The end

The journey is over, the adjustment back to the other side of life has begun. But for a moment I wanted to think back on the amazing journey that I got to experience this summer. First off the story of how my dad and I got back to the states is one worth sharing:

After waking up at the border, we had 9 miles to hike in order to get to the remote ski resort of manning park in order to get to society. The walk was mediocre at best with very few good views and the constant knowledge that the miles that I was hiking did not even count. I was already done. Even so we completed our journey around 11. This was too late to catch the greyhound that leaves at 11am every day from the park, so we focused on cleaning up (shower/laundry) and then getting some food in us. Luckily the resort had a hot tub that they let us use and it felt amazing. Then we settled for an above average meal at the only restaurant in the area. Now that all our chores were done we decided to make a run at trying to get back in an area with either internet, phone service, hotels, or real civilization. Being a thru hiker, the only real option I knew was to hitchhike. We walked to the highway and thumbed it. We were greeted by no one and shown no sympathy. After over an hour in the hot sun we took a break before our next attempt at getting a ride. In round two of our hitchhiking it took over an hour but we ended up finally getting a ride from a couple on their way to the beach. It may have been the fact that I had not been in a car in a while, but it seemed the whole way that they were driving way too fast and looking at the scenery way more than they were looking at the road. Sure enough 30 miles into the drive, they were pulled over by the police along with the car behind us. The car behind us got a DUI and our driver got a speeding ticket. This unraveled her and the next 2 miles were nothing short of terrifying. Between the chain smoking, constant eating and her lack of attention to the road, sitting helplessly in the back seat seemed like the last place I wanted to be. Luckily we made it to Chilliwack alive. From here we were hoping to get to Abbotsford before too late and then walk across the border the next day. But first, still having the thru hiker hunger I was ready for dinner. We walked over a mile looking for a place to eat and asked multiple people until we finally found a nice restaurant with some very pretty waitresses called Earls. My dad and I had some drinks, good food, and a nice chat with a couple of the waitresses. It turned out that the power of my adventure and the stories I could pull from it and share landed us a ride to Abbotsford with one of the waitresses. The catch was we had to wait an hour until ten when she was off. It was a no-brainer. We got a dessert and a couple more drinks and the waiting began. It was a bit longer of a wait than we had expected but it was well worth it once we finally were able to get to the hotel. The desk clerk at the hotel ended up getting a watered down version of my story and it convinced him to leave the pool open for a while longer. After hearing my story though, he asked me if I was in hurricane Irene. It was one of the situations where it was not even worth it to try to explain to him that the hurricane was 2000 miles away and that I had been unaffected. 6 hours of sleep, a quick trip to the canadian coffee place 'Tim hortons' and we were off across the border. Since technically your not supposed to hike across the border as we did, we told border patrol we just had been hiking in British Columbia for a few days. They bought it and we were through. Into the town of Sumas we walked and began our next leg of hitch hiking. This time it was to bellingham. We were picked up quickly by a guy named Toby. He talked in third person, told us he was psychic and could read tarot cards. Toby was nice and liked to talk but I'm not sure he was still playing with a full deck. Either way he took us all the way from sumas to bellingham. from here we took the bus to the airport, rented a car and drove home. All in all the trip home cost us $44 total compared to a greyhound that would have cost us at least $65 each just to get to Vancouver BC. Hitch hiking is truly the most economical way to travel.

The pacific crest trail was a life changing journey. It taught me things like there is so much out there, I dont need much to be happy, and most of all I can do anything that I set my mind to. The desert in southern california was truly the most influential part of the trail. Getting dropped off with just my backpack and a plan to get 2700 miles north to canada was a very unique feeling. Nervousness mixed with excitement. But over the 650 miles of the southern california dessert, that dream to make it the whole way began to turn to a reality and instilled a confidence in me that I would be able to make it. After all once I was done with by far the ugliest section of trail, it would be a constant joy and eye opening experience to hike the rest. Central california brought some of the best times on the trail. For the time I hiked with escalator, hot cheese, and Dr, Chonzies I had the most fun, was surrounded by the best views and terrain, and was challenged with obstacles I had never dreamed of. The streams were giant, and sometimes had the power to take a person away, the hills were covered in snow and had to ability to humble even the most experienced climbers, but I made it through them all and lived up to the trail name I had been given as legend. It was not something others had not done and wouldn't continue to do, it was something that I had never known I could do. From here anything was possible. Northern California went by so fast, as I increased my mileage to average over 30 miles a day. Then once I entered Oregon I was greeted by family and friends at every place I wanted to stop. The absence of some of the wonder that california had, was fulfilled by the kindness of the people I knew. The walk across the bridge of the gods foreshadowed what washington would bring. Epicness. Everything in washington was bigger, harder, and more amazing. It was not the sierras of central california but it came close to rivaling it in a totally different way. The giant mountains of Adams, St helens, Rainier, and glacier peak rose out of the jagged peaks that made up one of the most desolate mountain ranges on the trail. The constant ascent and descent of these peaks made it a very trying section especially at over 30 miles a day, but the views were so amazing that it was worth it to push that extra mile at the end of the day and witness a great sunset. But I could not have asked for a better way to end the trail than having my dad at my side. He was a trooper and held up a lot better than I did my first week on the trail. We had an amazing time and finished in style a day earlier than we expected.

