‘Life before death,
Strength before weakness,
Journey before destination,
Speak again these hallowed words.’ – Way of Kings
Thus it began, the last 19 mile stretch to the end. At the bakery, we loaded up on baked goods one more time and I bought a Stehekin sweater from the gift shop as a keepsake. Then we took the shuttle back to trail. Back to trail.
I went ahead of the others and hiked alone. I tried to soak it all in. The air, the smells, the ancient presence of the trees. It rained the most it had done so far in 5 months and it felt appropriate. I smiled and hiked on, feet rhythmically landing on the ground. At the start of the trip I often wondered if the wild would give me answers to questions I had long carried with me. And it did, but not in the way I expected. I realize now that somewhere along the way, I simply stopped asking questions. Everything makes sense here, there is no need to torment ourselves with matters of meaning or right and wrong. I am who I want to be. I hope I can bring Catch Up with me once I go home, although I bitterly remember I failed to do so after Australia.
I found Shaggy sitting next to the trail on a dry patch. Poor guy had been bitten by a spider on his back and it was making his flesh rot to the point that he had now a painful hole in his back. He commented on how amazing it was that everyone’s final plans to get to the border, either by land or water, had materialized that night in Stehekin. And he was right. One final hurrah for all those who had stuck with this hike. I bade him farewell and the best luck with that bite and went to camp.
We had our final dinner in the rain and lightning. Lucky Charm said this was the most rain she had ever encountered in Washington. Maybe it would put out some of those fires. At the least it would help to disperse the smoke a bit. Tomorrow is not the end of the journey, but the hike to Canada is over.
