Hannah the hiker

On day 53 we ended up getting a hotel room so we wouldn’t have to camp in our tents on our zero. We got a ride to town and had huge breakfasts. They were delicious. I had a huge homemade cinnamon roll, probably the best one I’ve ever had.

We hung out in town for a while and eventually all made our way back to the hotel. Here we relaxed the rest of the night.

On day 54 Stewart’s friend, Margarita picked us up from our hotel around 7. She even brought us all burritos! I thought that was really sweet. She hiked about 3 miles with us of the trail.

The trail was pretty cruisey. And we had perfect hiking weather. About 70 degrees with a light breeze. We stopped at a water pipe around 11:30 for lunch. I had my burrito and some biscoff cookie butter for lunch. Super tasty. It was a nice change from the tuna tortillas.

We hiked to the next water source which was a big water tank. I actually had to get inside the tank and go down a couple rungs on the ladder to get water. It was a little weird. But the water was cold and clear!

We decided to hike about 9 more miles to camp. So I just listened to some podcasts and music and walked. The trail was really pretty. Not too overgrown either!

We could see the mountains we had hiked from a couple days before and see the trail stretch ahead of us a bit. Once the sun was going down we had a really neat sunset. There were clouds hanging over the mountains and the sky was light pink and blue. It was beautiful. We stopped quite a bit to take pictures, none of them do it justice though.

Stewart found a great cowboy spot and set up camp. Gays and I kept walking to the next water source. Zack hung back to camp as well.

We were able to look to the west on our way and see the sunset over low hanging clouds. The sky was orange. Another beautiful view.

We walked on a very wide trail for about .4 of a mile. It seemed to be a memorial of some sort but we couldn’t figure out what for. At around 7 we got to camp, grabbed water, and set up our tents. It was getting pretty chilly out. I had dinner in my sleeping bag and went to bed around 8.

We hiked 24.8 miles with 5,000 feet elevation gain and 2,000 loss.

On day 55 I left camp around 6 and started our 10 mile walk to the Mount Laguna Post office and store. The trail was gorgeous over those 10 miles. I stopped a couple of times to take pictures and enjoy the views. The clouds were still hanging low in surrounding mountains which looked neat in the dark morning sky.

Gams found a perfect rock to watch the sunrise on. I showed up at just the right time to see the sun pop up. I haven’t seen many sunrises on trail where I can actually see the sun rise over the horizon. I enjoyed it. I took out my oatmeal to have a quick bite of breakfast. Gams and I split a 30 serving size container of oatmeal for this last section. So I had 3 bags that were probably 6 servings each. I put some trail mix in each one but it was so plain and thick it just felt like concrete in my stomach. I tried to finish it when we took our breakfast break so I wouldn’t have to carry it, it was a force. We made it to the post office around 10. Stewart and Zack both beat us there. Stewart left his campsite early because the wind was bad. Zack left his campsite earlier than us too.

At the store I bought a coffee and snickers ice cream as a little breakfast snack. The cashier wasn’t the friendliest of people either, I don’t think he loved having hikers hanging out on the porch. Margarita, and Stewart’s friend Johnathon (who works for The Phoenix) met us at the store. The film crew showed up a little bit later too. They were going to be filming some footage of Stewart on the trail to make into a video for The Phoenix. Stewart planned a little surprise for us too! He had his friend Johnathon buy our favorite snacks and put them in nice Phoenix bags. I got confetti poptarts which are my favorite. This meant I could throw away my oatmeal and have the poptarts for breakfast! It was really sweet of Stewart and his crew to do all that for us.

We all hit the trail and the crew started filming. It was kind of fun walking with a big group and seeing the filming happen. They took a couple videos of all of us walking, I just kept thinking about not falling. Eventually the crew left and we said our see ya laters since they would meet us at the border. Margarita and her dog Lilo walked with us a bit farther. It was nice to have the company, especially Lilo! It made me excited to see Cash.

Margarita and Lilo left around 12 and we hiked on. We stopped at a creek around 1 and gathered some water. We had a nice long lunch here.

We talked about post trail plans in San Diego and about where we wanted to camp. We decided to go another 8 miles to Kitchen creek to camp.

The 8 miles were downhill and cruisey. I listened to some podcasts and music for the rest of the day. I stopped to filter water and check on my feet about halfway through. I was getting my first blister on the trail! I put some foot balm on it but it didn’t seem to help much. It didn’t hurt too bad either though. I made it to Kitchen Creek around 5 and walked downhill to meet up with Gams and Zack. I set up my tent and sat by the water. It was flowing pretty well and had a big pool that you could almost swim in. I tried to soak my feet but it was cold. So I just splashed them in and out and called it good.