119 days 2700 miles and a frame of mind that will never be the same. Anyone can do it and everyone should. A video of the trip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIzSN9_aF-I

This journey has been brought to you by Legend. Anything is possible

Pct party

This Saturday (9/17) we are having an open house from 4 to 7 pm and it would
be great if you could come by so I can catch up with you after four months
on the PCT, show off some pictures and share my stories of the trail.   No
need to bring anything but maybe some lawn chairs to sit on if you have
them.



Email: jgar15@comcast.net

Picture showing party

This coming Saturday the 17th I will be showing a slideshow of the pictures of my trip and more than willing to talk to everyone about it. It will be at my parents house. Contact me if you need the address an just let me know if you are going to make it: jgar15@comcast.net

I swear that shirt fit 2600 miles ago.

Day 119-Canada

It's over! I'm done! I completed the 2654 mile hike from Mexico to Canada at 542 pm PST with my dad at my side! It brings the total to 3 months and 27 days. It's amazing to get to the end. It hasn't sunk in yet I guess. Well we began 20 miles out with an outside shot at making it mostly depending on my dad's feet. He powered through it. We walked through many passes including windy, rock, and castle passes. Then we climbed down the devils backbone and past Hopkins lake. All were with amazing views of the extremely snowy northern cascades. There were a few patches of snow along the way but we successfully navigated them. At one point we were taking our lunch break and all of a sudden I saw a machine gun come around the corner in the hands of a border patrol agent. There were two of them and they turned out to be nice, just a little intimidating with the gun. They were not much older than me but seemed to have some kind of status due to their border patrol hats. They passed and then a while later we met two other agents walking the trail. It was also nice to meet one lady who will finish the trail tomorrow. She has section hiked it over 9 years and doing every section in order. Well with it all over this means my blog will be coming to an end soon. I am thinking I will do 2 more posts and maybe a few pictures. I will post one summary of the trip once I get to a computer to write it, and then finally I will post a link to the video I will make of the pictures and videos I took along this epic journey! Both should be up within the week.

Day 118- on the verge

Today was one of my favorite on the trail. Even with his extremely sore feet, my dad and I made it through 22 miles. This puts us right on the doorstep of Canada and on the cusp of finishing the trail. With 20 miles tomorrow I will be on the Canadian border and be officially done with the trail. Today we started around 730 in the morning from the bottom of glacier pass. We made a short climb to the pass and then began the 2800 foot climb to the top of the ridge. It was an endless amount of switchbacks, but the views were amazing of the needles and the golden horn. Once at the top we began the second phase of our day made up of mostly ridge walking. Through harts pass, jims pass and a couple others. We walked through amazing meadows full of wildflowers, ridges with patchy snow, and dense forest. The variation was incredible. Just past Harts pass a guy walked by us, out of breath and a bit scared saying he had seen a grizzly. I highly doubt it, but it's possible. Either way we continued to talk during the section and did not let it phase us. To conclude the day we walked around the devils backbone and down into a small valley. The last mile of rocky downhill trail seemed to do a number on my dad's feet. Even so we made it to saw creek where we camped and made some blue cheese puff potatoes. They were great and I made some extra mashed potatoes to satisfy my hunger. In the 20 miles tomorrow we will have only a couple small climbs, including the last one of the whole trail up to over 7000 feet and from there it is a 7 mile gradual downhill to the Canadian border! On a side note my dad earned his trail name (at least for this year). He is the terminator because he is here to get me to the terminus and make sure I terminate the trail.

