Gratitude (D-114: 2577.8 - 2592.1 - Nero @ Mazama)

As the last town day on the trail ends and a few dozen miles left to the end point, I would like to speak of gratitude. Every so often on the trail, there are moments of "why the heck am I doing this?" and that's when I have to compel myself to remember that this is an option and an opportunity given to me. I am fortunate enough to be able to hike on this trail for a long period, which is essentially a vacation (albeit, a physically & mentally demanding one). Not everybody gets the option of taking such a long vacation from work, family and other commitments. It may be a cliche, but I am full of gratitude for this.

I am also deeply grateful to a bunch of people who made this hike possible and I would like to use this post to mention those people.

Ravin & Deepika opened their home and hearts so that I could do all the preparatory work before the hike. They were generous to a fault and I used (& perhaps, abused) their generosity. Even during the hike, Ravin mailed multiple items as well as got me some delightful sweets when we met, even though he was extremely busy with work-related activities. My sincerest thanks to both!

Karthik, thank you for giving me much needed company during the most miserable day on the hike, as well as taking care of the GPS tracker issues.

Sofie & Guy - for their valuable companionship and making the hike much more fun and much less stressful.

Rajith, Kavita, Vijay, Partha & Sugandhi - many many thanks for a whole lot of back-end support...you have truly been friends in time of need.

Mark - my backpacking mentor, guide & good friend who taught me almost all the things about long-distance hiking that I still follow to this day.

Hemang - the only one I knew personally who had done a thru-hike and who readily gave his time, much-needed advice and gear to try out to a mostly-clueless me.

Tanuja & Rahul - thank you so much for multiple days of post-hike hospitality.

Joon & Payal - for the last-minute tech help with the GPS tracker setup.

My Dad for his unfailing confidence in me and his ever-present support.

My aunts (Vinitha, Nimmi, Vani, Parvati, Chanti), uncles (Raghav Rao, Pathni Rao) and sisters-in-law (Renu, Banita & Shilu) as well as my cousins (Utthara, Ajitha, Rishi, Tarun, Krishna, Minu) and my sister, Shanti, for their unconditional love, affection and constant encouragement to complete the hike.

Most of all, thanks to each one of you including (in no particular order) Anurag, Kavitha, Lakshmi, Nara, Prameela, Ritu, Sreedevi, Kanchan, Sasi, Raja, Kavitha (DLS), Indrani, Padma, Sarat, Sudhir, Jyo, Bhags, Ravi Krishna, Vani, Umeshwari, Lisa, Kusum, Jayant, Vipul, Neel, Kuhu, Blake, Rajesh C, Shiva, Suma, Nikhil, Ranjana, Chris H, Merlyn, Ajay, Aruna, Shailendra, Rekha P, Bala, Sanjay, Gayatri, Shweta, Smita, Pakhi, Adaj, Dan (& others who I apologize in advance for missing) for reading this blog, commenting on it and sending encouraging messages. I read each one of them and believe me, every one of them was a mental boost to me, especially when you are struggling through a tough day which was often. Thank YOU!!!

Finally, my biggest thanks to my personal trail angel who coordinated a whole lot of hike logistics including lodging, resupply & rides, liasoned with trail angels along the way, figured out the plan & schedule as it kept evolving, kept everybody informed about my status, etc etc etc while managing her own work as well as taking over my household responsibilities, all the while endlessly worrying about me 😀, but trying not to bother me....Shalini!

Whether I complete the Pacific Crest Trail or not, I remain in debt to every one of you! 

Thanks!

On a trail related note, I saw my third bear on the trail yesterday afternoon. I was walking along listening to Hidden Brain podcast on phone speaker when suddenly I turn a corner and see a bear walking across the trail. It was about 20 feet in front of me. It calmly looked at me and continued walking (video of the bear).

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 D-114: