Tag 139: After killing some time at KFC and McDonald's, I take the Greyhound to Portland at 12:05. I thought I could go straight through, but the bus actually gets changed in Seattle and I sit at the Greyhound Station for two hours in the middle of the night. I have a little culture shock because it's too loud and too busy. In the past few months, I have always been recognized as a hiker in the trail towns, this morning I was congratulated for the thru-hike, now I'm just a stinky guy in worn-out clothes that no one cares about. I almost feel a little robbed of my identity. The transition from Phoenix back to Niklas is not happening as quickly as I thought. It's all too much for me and I'm very glad to be back on the trail for a few more days to properly process the end of the trail. Then I will continue to Portland and the Amtrak station in Portland is actually much nicer and cozier than any train station in Germany. The German Railway could take a look at that. From Portland, I will continue to Eugene and then to Bend. It took me 27 days from Bend to the Canadian border on the trail, now I will cover the distance with hitchhiking and public transportation in just under 30 hours. Absurd. Since I have time in Bend, I resupply here for my last days on the trail and then take the bus to Sisters. I stay at the campsite here, wash and shower. I haven't been this completely clean in a long time and I feel pretty good. For dinner, I eat burgers from Sno Cap Drive In and their milkshakes are at least in the top 3 on the trail. So, in that respect, it was worth bypassing the closure at first, otherwise I would have missed Sisters. And that would have been a shame because it's really a beautiful little trail town.Tag 140: After getting enough sleep, I get some fantastic pastries and coffee for breakfast and hitch back to the trail. After about three quarters of an hour, I get a ride. It's a bit strange to be back in Oregon, but the area here is definitely worth coming back to. First, I go through a lava field, then through forest and burnt areas. Since I don't have to be in a hurry, I only hike 13 miles today and go to the Big Lake Youth Camp, which I have only heard good things about. The camp used to be a youth camp until last year, since then it's for families and it looks exactly like the youth camps you know from movies. The staff is incredibly nice and gives me a little tour. For PCT hikers, there is a separate house with a small kitchen, coffee, showers, and washing machines. The WiFi is very good and there is food three times a day. And all of this is free or on a donation basis. Definitely one of the best places on the trail. I spend the afternoon with other hikers and later we go for dinner. Everything here is vegetarian and very delicious. There is a taco buffet and a large salad buffet, which is very welcome. I decide to stay for breakfast as well, because, as I said, I'm not in a hurry. We're not allowed to camp on the premises, but as soon as you leave the premises and walk around the lake, you can find plenty of good camping spots. Just for the Youth Camp alone, it was worth the effort to come back here.Tag 141: After getting enough sleep, I go to the camp for breakfast and then spend some time in the hiker house. Today, the trail goes through a lot of burnt areas, but there are incredibly delicious blueberries and huckleberries. And there are also great views of 'Three Fingered Jack', which seems to have a few more fingers. Today, too, I take my time and enjoy these last days on the trail. Honestly, I probably couldn't walk much faster anyway, my right leg is causing more problems again. And today, the pack of my tent ripped and the zipper of the tent's fly screen no longer reliably closes. So, it's slowly time to finally finish the trail.Tag 142: I actually wanted to start early today and set my alarm for 05:30. But I really don't feel like getting up, so I stay in bed until 07 o'clock. But eventually I gather the motivation and start walking. Today is actually my last real day on the trail because tomorrow I will reach Olallie Lake and hopefully make it back to Interstate 5. As I walk up a gentle slope, a hiker comes towards me. It's only at the last moment that I recognize Spring again. I'm happy to see her and we talk about my experience at the border and Spring's further trail. She got back on the trail at Frog Lake. I wish her all the best and continue on my way. Shortly afterwards, a horse rider comes towards me. It's actually the horse rider I saw a few times in Southern California. I also exchange a few words with her before continuing. Maybe I've taken my cardboard from Courier by now, or not.
