On the new moon evening, I completed the entire PCT at Kennedy Meadows. After I settled into my last camp, I took time to reflect on my journey. What came to my mind the most was gratitude.

First, for Mother Earth for being our home, creating and taking care of all beings, showing me the beauty and reminding me of my responsibility to act with love and compassion. Second, for my ancestors and family whom I inherited the exceptional physical, mental and spiritual capacity to endure and embrace numerous challenges, and recognize and appreciate magnificence along the PCT. Third, for those who came before me for their tireless work to fight for justice and peace to create a world that I have the freedom to hike instead of facing systemic issues that prevent me from doing so. If I were here 80 years ago, I would be incarcerated at an internment camp. Although we still have a lot of work to do, we came so far that I am privileged enough to be free and walk the PCT today. I pledge to continue doing my part to create a more just world so that all people have opportunities and resources to reach for their dreams. Fourth, for indigenous peoples for their teaching of caring for the land from time immemorial. I acknowledge their unceded territories along the PCT and appreciate the chance to tread gently. Fifth, for those who take care of the Pacific Crest Trail – from the tribal partners and federal agency staff members to PCTA and volunteers who clear down trees and more. Sixth, for trail angels and water angels who provided me with critical support – from giving me rides and feeding me food to providing hundreds of gallons of drinking water and setting up hand-washing stations to keep us all healthy. I don’t even know some of your faces and names. Your generosity touched me deeply. Finally, for my friends, families and corporate partners- we did it together. My value aligns with collectivism over individualism, therefore, my success and accomplishment is your success and accomplishment. I could not have done the PCT without your support. Some of you let me use your equipment to prepare food, came over to my home to pack food for 25 resupply boxes, gave me donations and gear, helped me move out of my apartment, gave me rides and places to stay, managed resupply boxes, helped launch and maintain this website, met me at trailhead and showered me with your love as my personal trail angel, hosted me with a bed, shower and delicious meals, helped to fix gear, ran errands, sent me messages to cheer me on, quietly followed my journey through reading my blog and so much more. Thank you.

The generosity and kindness that were offered to me continued to flourish after I finished the PCT. I met Dee and John, unintended trail angels, at Kennedy Meadows. They invited me over to their camper vehicle and offered me breakfast. I ate 6 over-easy eggs, two mountains of hash brown and had a cup of fresh orange juice! “I never ate 6 eggs in one meal in my entire life,” I said to them. They gave me a ride out of Kennedy Meadows to a store. From there, I hitchhiked three times to the Cottonwood Lakes trailhead in the Golden Trout Wilderness. I wanted to celebrate the completion of the PCT by going to a couple of backpacking trips to climb Mt. Langley in the Golden Trout Wilderness and visit Mt. Conness in Yosemite.

I had my eyes on Mt. Langley for a couple of years and I thought it would be a perfect climb to celebrate. I hiked to Long Lake to camp for a night and the next morning in the dark, I left for the summit. At dawn, I met Vincent, a hiker from Los Angeles. He has done Mt. Langley twice in the past so was familiar with the route that was marked with cairns. We both were mesmerized with the hues of dawn that slowly lit the mountains. When I made it to the top, nobody was there. I could see Tumanguya and other mountains in the golden light. When Vincent came up, I said, “I was just there and hiked all these mountains!” It was nice to have someone to share my excitement and he genuinely congratulated me.

Soon after we began descending, we saw his friends coming up toward the summit. Vincent told me that they were all part of “happy hikers,” a hiking group that supports Latino/Latina/LatinX folks to explore nature together. One of the women told me that her dream was to someday hike the PCT. I said, “Yes! The more of us do it, the more women of color see themselves on the trail. That’s one of the reasons why I did it.”

When Vincent and I made it back to the trailhead, we said good-bye and I started hitchhiking to Bishop. My friend and her husband who live in Bishop welcomed me at their home with amazing hospitality with home-cooked meals and sharing their love of the mountains. They asked great questions and I enjoyed sharing stories. They understand what it takes and what it’s like to be on the PCT. I felt seen and heard – what an amazing gift they gave me to celebrate!

The next day, I continued hitchhiking north to Yosemite and backpacked into a place near Mt. Conness, my favorite mountain in Yosemite. I go there every summer for the past decade and I thought it would be a perfect way to complete my hiking journey with this ritual. I hiked up to a peak I named as the inspiration point the next day and shared my gratitude with Mt. Conness in the background.

I saw a red-tailed hawk catching a thermal, just gliding in the air effortlessly. That is a gift that the creator gave to the bird. Then I remembered “gifts and responsibilities – two sides of the same coin,” said Robin Wall Kimmerer during her talk at San Juan College in 2022. She said, “thrushes were given the gift of that beautiful voice so that they could sing the sun up in the morning and the stars were given the gift of sparkle and the responsibility to guide our people through the night. So in urgent times like this when I think we all feel the weight of our responsibilities, we could also reframe that by saying not just what is my responsibility in this urgent time but what is my gift because they are two sides of the same coin…. what are our responsibilities and how might we use those unique gifts together on behalf of the land to create land justice.”

As I watched the hawk rising toward the sky, I thought that hiking the PCT and biking the Pacific Coast Bike Route, and sharing my perspectives with the world is a way for me to embrace the gifts and responsibilities – two sides of the same coin.

What are your gifts? What are your responsibilities? How do you use them together on behalf of the land to create land justice? I’ll continue exploring these questions for the rest of my life and I hope you do too. What an amazing gift of wisdom to remember as I close this chapter of hiking the PCT!

Cheers!