Total Miles This Hike: 299.9
PCT Miles Covered: 2001.0
Today starts a few days off from hiking (4 actually). Since I haven’t taken any zeros yet, I am somewhat able to justify this. I have to find my way back to Bend, where I can pick up the trail where I started this year, but heading north instead. Hotels, hostels and transportation are already booked, it’s just a matter of getting where I need to be at the time I need to get there.
The majority of the rest of this post is copied and pasted from a post I put on Facebook. I never expected when I set out to hike (and finish) this trail that I would get the chance to be part of something much bigger than myself. Today that finally happened. Here’s the story:
“So, after having breakfast at Callahan’s, another former PCT hiker happened to show up and offer rides into Ashland. I gladly accepted and a little while later I was back full circle where I started this flip in front of the hotel I stayed at in Ashland a few weeks prior.
I really didn’t have any chores to do in Ashland, all I had to do was be in Medford by the end of the day at the hotel I had booked there. That being said, one thing I did need to purchase at some point were blister bandages for my feet, as I had gone through the small amount I had brought already. In trail towns, these are sometimes hard to find because hikers tend to clean them out quickly when they find them. So I walked over to a Rite-Aid and was able to find some large ones that cover heals, but I wanted to get some smaller ones for my toes as well. Figuring I would just check I headed next door to the Albertsons Supermarket as well.
It was pretty dead in there early in the morning, but I found what I needed and proceeded to the cashier. When I got there I was in line behind an older gentleman who had a bunch of items. I really wasn’t paying too close attention when I heard him start to question pricing and his total with the cashier. He started to make a bit of stink and started to give the cashier a bit of a hard time. The stink went to snarky comments which pleasantly were returned with a few polite but snarky comments from the cashier as well. After working for so long in customer service it is nice for me to watch an employee give a little of it back now and then and not just roll over to rude and arrogant behavior on behalf of a customer. Finally the gentleman realized he was in the wrong and unsincerely apologized before taking his purchase and storming off.
As it became my turn to check out I waited for him to be out of earshot and before the clerk started even ringing up my small purchase I said to her, “Well, I hope your day gets better from here.” It was just a small comment to lighten the mood, but the cashier grinned and I could tell she had already shaken off the experience. I paid and was just about to take off, when it looked like a lightbulb switched in her head and she asked me “Are you hiking the PCT?” I said yes, and she asked me if I had a minute because she wanted to talk to me about something.
This is where I met Shawnna Siewell Meyer.
She proceeded to tell me a very personal story about her daughter Amanda who had been disabled and had spent most of her life wheelchair bound but always loved the idea of travelling and meeting new people but had not had the ability to do that much because of her disability. My heart sank when she told me that her daughter had passed away the year before. However, this amazing mother had found a way to ensure that Amanda would get her dream of travelling and seeing the world. As she proceeded to tell me more I found myself choking back tears, finally giving way and letting them sneak down the side of my face. She had taken her daughters ashes and placed them into hundreds of small envelopes so they could be carried by friends and loved ones throughout their travels going forward. She had then set up a special facebook page called Amanda Adventures dedicated to her daughters memory where people could share videos and pictures of everywhere Amanda has now visited everywhere around the country and around the world.
She then blew me away by asking if I would be interested in carrying Amanda along with me on the PCT the rest of my way towards Canada. Here was this amazing woman entrusting a complete stranger with something so important and close to her heart. After hearing her story there was no hesitation that I wanted to be involved with Amanda’s Adventures. A lot can happen in the next 650 miles, but this has given me an additional unexpected motivation as I head north. I hope to be able to show Amanda some truly amazing places as we travel together north to the Canadian border.”
With Amanda safely tucked away in my pack I spent a little more time walking around downtown Ashland before catching a bus into Medford. The bus dropped me off about a mile from my hotel and I slowly made my way in the blazing heat to the Econo Lodge I booked. I normally like to explore new towns as much as possible, but Medford seemed a little sketchy (maybe just the section I walked through), and I had to be back at the bus station at 5:30 AM to catch my Greyhound to Bend. So I decided to just get some Dairy Queen next door and try to get some sleep. This time tomorrow, I should be back in Bend.
Keep on keeping on,
Patch
