Greetings faithful blog readers!
I am currently in Cascade Locks, Oregon, about 200 yards away from Washington. In a few hours I'll walk across Bridge of the Gods into my final state, with only 516 miles to go! It's hard to believe that I HIKED here from the Mexican border over four months ago. Wow. My pace will be much slower in Washington than in Oregon due to the rugged terrain of the North Cascades, but I'm excited to be counting down the miles/days to Canada. I anticipate reaching the Canadian border somewhere between the 20th and 26th of September.
Overall I'm holding up pretty well, but I'm slowly getting emotionally and physically worn out. Lately the weather has been good and the bugs haven't been too bad, but it rains quite a bit in Washington on the PCT so I'm trying to psych myself up to push through it. I think that by the time I complete the trail I'll be ready to get back to indoor plumbing, hot food, and the company of my amazing wife.
Speaking of amazing wife, Amy and I were able to spend almost six days together when she flew out to Portland. It was great to get off trail for a bit and reconnect with her. I'd forgotten how wonderful it is to have her around to share my life with, and I've missed her more than normal since I got back on the trail four days ago.
Thanks again for all your prayers and supportive comments. Onward to Canada!
Joel
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Yooouuu caaannn dooooo iiiittt!
ReplyDeleteYour an inspiration to us all my friend! Hopefully we can see each other a bit more then we used to when you get back!
ReplyDeletefrom Don --
ReplyDeleteI continue to pray for Joel and Amy. I pray that Joel has had the joy of hearing from God and truly enjoying Him over these months. Let him know we love him and are praying for him.
Hi Joel,
ReplyDeleteI have been following and thinking about you. Good job and keep it up! You are amazing! You can do this, because you are good lookin'! ;-)
Seb
Dad Says:
ReplyDeleteWow! You're coming down the home stretch. And speaking of stretching, keep doing the things that got you this far. If ya gotta slog and trudge and ,as Girl Scout said, be stubborn, so be it. But I hope you can enjoy the last few weeks as much as we enjoyed the first two.
I keep praying for God to mold you and use you. Have a great hike.
Love,
Dad
Hi Joel!
ReplyDeleteMost nights before bed Julie and I check in on your daily travel, zooming in on the terrain view to see what the territory is like. I sure wish the map showed the PCT more frequently so we could see exactly where you've hiked. From your blog, the pictures show some amazing sights and it sounds like you're still glad to be doing the trail ... but also really looking forward to being home with Amy.
We received your Crater Lake postcard today. Thank you for thinking of us and sending it -- your smiling face made our day!
You're on our minds and in our hearts. Safe journeys,
Lelan