I managed to connect with a trail angel via text. She said she could pick me up in three days at the terminus. Since she was driving in the next morning to pick up another hiker, she would leave some water at the terminus with my name on it. Those arrangements would allow time for my final day’s walk to the end. The next day I could hike the few miles up the dirt road to the slot canyon and spend some time exploring there before finding a place to camp for the night. And I would be picked up in the morning on that third day when she picked up another hiker.

I had a rough night sleeping as some demons from my past were once again circling. They haunted me on and off for the rest of that day. I don’t know if it was because I was reaching the end or not, but either way I was surprised at the level to which they were howling. Thus, I was easy with myself in the morning and took my time I to get going. I only had 14 miles to reach the terminus and unless something unusual happened, I was sure I would finish late that afternoon.

As I packed up, I was grateful that I was out of the wind. I felt a sense of accomplishment in recognizing that I had fairly good instincts in choosing camp spots. Besides a flat place, free of rocks, pinecones and sticks, I look up to make sure nothing is going to fall on me. I try to make sure I’m not in a ditch that rain will roll into and to stay out of areas that would produce too much condensation for the inside of my tent. I also look for signs of animals, including ants, as I don’t want to pitch a tent right over an ant hill As crazy as it seems it would be easy in the desert to pitch a tent over an active ant colony.

I was just about to pick up my pack and head off when Laurie and Chaco came by. We hiked together for a while and then came upon Musk at the side of the trail. Unlike Laurie, who had already been walking for 5 miles, Musk was just packing up from his nights rest. There is no one right way to do these hikes and part of their beauty is that they are adaptable to many different routines.

Eventually we all parted ways. Laurie needed to give Chaco a rest in the shade so he wouldn’t overheat. She told us she didn’t think she would finish that day. I kept egging her on telling her I was sure she could. I wanted to celebrate at the end with her and Chaco.

The wind was pretty intense and once again I had an extensive walk through a burned area. When the trees reappeared, they were no longer the Ponderosa Pines. I was now walking through a juniper forest. I’m not sure why, but I found the juniper forest absolutely stunning.

When I was having trouble finding a spot for lunch that was out of the wind, I decided to trade wind protection for the magnificence of sitting in the arms of what felt to be a mother tree. She was one of a number of huge junipers on the side of the trail. I tossed my pack under her bows and snuggled up next to her trunk. I wasn’t out of the wind but I felt very protected. I ate my lunch and enjoyed watching Musk come walking up the trail, carefreely swinging his hiking sticks to music he was listening to. He looked so joyful.

He stopped and chatted with me. I tearfully told him about the demons that had been going through my head all last night, and now for much the day. He shared some of what went on inside of his head as he hiked and told me that for him, the secret of letting go of having been wronged was to cultivate humility. When he felt humble, he was able to let go of having been hurt by other people. I found this an interesting concept. I’ve been trying to develop more humility on the trail by not bragging about all of my hiking achievements. Now Musk was giving me another reason to cultivate more humility. I shared with him how I had found the power of gratitude in healing and we parted ways.

Eventually I left the comfort of that mother tree and walked on, passing Musk taking his break a few miles past where I had stopped. After walking through a rocky, sandy wash for a bit, the trail went up and continued along on a high plateau. Views of Utah we’re now quite close. But the trail wasn’t about to let me go easily.

Just before the trail started a series of many, many switchbacks heading down to the Utah border, I saw a snake crossing the trail. It wasn’t until it completely crossed the trail and I saw the rattles on the end that I knew what kind of snake it was. Yet while I knew it was a rattlesnake, I’m not sure what kind of rattlesnake it was. I’ve seen at least four different types of rattlesnakes on this hike.

I waited for this one to go completely across to the right into the weeds before. I moved. I made a detour off the trail to the left to give it plenty of room. But apparently that snake was not happy with my move. It quickly turned around, curled up and struck out at me. I continued to back up off the trail, but the snake continued to follow me in a very aggressive position. In general rattlesnakes don’t usually strike out at people, but on this trip I had been struck at four times. I wonder if they’re getting revenge on me for the one I killed and ate when I was hiking the Pacific Trail in the 1980s.

Needless to say, I was on high alert after that, but rather than seeing more snakes, the lower I dropped on the trail the more I began to see many of the same cactus blooming that had greeted me in the beginning of my trip. I felt happy to have a sense of a circle in that what I had seen in the beginning was here again at the end.

As eager as I was to be down off that plateau, I kept stopping to take pictures, although it was hard to get good ones in the wind.

Finally I reached the monument at the end of the trail. Even though I had taken many zero days, I finished on the exact day I had predicted. I had started on March 21 and finished on May 20. In the first pictures I took at the monument, I look both filthy dirty (Ribbon Falls had been my last shower ) and exhausted.

I straddled the two states taking in all of the beauty around me. The rock on the Utah side was quite beautiful.

Eventually, I chose a spot in the small campground and set up my tent. It’s a very remote campground with no running water and no fee to stay. There were a few other people there and none of them seemed to want to engage in conversation. I was happy when Musk reached the monument soon after I had arrived. My happiness increased when Treking Pole and Bard arrived. We were all overjoyed when Laurie and Chaco showed up a few hours later. Musk moved on, but the rest of us shared the camp spot I had and enjoyed an evening of staying up later than usual, sharing stories.

We dove into our tents just as a rainstorm hit and we all drifted off to sleep, listening to the patter of rain on our tents.