I'll be home in 500 miles!

I took a step over the threshold, caffeine from the mocha-flavored Rockstar that I chugged and adrenaline both surging through my veins. A wide smile stretched across my face as I glanced from my feet to the small green sign from which point my imagination drew a divisive line midway through the raised steel. I gazed out across the smooth water far below that sparkled from the low Sun's castings, thinking about how far I had come. I turned back and forth, looking first to the South where I had made so many amazing and unforgettable memories, then to the North where the unknown final chapters of our journey were to be written. Solstice, Shady, and I stood half way across The Bridge of the Gods over the middle of the Columbia River preparing to take a step from Oregon into Washington. We were ready and antsy to cross into a different state; however, Solstice and I knew something was missing. I had never passed a monumental milestone without Explagrance at my side, but I needed this and she needed one night in town with Steamer and Rub-a-dub. Even though I wasn't planning to go far, I wanted to sleep in Washington, not because I was sick of or disliked Oregon, but because I had looked at the bridge all weekend at Trail Days only to hitch 47 miles back to Timberline to complete the last section of Oregon we had skipped to attend the hiker festival. In all reality, I loved hiking Oregon. It held a few of my favorite sections including Crater Lake and Three Sisters Wilderness. We had even finished Oregon with a bang, hiking down the incredible Eagle Creek Trail famous for its views of several jaw-dropping waterfalls, especially Tunnel Falls where the trail passes through a tunnel in the rock face behind the falls. As we walked across the bridge that looked as if it were constructed from an oversized erector set, I thought about how we only had one state left. We had hiked through all of California and all of Oregon. We only have about 500 miles left! It's funny to think how our perspectives have changed. The first 500 miles seemed to take forever! We thought they they would never end. But now, as we enter into our final 500 miles, I can't help but think how little time we have left on trail. Hiking this trail has been an incredibly unique and life changing journey. Finally reaching Canada and bringing our adventure to a close is likely to be a bittersweet moment. As quick as I expect it to go, however, I am determined to make Washington just as unforgettable as California and Oregon!