Day 117- a surprise

I don't know what it was, but my dad and I cranked out a 23 mile day. We began with the pretty level 5.5 miles to rainy pass (highway 20). Along the way when I was about 100 yards ahead and saw our second bear in two days. Unlike the first one this one took off down the hill as soon as it saw me. 2 bears in two day, my dad must be good luck! At rainy pass we took our first break and had a cinnamon roll each. Between the sugar and calories it must have powered us up cutthroat pass which was a 2500 climb. Along the way we met many day hikers who loved hearing about my trip and that I was finishing with my dad. He also could have been motivated to get up the hill by the 7 year old girl we saw hiking down the hill with her dad saying they had camped at the top. A good break, a lunch of jalapeño hummus and we were off to conquer two more passes. We both survived the climbs over granite and methow passes and my dad said he was good to keep going. Before we knew it we were at the bottom of the canyon and crossing the methow river. It was 430 and we had already gone 20 miles! Once again he said he was solid to keep going. We were shooting for a campsite near the river at an old horse camp. Sadly we never found it and ended up walking a couple more miles to brush creek. Along the way we saw some of the largest piles of bear scat i have ever seen. I wasn't afraid though, after all I'm a through hiker. We settled into camp and cooked up an amazing dehydrated shepherds pie. The one excellent thing about having my dad hike with me is he is more than happy to do dishes, something I was never very good or reliable at doing most of the trail. With this giant day, my dad and I are set up perfectly to complete the 51 miles to manning park in the 3 days we planned.

Day 116-fireweed camp

Waking up on grass was nice, until the bees began to buzz on the flowers and the Mosquitos came out. It happened to be 630, but even on a day I could sleep in, it was time to get up. My dad and sister soon followed and we got our fix of hit chocolate and coffee from the stehekin restaurant. After My mom joined us and got her necessary first cup of coffee we headed to the amazing stehekin bakery and all had a cinnamon roll. The nice thing with a little sister is you also get her left overs. From here we walked the 2 miles back to the main landing at stehekin. I still can't believe they made me walk 2 non trail miles. Either way from here I was business. My dad and I packed up our things. I went through the food and managed to fit it all in my pack (giving him a light pack). We said our goodbyes, caught the shuttle to high bridge (the pct 11 miles away) and were off. We had an unbelievable day. I knew my dad had done some walking, but I could not believe how strong a hiker he was. We made it 6 miles before the first break. I ate some food and he rested and we moved on. Shortly thereafter when we began to follow bridge creek, we walked up on a large black bear 10 yards from us. It was pretty awesome that my dad got to see one only 8 miles into the trail when it took me 800 miles. We snapped some pictures and moved on. The bear did not seem to mind us. At maple creek there was a rickety wooden bridge over it, that swung in the air. It was the ones that often fail in movies, making it all the more thrilling to go over. We finished out our day by making it to fireweed camp. A total of 15 miles for the day and we started at noon. A big dinner and it was time for bed. I have to say today was one of my most fun days. The scenery was average but the animals and the company was amazing. This will be an excellent 4 more days. My only complaint is that this is the first time all trail I have treated water. I guess it's for the better since I don't want to have to drag along a sick dad.

Day 115- stehekin

I slept in a ditch last night with my tent draped over a branch to account for any condensation. I can't say it was the most comfortable spot but I ended up sleeping pretty good. So good that I slept longer than I was planning on. I didn't even wake up until 7. This left me scrambling to get on the trail by at least 730 and made getting to stehekin by lunch a lost cause. Either way I packed up and began the all downhill day. My only food until stehekin was a few candies walnuts. I rationed them carefully and supplemented them with huckleberries. Still I was extremely hungry by the time I had dropped 4000 feet in 17 miles to the stehekin river. At least after I crossed high bridge I ran into two section hikers who were going in to stehekin and had way too much food. I got some dried fruit, nuts, and beef jerky from them until I could get in to town. We waited for the 11 mile shuttle up at the campground while getting destroyed by flies. The shuttle arrived and we all hoped on. It made many stops in the 11 miles causing it to take over an hour to get into the town. But the driver was nice enough to stop at the bakery for me and fellow hiker blister to get some good food. I got a giant cinnamon roll, a piece of strawberry rhubarb pie, giant bowl of ice cream, and a root beer. It would tide me over. At one of the stops a man, a woman, and a little girl resembling my family came up to the bus. Turns out it was them and they asked me in front of the full bus if I wanted to to go fishing with them. I said no due to the dirty tired state I was in after a 14 day grind through washington that has nearly destroyed my body. Only 88.8 miles left to complete the journey. I got all my town chores done and got my blog all updated. I'll try to put up a couple pictures tomorrow. Then as a family we ate a wonderful but very spendy meal at the only restaurant in stehekin and followed that by sleeping under the stars at my ten year old sister's request. Tomorrow I will organize the food they brought me and hopefully hike out mid day with my dad. He is going to hike this last section with me and I'm very excited to get to do a little lower mileage. But don't worry he took his training very seriously and I'm sure will be cranking out near 20 mile days. I told him what ever he wants to do mile wise as long as I don't run out of food again.

