Finished!!!!

Done!!!!! What a trip! It was an epic journey with many ups and downs (besides the obvious mountain reference). The last week added the additional challenge of more rain and mice/rats at the highly used campsites in that section. Which led to many sleepless nights. The very last night my hiking partner woke up screaming due to a mouse on her, which in turn woke me up screaming. Hopefully no one was camping nearby, they would have thought the worst!

After finishing, I took a bus to Vancouver, then to Seattle. In Seattle I hung out with some friends and saw a bit o

f the city.

So what did I learn from this trip? There are plenty of good people out there: other hikers, hostel owners, people willing to pick up smelly hikers for rides, my folks for sending me gear. I learned that I am willing to carry toilette paper. I didn't use it for the first half of the trip, until I acquired giardia and was making pit stops more than 4 times a day

. I learned it is worth carrying tons of food. All of the lightweight gear that

I have is great, but the weight of food is necessary.

This pic is actually of my hiking partner Kerry. This was crossing a river in Washington on a slippery log. She loved every minute of it!!

Numbers:

Pacific Crest Trail: 2656 miles

Total days: 140

Days off during: 18

Days hiking: 122

Longest Day: 33 miles

Shortest: 6 miles

Average miles per day including days off: 19

Off to see more family and friends! Happy trails to all and thanks for all of the support. I thought of everyone while I was out there.