After approximately 150 days, I finished my journey on the PCT on September 20, 2026.
Things didn’t end quite as I planned— a spot fire from the Ptarmigan Fire in the Paysayten Wilderness was concerning enough to turn me around 20 miles from the actual finish in Canada. It was disappointing, but ultimately, it was the only decision that I felt comfortable with, given the circumstances.
The chapter is closing in an unexpected way. I’m still in the midst of processing everything this journey has meant to me. Nevertheless, I’m walking away from it all having traveled approximately 2,000 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail. I had a real and true adventure, and a few misadventures sprinkled in. I experienced the beauty and vulnerability of living and moving outside for five months, in some of the most stunning and remote landscapes in the American West. And importantly, and perhaps most unexpectedly, hiking the Pacific Crest Trail revealed again and again how essential connection to other people remains. I made so much meaning out of the relationships I built out there, and was fortunate to have left the experience with lifelong friendships.
I hope in the coming months to share the details of last few months of the journey here. Every single day on trail, under headlamp and in the shelter of my tent, I wrote about my experiences. I’m so grateful I did. I get to go back, compile those writings, relive those experiences, and share them with the people in my life through this blog. But mainly, I’m excited to write so I can have this blog as a time capsule to remember this journey for years to come.
So, even though this isn’t the last time hearing from me through this medium, it’s important for me to use this moment to express gratitude at the end of the real journey.
Thank you to everyone who kept up with this blog, and to my friends and family who supported me from afar. Thank you for the comments, encouragement, and music recommendations along the way. Thank you to the people who helped get this journey off the ground, whether that meant giving Christmas gifts of gear and good luck charms, professional support and advice to navigate taking five months off from the “real world,” or just believing in me in the weeks prior. Thank you to everyone in LA who gave me the warmest send off into the wilderness. To all the friends and family who visited me on trail, I can’t express how lucky I am to have you. I don’t think I ever realized quite how full of love and friendship my life was until this experience, where it felt like every few weeks I was looking forward to a meetup with someone I cared about. It was so meaningful it was to have the help and support of people from so many eras of my life, across three states. A huge thanks to all of the trail angels and nameless people who provided so many acts of kindness in the form of rides to trail, food, and innumerable other things. To my friends on trail: I simply couldn’t have done such a hard thing without you. Finally, the most gratitude belongs to my two biggest supporters: my mom, who was ground support for all my needs on trail and always picked up the phone if I needed something, and my partner Isabel, who has been there for me since the PCT was only a dream, and without whom I would not have been able to accomplish a single step.
I can’t wait to share my last few months on trail! And of course, to start planning the next adventure, whatever it may be. Stay tuned and happy trails!
