Almost five months since we flew to San Diego to start the long walk home, we walked into Snoqualmie Pass, a ski resort only 60 miles east of Seattle on Interstate 90. The few days prior we had some of our best days on the trail – more mushrooms than we’d seen in that short a time in years, beautiful fall weather (which was a nice surprise after waking up to snow on September 20!), some delicious trail magic, and many moments of joy and reflection. We were welcomed at the Snoqualmie Pass trailhead by some of our dearest friends who we hadn’t seen in almost half a year.
Spending that night celebrating, eating, and reconnecting with these friends made it easy, after looking at the rainy and cold forecast for the next week, to decide to end our trip four days early and head home to Seattle.
While the decision to come home was an easy one, neither of us are “ready” to be off trail.
We are both overcome with emotions, which I’m sure will continue over the coming days and weeks as we adjust to an inside lifestyle. We are grateful to have the time and resources to make the adjustment intentionally and will be heading back into the woods (though this time in a cabin) for a mini retreat – just the two of us reflecting, writing, resting, and yes, hiking. We’ll be back in Seattle for good on Friday Sept. 29, when Jeremy will dive full-time into mushroom classes and events for the season and we’ll focus on nourishing our bodies with fresh instead of freeze dried foods and healing our feet while maintaining “hiking shape.”
We’ll have a few more blog posts and videos to share in the coming days, but here are some fun stats from the 141 days from May 6 to September 23 that we spent on the Pacific Crest Trail:
• Total PCT miles walked: ~1850
• Total steps taken: ~5.15 million
• Species observed and identified (flora, fauna, fungi, etc.): 350+
• Longest stretch without taking a day off: 25 days
• Number of days we hiked 20 miles or more: 14
• Longest stretch without a shower: 7 days
• Sour patch kids and Fritos eaten: Thousands