I don’t even know how I slept. I think I was pretty worn out, so I was up from about five in the morning. I waited for the first sounds in the house, and finally got up after seven. Cheryl made me an amazing breakfast just for me – it was a real feast!
The room where I stayed was also beautiful and just for me.
Morning of Planning and Rest
In the morning, I sat at the table, writing in my journal and preparing articles for the website. My Achilles tendon wasn’t doing well, so I mainly tried to rest. Cheryl even did my laundry, which I appreciated, especially the socks that deserved special admiration! When I get back home, I’ll have to wash everything – my sleeping bag, down jacket, tent, and the rest of my gear.
Around three in the afternoon, we went to pick up another hiker, and I picked up my package at the post office. I left most of the things in the hiker box – hopefully, they’ll help someone else.
The Decision to End the Trail
I’ve found myself in a situation where I can’t hike for several days. The snow in the mountains is more likely to increase, and I don’t have enough time or money to wait for the situation to improve. Plus, there’s a sick situation at home.
Thanks to all these circumstances, I’ve decided to end my trail and fly home.
I looked into the options and found that changing my existing flight from Seattle to Prague would cost more than buying a new one-way ticket from Los Angeles. And that doesn’t even include the time and cost of getting to Seattle.
Tomorrow, a combination of bus – train – bus to Los Angeles airport awaits me. It’s going to be an interesting journey! 😊
Evening of Food and Reflection
In the afternoon, we still went to the store where I bought Häagen-Dazs Cherry Vanilla ice cream as a little dessert. In the evening, we had spaghetti, salad, and bread – a truly great farewell dinner.
#PCT for me, at least this year, is over. If I’m counting correctly, I covered a total of 263 miles (423 km) in 21 days, and actually less, because the weather often stopped us in our tracks. Even so, I’m satisfied with what I managed and experienced. The trail taught me a lot and gave me a new perspective on many things.
