D140-D141: The end 終點站到了

Days 140-141:

Leaving Hopkins Lake, I had 6.3 miles to go, all downhill, and 2 and a half hours in which to do it, so it was a very leisurely walk. It didn't look like it would rain this morning and I even saw some blue sky. Finally I was on the home stretch! 

從Hopkins湖到邊境只有10公里而且都是下坡路，大概2小時半就可以搞定，於是我睡得很晚，是我PCT過程中最晚起床的一天，弄早餐、拔營也都慢慢做，今天不趕時間。早上的天氣比前幾天好，有藍天，說不定不會再淋到浴了。東西收好後終於踏上了PCT的最後一段路。

My friend Chris from Saskatchewan had volunteered to come pick me up at the end of the trail. He flew out from Saskatoon, drove from Vancouver in a rented vehicle, and hiked to the border to welcome me back to Canada. Of all the other hikers I talked to on the trail, I don't know anyone who had a welcoming party like me, so I felt very lucky! Chris, you're a true friend.

我加拿大朋友Chris為了在邊境歡迎我回到加拿大預計特地坐飛機過來，然後開租的車到登山口，最後走加拿大PCT在加拿大境內的延伸路段到邊境等我。這屆個月以來認識了那麼多登山客，沒有一個跟我說會有親友在邊境等他，我有這麼好的朋友願意花錢和時間來載我我感到好幸福，Chris你最棒了！

We had agreed on noon at the border and I didn't want to get to the border too early, so I actually had to stop along the trail and kill 15 minutes before continuing. At Mile 2651, someone marked "1 mi. to go" and I actually started laughing out loud. 

我們約好當天中午在邊境碰面，我不想提早到所以我中途還暫停了15分鐘來打發時間。到了2651英里處，有人標出“最後一英里”，看到的時候我大笑了。

I remembered the very first mile of the PCT, which was also marked. It seemed so far away and so long ago. The distance between the start of the trail and that first mile marker also seemed so insignificant that now, standing only one mile from the end, the reality finally hit me. I WOULD MAKE IT. In fact, I was basically there already. Even if I broke my legs now, I would be able to crawl my way to that border! Just around the bend, I got a view of a thin, straight line cut out of the forest. This is the Canada-US border. Somewhere down at the bottom of that line was the end of the PCT.

我笑了是因為我馬上想到PCT的第一天走到一英里里程碑的時候，那一刻在距離方面，還有在我記憶裡，無論怎麼看都很遙遠，而且想到PCT起點到一英里的里程碑的距離有多小，我終於感受到自己離PCT終點有多近。我這時候很確定，非常確定，自己真的走得完PCT耶！就算大腿骨折我用爬行也爬得到加拿大的邊境，已經不可能出現讓我走不完的障礙了。轉了彎我就看到在前面的森林有一條沒有長樹的直線，這條線就是美國跟加拿大的邊境，沿途樹都被砍了。在此線的某一處就是PCT的終點里程碑。

At twelve noon on September 24th, Day 140 on the trail, I reached the Canadian border.

9月24日，我PCT的第140天，中午十二點整，我抵達加拿大的邊境。

Chris was there waiting for me, and he even brought some Pilsner to celebrate my re-entry to Canada. 

Chris已經在那裡等候，也幫我帶了幾罐在我們家鄉最受歡迎的啤酒之一來慶祝回國。

Obviously, we had to get our monument pictures done next.

馬上跟終點碑拍了幾張照。

The next order of business was to sign the last trail register of the PCT, located in a box behind the monument. As marijuana was legal in Washington at this time but still not yet in Canada, a lot of people had simply abandoned their pot stash in the register box. As soon as I opened it up I got a whiff of weed and there was a whole bunch just sitting loose in the bottom of the box. 

下一項責任就是在終點碑的記錄本上寫名字，記錄本在終點碑後面的鐵箱裡面，而那時候大麻在華盛頓已合法化但在加拿大還沒有，要過境的人若身上有大麻直接在鐵箱裡丟棄，今天鐵箱一打開就是大麻的味道，底部都是大麻葉。

My last order of business before leaving the border was to crack open the PCT beer that Omar had given me two weeks earlier and that I had carried with me to the border. It seemed like a perfect ending to the trail. Thanks again, Omar.

離開邊境前還要把Omar送我的PCT啤酒喝完，這兩個禮拜為了過境時慶祝而背的，再次感謝Omar！

Crossing the border into Canada at the PCT endpoint is permitted if you apply for permission ahead of time, but there are no customs agents at the border, so with my permit in hand I simply walked into the country, following the Canadian PCT access trail. It was a beautiful fall day and before long I was at the endpoint of my 5-month hike, Manning Park.

在PCT終點過境需要提前跟加拿大海關申請才算合法，不過這裡並沒有海關人員守護，我已經申請好過境許可證所以就這樣走進加拿大。接著走加拿大境內的PCT延伸路段，在很舒服的秋季天氣下走的很順，很快就到長達5個月行程的終點：省立Manning公園。

My shoes had sure taken a beating. I wore this pair in three states, from the tip of Northern California, all through Oregon, and all through Washington, for a total of over 1000 miles. 

我這雙鞋子真可憐，在PCT的三州都有穿到，從北加州的最後一個小鎮開始，穿過奧勒岡州與華盛頓州，最後走進加拿大，經過超過1600公里的路，一路都靠這雙鞋。

Our first stop once we hit the road was of course McDonald's! I hadn't had any McDonald's on the trail since Cajon Junction back in May, which was also the one and only time I had it on the whole trip. Finally getting to hit up Mickey D's again put a smile on my face. 

開車往溫哥華的路上的第一站當然是麥當勞，上次在步道上吃到麥當勞是在5月的時候，也是我唯一次，今天能再次吃到我好開心。

We got to Vancouver and spent the night at our friend Zak's place. Being able to celebrate the end of the trail with two of my best friends in Canada was very special. 

到了溫哥華後去找我們的朋友Zak順便住他家一晚，能夠跟這三位好朋友慶祝走完PCT是很幸福的一件事。

My first real destination after the trail is my sister's place in Kelowna, B.C. My cousin Scott, the one who joined me for four days in Washington, took me there. As I mentioned before, he is a pilot and needs to build more hours, so he agreed to fly me there! We flew right along the border, and even got to see exactly where I had crossed over on the PCT the day before. 

下一個目的地是我妹的家，她住的地方在溫哥華300公里遠的地方。我表弟Scott，也就是在華盛頓州跟我一起走四天的那一位，他也住在溫哥華然後他願意載我去我妹家，不過不是開車載我喔。之前寫部落格時有提到他是飛行員，而且他快要考上用執照所以要常練習，所以他就開飛機載我去我妹家！我們飛在美國邊境旁邊，還飛過昨天PCT終點的位置！

After a safe landing in Kelowna, I was reunited with my sister. Tomorrow, I will start the slow transition back to "normal" life.

降落後，我妹來來接我們兩個，今晚也要再慶祝一次。從明天開始，要面對生活模式的大轉變。

The first thing I want to do is just binge on being indoors. Having all parts of my body be at a comfortable temperature for 24 hours straight and not stubbing my toe on a rock or root for an entire day will seem like a miracle, not to mention having access to running water and a refrigerator. I'll go back to Saskatchewan soon and there I will start my pilot training. Before the end of the year, I plan to be back in Taiwan, right back where this whole journey began. For now, I'm just going to enjoy the feeling of accomplishment that comes with completing a continuous footpath from the Mexican border to B.C.

目前最想做的事情就是享受待在室內的感覺，讓我身體的每個部位連續24小時都可以感到舒服的溫度，腳也可以不用不小心踢到石頭或另一隻腳，這樣對我來說已經是奇蹟了，更何況會有自來水跟冰箱。最近要回薩斯喀徹溫省開始訓練開飛機，年底前預計回到台灣，回到壯舉的起點。但是這幾天我不要想未來，先放鬆，先好好享受僅靠雙腳走出墨西哥到加拿大中途沒有中斷的路線這個成就的滿足感。

Postscript 結束語：

So what does it feel like to have walked 2650 miles all the way across the US? Well, that's a lot like asking a recent high school graduate what it feels like to have finished all his schooling from Grade 1 to Grade 12. For one thing, it's simply too much to be able to fully comprehend all at once; the sheer breadth of the experience makes it impossible to accurately summarize. For another, just as a person is fundamentally different in Grade 1 than in Grade 12, so a hiker is different during the first days of the hike when compared with the last days of the hike. My judgement of the first few days now is fundamentally different than my experience of them back in May. 

