Completed PCT hike, if not finished.

Mom,

I have kept my commitment to myself. I left TM thinking that I may be finished for this season of hiking. I have spent 6 wonderful days with perfect weather hiking and now two + days in SLT praying and eating well. Now I am confident that I am done. I feel complete.

The best analogy I can think of is that it is healthier to leave some food on your plate then stuff yourself. I’ve stuffed myself before when I hiked the Appalachian Trail. My AT finish came by pulling myself one town after another, but I didn’t really enjoy myself all that much. Now I feel free to let it go. This was part of the reason I liked to say I was preparing for a PCT hike and not planning. I get stuck on plans to easily.

My life’s path from here will be to travel to Portland to visit friends and make it home for Justin’s wedding in early August. Then I’ll be moving to Syracuse, NY to be with Emily and explore the unknown paths of deeper relationship. Family and friends seemed to have taken on a new importance after my “Wood Creek Incident.” Call me a sucker for near death experiences if you want.

Also I have a certain settling in my heart to ‘slow down’ in my life. I will still be going on adventures and travelling, but maybe with less urgency. I hope to be more present to each moment and each person I met in-between. No longer do I envision attempting to keep to checking off all my ‘life list’ goals. This settling I find inside also stimulates me to look into my future, as a result I’m toying with ideas of graduate school. How best can I be skillfully prepared to work for the coming of God’s Kingdom?

I’ll talk with you soon. Thanks to dad and you so much again for your endless love and support.

Casey