Dispatch 5 - 9/5/26

Hi Everyone!

I am writing this last trail update from my room in Seattle - and on my laptop, not my phone... I feel luxurious?

My last email found you from Oregon. Oregon went by so fast compared to the 1700 miles in California. Oregon had a lot more burn zones than I was expecting, but was still filled with beauty. I spent 3 days at Cascade Locks for the Trail Days Festival, and it was incredible. It was a huge PCT family reunion, and we all laughed and cried and smiled so much for those 3 days. It was bittersweet, knowing this was ‘the last’ time we would see so many of us.

I walked over the Bridge of the Gods and made it into Washington state, and I felt home.

Washington quickly became one of my favorite parts of the PCT, and I knew it would… I was blessed enough to be able to walk from Bridge of the Gods all the way to Snoqualmie Pass with minimal smoke. But, my time in WA very quickly came to an end near mile marker 2396 - with 3 fires closing the PCT up ahead and the smoke nearby getting closer, me and many other hikers opted to end our hikes here. Many hikers also chose to walk an alternate to Monument 47 to reach Canada - knowing I live in WA, I want to hike the PCT to the Northern Terminus, so I am ending here ‘for now’ and will hike the last 250 miles of WA when the fires let up (possibly next year?).

I did take a drive over to Rainy Pass where I heard about some NOBO 2026 hikers who built a fake terminus for us after the first fire closure - the ultimate trail magic!? So cool to have something built from fellow hikers to commemorate this experience, and yet… it felt very anticlimactic… maybe knowing I still have miles left, ending solo, and/or this is also a part of it? I stayed the evening car camping after doing a hike to celebrate one last evening, and then I headed back to Seattle.

In the midst of cleaning my storage unit out and getting back into ‘home,’ some of my friends who finished the alternate texted me, “Cappy, are you in Seattle? Do you want to drive to Canada with us and hike to the Northern Terminus before we fly out?”

I immediately said yes and re-packed my backpack! It wasn't about the monument for me, knowing I still have miles, but to be able to enjoy one last ‘PCT’ hike with some trail family before they head out of the country. It was PERFECT - perfect weather, perfect trail (despite some blowdowns, but nothing worse than what the PCT has thrown our way), perfect company, perfect laughter, perfect tears. That is how I wanted to ‘end’ this experience, around some of the people who made this journey absolutely life changing.

So, here is…

  • Cheers to hiking 2,396+ miles of the PCT

  • Cheers to finishing the rest of Washington on the PCT

  • Cheers to making lifelong connections with others all over this planet who quickly became family

  • Cheers to this Earth and every ecosystem I had the opportunity to walk through

  • Cheers to this grant for making all of this possible

  • Cheers to every piece of trail magic and every trail angel I experienced

  • Cheers to this version of me who is full of gratitude, a new trust, a new confidence, and a new perspective of life

Cheers for now ~ until the next email when I finish WA and until the next hike…..

(I am slowly finishing up my Instagram posts / videos and writing some substack and Trek articles so more to come out on those outlets)