So good, so good, so gooooooooooood!!
On October 20th I finished the PCT, 108 days from Canada to Mexico. I still have so many emotions in my head that I'm lost for words. I really feel fantastic! Honestly, at the beginning and for the most part of the trail, perhaps until I reached the Sierras, I didn't quite understand the fascination and admiration that I was getting from so many outsiders. The huge number of people who cheered me on with bright, sparkling eyes was amazing.
I remember a hamburger joint owner in Chester, when I had taken my food outside, who came and asked me a question, then went back inside the restaurant and told all the customers my answer. He repeated this about 6 or 7 times. In the shops I went to, people always asked if I was doing the PCT, and I replied affirmatively. I then answered some questions and they went outside to tell other people, who always asked 'Isn't it backbreaking?!', but not without congratulating me first. Trying to hitchhike from and to the trail with drivers who saw me by the side of the road and detoured from their routes just to help me and many, many more people was amazing…
I spoke to some thru-hikers like me and I always said, 'I don't understand this, we're hikers, we smell bad and we're all dirty, I really don't understand it'. But, in the Sierras, things started to make a lot more sense. After walking a long while and arriving at those enormous ridges that I'd heard so much about, I thought to myself 'Fabio, this is huge, it doesn't matter if there are 10,000 people doing it or if it's just one. This is amazing, it's gigantic, it's something else'. After that, it was easier for me to understand the ginormous hug I received from a deaf lady in her 70s at a supermarket in Wrightwood. I also understood why a gentleman at Big Bear Lake called me across the road, gave me a hug, $6, and another hug.
There was also an elderly lady who I invited to sit with me, in a restaurant in Julian, while she was waiting to go to the bathroom. She left me a $20 note, which I politely refused. 'I know you don't need it, but I want to be part of what you’re doing’ she said. This was down in the southern part of the walk. More people, so many more, who left me with a joyful smile.
Oh, what about Nasir?! A man from Pakistan who lives here. I saw him in the mountains, he was tired and having difficulty breathing because of the altitude. It was the first time he had been to the mountains. I stayed with him for about 20 minutes until I was sure he was fine. We talked a lot about life. 12 days later, I got an email from him saying that he had arrived safely home, and at the end of the email it said: 'I am still thinking about our conversation: Be good to everyone and try to make the world a better place'. So good!! I do what I like the most and leave the people around me with a smile, I can't ask for more, I really can't! I can say that I spent some sad days, but the vast majority, in fact almost every day, I was just dirty and tired, but happy.
PCT - 108 days;
Canada Border - July 5;
Mexico Border - October 20;
4269.7 km ÷ 108 = 39.5 km/day;
Bath - 20 (every 5.4 days, the maximum was 9 days without bath);
Nights camping - 96 (44 alone, 52 accompanied);
Nights in bed - 12 (every 9 days - 1 hotel, 3 motels, 6 hostels, 2 trail angel houses);
– I am travelling with Iati Seguros, if you buy any of its insurance through any link on my blog you get 5% discount.
– All the pictures with Samsung Galaxy S10.
This as all the other articles on this site are translated by my good friend Devo Forbes!!