After the lunch break, I enter the former Lionshead Fire closure, hike around Mount Jefferson, and enter the Mount Hood Wilderness. This area is beautiful and I am infinitely grateful that I can still see it. And as I walk through this breathtaking nature, I suddenly feel an overwhelming joy and an incredible sense of pride. Exactly the feeling I expected at the Canadian border. Maybe it was more important to me than I thought to hike the entire trail. Or maybe I was already too busy planning how to come back and hike the rest at the border. In any case, I now realize fully what I have accomplished. Even when I was just planning to hike the trail, it was clear to me that I would succeed. And I had to have this attitude, otherwise I wouldn't have needed to start. But even for a large part of my surroundings, it seemed like there was no question of whether I would succeed or not. At times on the trail, I felt like if I quit now and flew home, the first question would be why I didn't make it, and only then would people see the progress I had made so far. And now, when I'm actually close to having hiked every mile of the PCT, it sounds ironic to criticize this expectation, because I have fulfilled it. But the odds were against me just like anyone else. And when I think about all the obstacles that stood in my way, there were definitely moments when it was at least uncertain whether I could make it. But I have overcome these obstacles, whether it was the heat exhaustion on the first day, the shin splints in the Sierras, the illness in Northern California, or other injuries, pains, and mental exhaustion. And I have scars that will probably accompany me for the rest of my life. I have seen incredible landscapes, met wonderful people, and found friends. All of this makes me incredibly grateful and I am damn proud of myself. And I don't need to prove to myself or anyone else what I am worth. And that's not because I'm now actually a PCT thru-hiker, but because through all the experiences I had on the trail, I found my own worth for myself. At least I would like to believe that.
After this emotional rambling, which may or may not have been drug-induced, and of which I'm not sure whether I'll publish it or keep it to myself, there's one more nice thing to tell. In the evening, around half past five, a ranger comes towards me. I talk to him, tell him that I'm just doing this section and how happy I am that the closure has opened and how much I like this section. He also says that his job is much nicer again now that he doesn't have to turn away hikers anymore. Just as we are about to say goodbye, he suddenly asks if he can see my permit for a moment. Of course, I show it to him. I definitely didn't expect to be asked for my permit on my last day on the trail. But at least I didn't carry it around for 2650 miles for nothing because if there's one thing a thru-hiker doesn't like, it's carrying unnecessary things.Tag 142: After a very nice sunset on the ridge with a great view of Mount Hood and Mount Jefferson, the night unfortunately becomes uncomfortable. It's very windy and raining intermittently. This means that I can't start early today either. Fortunately, it's only about ten miles to Olallie Lake. Despite this distance, my leg isn't happy with it, but I finally arrive at 12 o'clock. It's a nice ending to my trail, even though the last ten miles weren't as exhilarating as yesterday's section.
Now there is one last challenge left, the hitch back to civilization. There are a few other hikers here, and I chat with them a bit. And while I'm chatting and celebrating my accomplishment with a can of cola and packaged cinnamon rolls from the store, two sheriffs suddenly appear. They spend a while in the store and then sit down for a meal at a table by the lake. Since I've already approached several campers nearby and none of them are heading towards the highway, I decide to try my luck with the sheriffs, because they must be going back to town. And I actually get lucky, the two of them are super nice and give me a ride to Detroit. However, there is only one seat available in the car, the 'cage', the place where the arrested people usually sit. An interesting experience, because the seat is quite tight and completely surrounded by plexiglass windows and grids. Almost everyone we pass greets the sheriffs. And at some point, I start to wonder what people might think I did somewhere in the middle of nowhere that I had to be picked up by sheriffs. But I also wonder what the sheriffs were doing in the middle of nowhere in the first place. I ask them. One of them is in the process of getting a boat back into shape and used his lunch break to check out the lake as a potential mooring place. Very practical.
When we reach Detroit, I say goodbye to them. In Detroit, I eat something and then take up my position on the highway at 3 o'clock. This is the longest I've had to wait for a hitch on the entire trail. A whole two hours. So, I got ridiculously lucky when it comes to hitches. After two hours, a mountaineer picks me up, who was on Mount Washington today. He takes me to Salem, where I arrive at 6 o'clock. So, I have actually reached my goal, Interstate 5, but I won't make it to Seattle today. So, I look for a room in a motel. And of course, I get the worst room on the entire trail. No WiFi, chaos at the reception, my TV doesn't work, and the room was definitely smoked in, and there are long black hairs in the shower that I strongly doubt are mine. And all of this for an unbeatable $130. But it was the cheapest option available at such short notice, and in the end, I only spend about ten hours in it. That's the end of my little travel report. I spend two more nice days in Seattle and see some of my friends again. After that, I spend another day in Vancouver and then fly back home to Germany. I could list again what I'm grateful for and how great the trail and all the experiences I've had were, but we've had that so many times by now that I'll skip it. So, until then.