Day 114- the wall

For the first time in a long while there was no fog around me when I woke up. What was there was condensation all over the ground, tent, and me. It was especially terrible since on the edges of the tent it was frozen. Even so I had to endure this and packed up the tent and began the trek towards milk creek. I finished the climb over fire creek pass and got a good view of glacier peak and the frozen over mica lake. From here it was all down hill until milk creek which I completed easily. At the bottom of the canyon I took a break and opened up my food bag and realized how low I was on food. Basically all I have left is a little bit of mashed potatoes and a few candied walnuts. It's going to rough getting to stehekin tomorrow. I made the first of two large climbs and hit the wall. I was so tired I couldnt go more than a couple miles without needing a break. I finally just gave in and took a long break until I thought i could make it down the hill and to the suattle river. I made it, but it was a constant battle against wanting to stop. The crossing on the suattle was interesting in itself. It was a large waste deep river with one log starting 10 feet high and pointed down at around 30 degrees and this connected to one that pointed totally the opposite way. After the crossing I began the tough climb to suattle pass. Half way up I met blister who said he is really ready to be done. I wish I would have met him earlier because he seemed like someone I would have hiked with for a while. I got in 29 miles and have 17 more to get to stehekin.

Day 113- glacier peak

Once again I woke up in the middle of a cloud. It was real foggy until sometime between 8 and 9 and then it was a beautiful day. I guess when they say it's nice weather in northern Washington that means it's nice between 8 and 8. Anyways, the day was full of climbing up and down ridges with spectacular 360 degree views of the northern cascades. After going over reds pass I sadly had to lose all of the elevation that I had gained to go over the pass, knowing I would gain it all again soon. On the way down there was so much snow that I could cut some of the switchbacks by sliding down the snow. I wound through an old growth forest and then just before Kennedy creek the trail became overgrown with blackberry bushes and mud. But after trekking through the mud I found some of the biggest huckleberries I have ever seen. They could have been mistaken as cherries. From here I was rock bottom and had to climb substantially to get to a series of creeks. This is when I lost all energy and will to walk. I still had time on my side to make it a big day but my body did just not want to walk. I pushed through it and still ended up with a 32 mile day. If I can get in one last 30 mile day then I can hopefully make it to stehekin for lunch on Sunday.

Day 112- the real north cascades

It was freezing when I woke up this morning. It was so cold that I started out with my hat and gloves on until it warmed up. It may have been cold, but there were not so many clouds in the sky and it looked like I may actually get some sun today! Sure enough after my first climb to a pass the sun was shining right in my face. I completed the tough up and down section of snoqualmie pass to Stevens pass. I walked through the Stevens pass ski area and across highway 2 to begin the next section to stehekin. Immediately I was greeted with a slow gentle graded trail to walk on for over three miles. It was the first flat trail I have had in days. Soon enough the trail got to business climbing past Janus lake into the true north cascades. Walking on sharp ridges that give way to passes at 6000 feet made up of meadows full of wildflowers. It's so amazing. Factor in the snow and it is truly beautiful. I finished out the day walking past pear lake where I grabbed some water to camp with. On my walk down to the lake off the trail I began to get chased by a dog. It scared me a bit but I recovered. The owner came after him soon. It wasn't a problem, the real problem was that the guy had the best camp site at the lake so I had to climb the next pass and found an even better spot in a big green meadow. It could be another cold night. All the day hikers I passed today said that it would be nice the next three days, but I didn't see anything but clouds for the last few hours of the day.