Adventures with Syd

2663.1mi

There was a chill in the air, I was tired, and my gear was covered in condensation, but today I didn’t care cause we were getting off trail. We only had a 9 mile dirt road walk back to where we got dropped off yesterday. We were on a roll and I guess wanted to be done so bad that we knocked out 4 miles in our first hour. I honestly didn’t think we were going that fast. We still had two miles left when we spotted our parents parked on the dirt road. The cars started getting closer and closer until the only things that separated us from them was our lovely lake. The water had definitely gone down a bit so we initially tried to keep our feet dry but we quickly realized it wasn’t going to work so we trudged the rest of the way through the water.

We finally reached the paparazzi…I mean the parents. We spent the next hour or so hanging out having a desert picnic. We plopped ourselves on the tailgate and Duck’s mom made us some killer sandwiches. We all sat around joking around and reminiscing about the trail before we had a last photo shoot.

It’s crazy to think it’s over. The CDT was one crazy adventure and I’m thankful for the opportunity to have done it. I don’t think it’s set in yet and I don’t know if it will. I do know thru hiking changed my life. I learned so many things about myself and life and met so many incredible people. Through it all I was overwhelmed by all the support and encouragement I received from friends, family, and complete strangers. While thru hiking is going to go on the back burner for awhile, I do know that the trail will always be a big part of my life.

Until the next adventure…