Mother Nature Always Wins

Mother Nature always wins.

We’re home. Off the trail. After having to hitch-hike around a 99-mile trail closure near Mount Rainier and hike in day after day of smoke, we decided to go home. This wasn’t an easy choice.

It’s been heartbreaking to give up the dream of hiking from Mexico to Canada in a single season. It certainly isn’t how I imagined my hike to end. As more time passes, I expect to reflect on the experience as a whole, but for now, all I can think about is the sting of the abrupt end.

At the time of this writing, there are eight trail closures due to wildfire in the northern half of the PCT. In the northernmost 1000 miles, there are just two sections where 100 continuous miles are open. As you can imagine, it’s smoky everywhere.

After hiking in heavy smoke for all but one day in Washington, driving through smoke the length of Oregon, and several days of smoky hiking in Northern California, we decided to end our hike. The trail through Oregon and Washington passes through wilderness that I know is beautiful. I want to be able to see it.

I’m grateful for family and friends who have supported our journey with calls and messages, encouraging comments on this blog, and care packages full of love and calories. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend the summer exploring the west at three miles per hour. It was an adventure that challenged me and humbled me and something I’ll remember fondly forever.

I’m not done with you, PCT. I look forward to returning to hike the rest of the trail.

“We are now in the mountains and the mountains are in us.” -- John Muir

I’ll finish up posts with photos from the last two weeks we hiked. We hiked through some incredible wilderness in Washington. Check back for those in the next few days.