I ate dinner, which was a mountainhouse chicken and dumplin courtesy of Conner. It was tasty! A nice change from my nightly Knorrs. I had some pumpkin Reese’s for desert and went to sleep around 7. It was a nice and early night. We did 22.7 miles with 2,300 feet elevation gain and 3,600 feet loss.

On day 56 I left camp around 6:15 and started the 10 miles to the Lake Morena general store where we were going to meet another one of Stewart’s friends, Aaron. It was a chilly morning. My tent and sleeping bag were wet from condensation. I wore my sweater and beanie for about 8 miles. We could see our breath while we were walking! I accidentally walked down a creek for a while and didn’t realize I was off trail. I then bushwhacked back to meet up with the trail. This was mostly uphill through brush and over lots of rocks. It probably took me longer to bushwhack than to just walk back and meet up with the trail where I left it. Regardless I still made it to the store by 10 and met Aaron, Gams, Zack, and Stewart. Aaron brought us all breakfast burritos which were delicious! I dried out my tent and sleeping bag. We got back on trail around 11:30 and Aaron joined us for about an hour of walking. We met two northbound section hikers who gave us information on water ahead.

We made it to Hauser Creek which was our last water for about 11 miles. We all took a nice lunch break. I stayed for about an hour and then packed up to walk to camp. Everyone stayed a bit longer to enjoy the shade.

I went up our last big uphill of the trail and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I walked about 6 miles to a nice east facing campsite. My plan was to wake up and enjoy the sunrise from my tent.

I got to camp around 4:30. I set up and tried to dry my hiking clothes out since they were pretty sweaty. Everyone passed by as time went on.

I had a tasty dinner of knorrs. It was nice to get to camp so early, I was able to brush my hair! I normally don’t brush it since I get to camp in the dark.

I went to sleep around 7:30.

I slept in on day 57 and woke up at 6. My sleeping bag and tent were soaked, again from condensation. I enjoyed my poptarts as I packed up my bag. The sun wasn’t up yet so I took my time.

I left camp around 7 and started the last 8.8 miles of trail.

It was a somewhat cruisey 8 miles. The trail was still a bit overgrown which was annoying.

I crossed rail road tracks which had a sign saying Mexico was just 3 miles away. At this point I could see the border wall which was interesting.

I met the rest of the Glee Club at the general store in Campo. We waited a little while since we had to meet The Phoenix crew at 12 at the border. I dried out my stuff in the sun, it was getting pretty toasty out!

We left the store around 11:30 and walked the last 1.4 miles. We stopped in the shade for a little bit. While we were waiting we sang the ABCs in rounds, just for fun.

When we started walking again we saw everyone waiting for us at the border. It was pretty exciting.

We all touched the southern terminus at the same time. There were lots of photos taken and ice cream eaten. It was the perfect celebration to end the trail. We all hung out eating ice cream and meeting Stewart’s friends. Also, for more information about The Phoenix, visit their website: https://thephoenix.org/. You can also listen to Stewart’s interview on their podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stewart-powell-the-trail-to-recovery/id1632520458?i=1000622250129.

It’s worth listening to! There are a lot of inspiring stories on their website and I can see how tight knit this community is through their support for Stewart.

Margarita drove us to a taco shop and we met some more friends there to have a quick lunch.

Margarita then drove us to her house where will stay for the night! I took a nice hot shower and started some laundry.

I am thankful that I was able to come back and hike the rest of the Pacific Crest Trail.

I’ve thought about this trail nearly every day for the past 2.5 years and it’s strange to finally be done. It took 149 days to finish the trail. 2655.2 miles hiked. Minus 98 miles that I skipped because of a fire last year (which I will have to come back to at some point). I’ve gone through 5 pairs of trail runners, 3 pairs of shorts, 4 pairs of darn tough socks, and a couple of showers.

I’ve learned a lot about myself and the natural world during my time on trail. A lot of people expect you to have some form of epiphany while you are hiking all day everyday, but honestly hiking is when my brain finally gets a break. It’s a time I can finally come back and connect with myself. So my big epiphany is that life isn’t all that bad if I take time and balance being with people, on my own, and walking a little bit.

This has been one of the best experiences of my life. I can’t say how grateful I am for legs that walk me everywhere, friends that make me laugh, trail angels with perfect timing, cold ice cream, warm sunrises, and the 2 foot wide path that took me through the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen. There are so many things to be said about my experience on the PCT and I’m not sure I can really put words to all of it as of today. So this is all I have to say about it for now until I can find the right words.

The PCT is something I’ll treasure for the rest of my life. I’m just over the moon about the whole experience.

Thank you to those who have read my blog posts and for all of the support.

I’ll fly home soon and get back into the routine of normal life. And maybe I’ll start thinking about my next adventure. But for now I’m just going to enjoy sitting.