Steinbach woman walks 2,653 miles along the Pacific Crest Trail

Rebecca Rempel was walking through the rough terrain of Lassen Volcanic National Park to get to a campsite 10 miles away. It was 41C and as the sun blasted the volcanic rock under her feet, the heat reflected back up at Rempel’s body. Dehydration and heat exhaustion had killed many on this road. The months of walking had damaged her feet making her suffer through blisters, plantar fasciosis, and neuroma. She had just reached mile 1,358, but she still had 1,295 miles to her goal. She was tired.

Despite the heat, despite the terrain, despite the pounding her body took she was not going to give up. She was half-way through the Pacific Crest Trail and she was determined to make it to the finish line at Manning Provincial Park, British Columbia.

“Long story short, after I reached the mid-way point in the hike I was like, ‘This is possible. I might actually be able to do this. If I can do the first half I can do the second half,’” she said.

The Pacific Crest Trail is 2,653 miles (4,270 kilometres) of terrain that follows the rocky crest of the pacific states of California, Oregon, and Washington ending in B.C. Hundreds of thousands of people have hiked the 18-inch wide trail from Campo, California to B.C., with some not returning.

Despite its beauty, the trail does harbor dangers. Rempel shared a story about stepping on a rattlesnake while on the trail and watching it slither away from her, to slipping on a log while trying to cross over it and managing not to fall off a cliff in the San Jacinto mountains, to crossing ice and snow, to chasing bears, to misplacing her passport and driver’s licence (which she got back). She shared how hikers got swept away by rivers and fallen off of cliffs. There’s no question, the PCT was a challenge.

“(It was) a lot harder than I expected. I definitely tried to be as prepared as I (could). I took a snow and ice course in Alberta, I took a wilderness first aid course, I had a personalized exercise program developed for me at Stone Brook Strength in Steinbach, which really, really helped and I did a lot of practice hikes, we call them shake down hikes,” said Rempel.

“I never had any serious foot pain in any of my practice hikes but I had a lot of foot pain on the trail. That was one of the biggest challenges to overcome. It was harder than I thought but also more wonderous than I thought it would be too. (The PCT) was more beautiful than I could imagine.”

An avid hiker, Rempel decided to hike the PCT after seeing the movie Wild, staring Reese Witherspoon, which chronicled the PCT from the perspective of Cheryl Strayed who hiked the trail in 1995. Like Strayed, Rempel lost someone important in her life – her aunt – which led her to the famed footpath.

“When I was 34 years old, I realized I’m the same age as my aunt was when she passed away and it was a bit of eye-opening moment where I was thinking, all the years I have yet to live are years she didn’t get, and that time is not guaranteed for any of us. What do I want to do with that time? When I’m older look back and be like I’m really glad I did this, that, and other things. And I really love backpacking and nature and to work on a goal that I knew would be really, really challenging, but would be worth it in the end.”

Although Rempel started her hike alone, she was joined by other hikers on the trail known as ‘Trail Families.’ These groups would bring comradery and safety to the hike. She also said there were Trail Angels who would feed or give medical attention to hikers on the PCT.

While she took courses to prepare, it took about a year to make and dehydrate all the food needed for the journey and three years for the chronic disease dietician to save up the money to hike the route.

She walked the trail in five-and-a-half months; she finished this September.

“I finished at the border between Washington and British Columbia. There’s a terminus there where you can take photos. There’s people crying, ‘You made it! We finally made it!’ It’s amazing. People will do – there’s a tradition called shoie where people will drink a full beer out of their used shoe. I cheer people on who had the cast iron stomachs to do that. That’s not my personal way of celebrating,” she said with a smile.

“I thought when I got to the terminus there would be tears of joy. I can’t believe that I did it. But instead when I got to the terminus, I really felt at peace. It felt like the timing was right. I was ready to be done. I felt a lot of gratitude that things worked out and I felt really at peace that this feels right.”