The End of the Road

Day 1 as a former PCT hiker.

I am writing this from the town of Klamath Falls, best described as a ‘gateway town’. Not really notable for anything in particular other than having good road links to nicer places and, for my purposes, being on the main Amtrak route south into California.

Much of the PCT route in Northern California is either closed due to fires, or at the least, heavily smoke effected. With a northerly wind, I believe this is also impacting the trail from Crater Lake to Ashland, which is the semi-official end of Oregon. For this reason, combined with this section having a reputation as being distinctly average, I have decided to call time on my PCT journey.

There are definitely mixed feelings about nearing the end of the trip. On one hand, I am saddened not to be continuing the journey south with people who have become friends, and joining them in discovering new places and overcoming shared challenges. On the other hand, I do miss home and realise that in middle-age responsibilities can’t be shelved so easily as in the past.

And naturally getting back to work will be a treat 😀

For now, I still have almost 2 weeks before the 19th and my flight home. Tomorrow evening, I will catch the overnight Amtrak train down to San Francisco. There, I have booked on a 4 day sailing course as it is something that I have been interested to try for some time. After that, I will spend a few days exploring the beaches and national parks of Santa Cruz, before a last few days seeing more tourist stops in and around San Francisco.

So scope perhaps for a few more blogs yet, especially if I decide to take up a life of piracy on the high seas.

As for Lego cowboy Ben, perhaps he’s still out there somewhere, living in the saddle, sleeping in the canyons, and exploring new horizons.