing that in the future with friends. Let me know if you're interested!

And speaking of hikers and trail angels, last night was an amazing evening shared with both. I camped at a campground last night right off the PCT. This campground has a section reserved for hikers, so you end up running into other hikers as they make their way off the trail to the campground. There were 6 of us hikers there last night. As we were sitting around, 2 trail angels showed up with drinks and food for us. Trail magic! The greatest part though was that one of the trail angels, Noelle, was the same trail angel I met 3 months ago here. She was the one that gave me a ride around town and helped me get off trail and onto the train. A true angel! It was such an absolute amazing ending to this stretch to run into her. She instantly remembered me and we sat and talked into the night, laughing over sandwiches that her and another angel had brought. I couldn't have asked for a better ending this season!

And one other story. I've met some amazing hikers on this trail and I'd like to share some things about one of them. Last night I met a hiker who goes by the trail name Quick Draw. He is unbelievably talented as an artist. He is thru hiking the PCT this year and made it his goal to paint a picture of some scenery of the trail that caught his attention every single day. He's not missed a day. He shared that he spends about 2 hours every day painting (and still manages to hike around 20 to 25 miles every day). And when he sees the thing that strikes him for the day, he puts his pack down right there and pulls out his paint brushes. His plan is to show them at a nature art show later on in the year and then sell the originals. He let us look through his book......oh my goodness! It is the most spectacular thing I have ever seen a thru hiker do on trail. I just have to share his blog with a quick video he made showing his paintings from the first couple months of the trail. I feel so lucky to have met this guy! So many fascinating people on this trail! Here's a link to his blog with his picture video:

https://kevingleasonart.com/blog/207192/pacific-crest-trail-sketchbook-volume-1

In a couple days I'll jump on the train in Dunsmuir and head home. I'm leaving the trail in very high spirits! I spent 71 days out here this season and covered 808.2 miles in that timeframe. I am so grateful for all of it! The trail has taught me a great deal!

My friend Mandy will be joining me for part of the journey home on the train. We'll meet up in Portland where I switch trains and we'll ride the rails together all the way back to Minneapolis. I'm looking forward to sharing the cross country adventure!!

Lastly, I have to say thank you to my husband for holding down the fort (especially right now with all the forest fires around us). He's been so supportive of my adventures. Thank you Paul for being an absolutely amazing human being and husband! I'm looking forward to helping him with his new found adventure of sailing! Keep the porch light on for me Paul, I'll be home in a few days!

Thank you everyone for following on this site! It was fun for me to share thoughts and pictures along the way. I hope you enjoyed. Thank you again! I'm hoping to put one more blog out while on the train ride home.

In the meantime, I have to do some laundry so they let me on the train. I already took a 45 minute shower that felt absolutely amazing!!!!

Hope everyone is well!

Here's just a few pictures from yesterday: