Day 145: Victorious

Date: September 22, 2018 

Started: Boundary Trail Tentsite (2648.9) 

Ended: Northern Terminus (2652.6) 

Total Miles: 3.6 + 8.0 Bonus 

Remaining: 0.0 

Achievements: ***Northern Terminus*** 

 It rained all night.  My tent was soaked.  My sleeping quit was soaked.  If this hike was going to continue, I'd be praying for a break in the clouds so I could hang this out to dry.  

But...  I can dry my gear in a nice warm hotel room in Vancouver!

  

The last couple of miles was absolutely joyful.  This is it.  I did it.  It is over.  We sang and danced the whole way down.  We reached the Terminus just minutes before ten.  

Packman and I toasted our victory with beers that the trail provided.  

I signed the log book.

My wanderlust called me here.  I took only my needs and a couple of wants.  There was no room for fear.  Despite the limited odds of success I did fly. I lived.  I laughed.  I cried. My peers named me Fine Young Buck, but I was not worthy of that name.  I became simply Young Buck. I rose with the sunrise.  I slept with the sunset.  Using all my strength, I even ascended above the clouds.  The trail?  She tried to break me, as she does to anyone who dares to challenge her.  She failed.  Instead she transformed and refined me.  I marched on until I reached the very end.  Only then did I become a Fine Young Buck.  And so, with my journey completed, I return to those you love me.  VICTORIOUS.

I paged though the book to see who I could see.  I found Stuck on the Ground, Lullaby, Khaleesi, Crumbs, Mother Hen, and Storyteller.  I wanted to look some more, but it was cold and rainy and we needed to go.

  

 We took our victory photos. Your reward for completing the PCT is an eight mile hike to Manning Park. We reached the car and drove to Vancouver. We stopped at a brewpub for lunch and a toast. We dropped Honeybunny and Stakes at the hostel. Packman and his girlfriend, Erika, drove to their hotel. I got a room at the same place.  I pulled out my wet gear to dry, did the laundry, called home, and made flight arrangements for the next day. The night was completed with root beer floats from A&W. It will be so good to get back home.