Mile 1658 to 1690.

From searing sun and dry creek beds to ranging rivers and snow covered mountains, California presented it’s fair share of challenges. I started at the Mexican border with blue skies overhead and prickly pear cacti at foot making my way north. I still remember my tear filled eyes as I left my sister and her husband behind at the Southern Terminus of the Pacific Crest Trail.

I looked back at the memorial photo I took there, and I don’t even recognize the person in it. Who is that man standing there with his arm around the monument? He is a stranger. I have changed so much physically, mentally, and emotionally. I feel like I have nothing in common with him except the trail. But somehow that seems appropriate because the trail is what binds us all together out here. It is the one thing we have in common.

Today, Bedazzled and I crossed the border from California into Oregon. Our feet, wills, perseverance, and persistence have carried us this far. To think of all the experiences crammed into these past 3 1/2 months of walking, is staggering. It feels like years of adventure have beeb crammed into one continuous experience. If I had continued working in New York and only had my paid vacation to use, it would have actually taken years to amass a similar experience.

I remember the excitement I felt in Southern California. The beginning of an open ended adventure. Those first few steps. Not knowing what you will see or where you will sleep. Everything was new and shiny. Naked mountains and spiky cacti, persistent sun and cloudless skies, I walked with a bounce in my step  and glimmer in my eye.

Then we entered the Sierra. A winter wonderland of new experiences and dangers. Sun cupped snow and steep passes hindered progress. Each step required attention and the snow conditions dictated progress. Some days, I moved one mile an hour fighting for every step. My focus was so intense that I had no mental space for anything else. No room for my mind to wander. Then there were the rivers. Challenging, exciting, and scary, they lay across my path like roadblocks, and I crossed them one by one.

Northern California was a mind game. Beautiful at first, the landscape slowly became familiar. We increased our miles and spent most of our waking hours walking. My mind wandered as my surroundings failed to hold my attention. The adventure had lost some of its shiny gloss. I had to dig down and find the strength to persist and preserve. Bedazzled and I became a pair and our friendship grew as I dealt with inflamed tendons behind my knees. We stuck together as so many other groups fractured and people went their separate ways and at their own paces.

Perhaps we have a guardian angel looking out for us.

Now we are here together and crossing the border into Oregon. After almost 1,700 miles and over 1,500 together, we hopped into Oregon together entering it in the same instant to the epic music Bedazzled had downloaded just for the occasion.

We felt rejuvenated. There was a shared excitement for what lies ahead of us in Oregon. California, you were beautiful, challenging, and sublime, but it is time for us to move on. To move on until we come  to another border.

Our eyes are set on Canada, and she better be ready because here we come.