Trail Tale Reflections 2008

As I reflect upon completing the 2,650 mile Pacific Crest Trail, my mind wanders off to what will come next. But, first things first. I compare my 4,148 mile journey to a cancer patient's treatment, particularly my sister's 10 year ordeal for whom I hike. Since the beginning of my aspiring PCT thru-hike in 2006, I have hiked through record snow amounts, climbed the highest mountain in the United States, and hiked in the desert in record heat. I have gotten lost...very lost...on a few occasions. I developed 4 severe cases of poison oak. I foolishly fractured a rib glissading in the record snowfall. I was air rescued out of a rattlesnake den descending Fuller's Ridge in the vast San Jacinto Wilderness. I broke my right hand and hiked with a fiberglass cast on my arm for 8 weeks. And I shattered my left tibula/fibula only to be air-rescued a second year in a row. It was through my sister's death that I truly learned how to live. Cheryl taught me that. While my hike might sound miserable to some, I considered the obstacles as mere hiccups to my ultimate goal. Thank God that the trail is timeless. Since 2006, I learned how to live in communion with God in His natural world. With each obstacle, I became closer to God. Cancer patients go about their daily lives undergoing brutal chemo/radiation treatments...all with such grace, determination and, in Cheryl's case, humor. Cancer patients know how to live their lives deeply fulfilled. Distance hikers learn that too by the simplicity of walking, eating, and sleeping. This year's 550 mile distance hike to complete the PCT was fulfilling in every way imaginable. When I approached the Canadian border, I was not euphoric. I was content. Just as was my sister when she died peacefully in 1998...content in knowing that her faith in God was strong enough to permit her soul to exist alongside her Maker. Cheryl will always be my footpath of pride as I continue my passion with future charity distance hikes. To continue to honor Cheryl's memory by benefitting cancer patients and their families through Hospice of Cincinnati is a life path groomed for me. I just love to hike. So...CDT 2009...here I come...ready to Embrace the Brutality of the 3,100 mile backbone of the United States!