走完4200公里貫穿美國是什麼感覺呢？這有點像去問高中剛別業的人讀完十二年的書是什麼感覺。第一個問題是這段期間歷經的事情太多了，想不出一個精準的總結，第二個問題是人從事一個任務也會因此而變，一個人讀小一的時候跟同一個人讀高三的時候心理差異很大，而走PCT時從第一天到最後一天心理變化也很大，現在回想我PCT當初的經驗跟我當時的感受有所不同。

Although there are certain aspects of the trip that were under my control, like what food I took with me and how many miles I walked in a given day, most of what actually made the trip memorable was out of my control. The weather, the kindness of trail angels, the other hikers I met, the places I learned of only because someone else happened to mention them to me, and the trail itself, maintained by an army of volunteers: all these things shaped my experience on the trail but were not at all under my control.

走PCT的時候除了每天走的距離和補給時買什麼以外在很多方面只能隨緣走看看自己的運氣，天氣、天使的幫忙、遇到的登山客、透過別人才發現的地方和經驗、還有志工大隊保養的步道本身，這些因素都對我PCT的經驗有重大的影響，但都不是外來的因素。

So maybe the best word I can use to describe how it feels to have dedicated 5 months of my life to the PCT is this: lucky. Lucky that this trail exists at all, lucky that it is maintained so well, and lucky that all the other factors mentioned above conspired to provide me with an overwhelmingly positive experience, not a negative one. There are so many people that made my trip better that I wrote an entire blog page just to thank them. 

要以一個詞來形容花5個月去走把PCT走完的感覺，我只能選「幸運」這個詞。有了這條步道我們就很幸運，步道保養得那麼好我們也是很幸運，上述的外來因素一直都是正面的，極少遇到負面的，我也是超級幸運的。說到天使與其他有幫到忙的人，我特別寫了一篇道謝文章儘量把他們都寫下來。

At Scout and Frodo's before starting the PCT, Scout told us that we were going on the trail not to collect miles but to collect experiences. He told us he could tell us a story about each and every day on the trail from his thru-hike, and asked us to consider how much that contrasts with normal everyday life. Now, Scout is a bit of a storyteller by nature, so I figured this was probably an exaggeration, and even if it wasn't, it probably wouldn't be true for me. What amazes me now is that, as I look at my trail log, I actually do remember every single day and every single campsite for all 140 days, and could probably tell you at least one interesting thing that happened on each of those days. My life is now so much richer thanks to my time on trail, where every day is a new adventure. 

開始走PCT的前兩天住Scout和Frodo家時，Scout跟我們說我麼走PCT不是為了累積幾公里，而是為了累積快樂回憶，他還說他到現在為他自己走PCT的每一天還講得出故事，也叫我們思想，這種現象跟我們平常的生活是否成很明顯的對比。Scout本來就是很愛講故事的人，原本以為他只是把真實講得誇張一點，就算他PCT的回憶真的那麼多，我自己是不太會講故事的人，自己的PCT回憶應該不會那麼深刻。不過我現在看我每天公里數的記錄，我發現每一天的營地我竟然都有印象，每天從哪裡走到哪裡我都有印象，要講出每天發生的一件有趣的事情應該也不難，我人生因為這個幾個月在步道走的經驗變得更豐富，走PCT天天都有新的冒險。

The PCT taught me the value of simplicity, perseverance, rest, modern conveniences, generosity and kindness to strangers. It showed me how easily people of all nationalities, religions, and political leanings can find common ground and be supportive of one another. I would recommend this trail to just about anyone who can walk.

我在PCT感受到人生簡易化、決心、休養時間、現代世界的便利、好客心、還有幫助陌生人的價值。我也親自看到來自不同國家、信仰、政治偏向的人發現一個共同點，都喜愛登山生活，都願意互相幫忙。只要你能走路，我強烈推薦你來PCT走一趟。

Would I ever do it again? Most definitely.

我會不會想再走一次？肯定會。