It is good to be healthy. Yesterday already was a good indication, but today I was certain the illness had passed. I’m back, cruising at my regular speed.
Mere minutes out of camp, a big, dark brown bear ran across the trail and crashed through the bushes down to the lake. Wow. It was a textbook perfect black bear. First bear in Washington! Number four, but I’m still in awe every time I see one of these animals.
Not much later, I crossed Dash, going southbound. He was getting off trail. Without the terminus he might as well quit here, he said. He had gone on trail for one more day to spent time with his trail family. How bewildering, people are getting off trail. First Gaspard and now Dash. The goodbyes are final this time. There is no more ‘Hope to see you up the trail!’.
At lunch, I took a lot of time staring at how the light reflected on the small, wind-created waves on Pear lake. It was hypnotizingly beautiful.
A lot of people are bummed out by the terminus being closed and I get it. But on the other hand, I feel it’s not really a big deal. Yes, it is the official end of the trail, but the trail itself is an arbitrary route across man-made arbitrary borders. Does it really matter that we won’t reach the Canadian border? It should not and does not invalidate the amazing past 4.5 months. What makes this tiny closed stretch of trail so much more valuable than all the others, open or closed? I did not set out on this journey to strictly tag the border as primary goal. I came here to push myself mentally and physically, view the passage and change of the land, marvel at some of the most beautiful nature in the world, meet interesting people and hike every mile that I could. When I reach Rainy Pass, the new end of the trail, I will have achieved all these goals and couldn’t be happier for it.
