PCT Day 83 – SoBo Flip – Nothing is Certain

Dick’s Lake (mile 1108) to Echo Summit (mile 1090)

Total PCT miles hiked: 1148

Due to our early start Keith (Starman) and I arrived at the Sierras when there was still a lot of snow, and decided it wasn’t safe to attempt a crossing given my skill level. We elected to flip up to northern California and hike southbound (SoBo) back to where we left off near Lone Pine – giving the snow a chance to melt out. During this flip the PCT milage will be counting down, but I’ll include a tally of our total milage hiked so that you can keep aprised of our progress in a linear fashion.

Two strangers appear to be waving at us from the shores of Echo Lake as we descend towards the road under leaden grey skies. I wave back merrily because if nothing else, the PCT has taught me to embrace odd moments. It’s a good thing too, because upon closer inspection the strangers turn out to be Joyce and Mike—Keith’s friends from work who are here to give us a ride into town. We weren’t sure if they’d be able to meet us and I’m so grateful they’re here; saving us a hitch into town and ensuring that we’ll get to eat pizza. Heck yes.

After dinner and many pets of

Joyce’s dog Zeb, they abandon us to grocery shop while they head back to their lives in Berkeley. Goodbye friends, thank you for the food and company!

We are wandering the over stocked, over lit, and overwhelming aisles of Raleys South Lake Tahoe when I spy Hulk sitting at a table with two hikers I do not know. They have bad news, he and Lite Brite are getting off the trail. They’ve run low on money and are pulling the plug.

What do you say to news like this? I’m sorry, that sucks, oh no? Everything I can offer feels hollow and superficial. I imagine that the choice was an agonizing one, and that their good humor about the decision is something that has only bloomed once the sting of leaving the trail has mellowed. They say they’ll come back and finish the trail next year, and I really hope they do. I was so sure they’d make it to the end that their pending departure has left me feeling unmoored. This news comes on the back of learning that at least three other people we’ve hiked with are also ending their hikes. When we all started out in the desert it felt impossible to know who would make it and who wouldn’t, who would come to love the trail and who would hate it. I guess it’s still impossible to know.

Unlike traditional sports where there is a clearly designated winner and loser, a first place and a last, there is no reason that everybody can’t finish their thru hike. Or rather, there are many reasons people do not finish their thru hikes, but there are no set number of finish places every year. And because there is no need to scurry for a limited number of finish places, there is a desire for everyone to succeed. I wanted Hulk and Lite Brite to finish as much as I wanted every hiker I’ve met to finish. Learning that someone is getting off the trail strikes at something deep within me. Empathy, sympathy, sure. But if I’m being honest, it’s also a little scary. A reminder that we control less of the world around us than we’d ever like to admit. That sometimes doing your best doesn’t get you all the way to the finish line. That nothing, nothing is certain in life and that is the scariest thing to accept. I think many of us are taught that if we follow the road map and the rules we’ll arrive at life’s destination happy, unharmed, and fulfilled. It’s certainly a more comforting world view than the idea that we’re all just doing the best we can while roaming around through mostly chaos. Then again, maybe we’d be better served by learning how to float within the randomness of life, instead of striving to cling to what we think should be. Good luck Hulk and Lite Brite! I hope to see you in Washington next year, the trail magic is on me.