Always reach for your "Dreams", search for your next "Path", and live life knowing that the "Destination" is the "Journey"....
Day 253
11-15-2006
Started: Wildcat Beach, CA
Finished: In the Pacific Ocean off Limantour Beach, CA (Western Terminus of the ADT)
Today's Miles: 9.5
Total Miles: 4127.4
How do we describe the indescribable? When there are no words that accurately represent our emotions what do we say? There were smiles, there were laughs, there were even tears, happy tears of course, but still tears. One thing for sure is that each and every emotion displayed was real, and that each and every emotion has been building up, transforming and being refined with each thought-filled step we have taken since leaving the Atlantic Ocean over nine months ago. Today's hike was a symbolic Journey. We had nine and a half miles to walk and nine and a half months of wonderful memories to carry with us up the shore. Our amazing tentsite allowed us to wake up to the sound of crashing waves falling on Wildcat Beach, the smell of sand and salt water, the views of miles of cliffs and beaches in both directions, being entertained by seals splashing in the waves and being able to watch as the sun slowly rose into the sky creating the perfect lighting to make the deep blue waters of the Pacific Ocean glisten in front of an ever-changing backdrop of colors in the western sky. We could have sat on the edge of those cliffs above Wildcat Beach all day. We shared a number of long and comfortable silences as we sat and watched the Ocean roll its consistent waves toward the shore. The idea that we've run, well hiked, out of land and that our only option to continue west would require us to swim is an idea that we are having a difficult time comprehending. We're really here! When the "dream" of hiking from one Ocean to the other became a "goal" we focused everything we had inside of us, physically, mentally and emotionally, toward achieving that "goal".
As we stand on the edge of the Continent with the Pacific Ocean below us we can't quite get a hold on just how it feels to have fulfilled that achievement, accomplished our "goal" and lived our "dream". Even if we would have sat on the edge of the cliffs above Wildcat Beach all day we still wouldn't have had enough time to digest all of our feelings and comprehend all of our thoughts and emotions. We discussed how empowered we feel and we admitted how fragile we feel. We have a confidence inside us that allows us to imagine tackling any challenge that we would ever face and enduring any hardship we could ever encounter, but we hold our confidence in a fair balance with our feelings of being fragile. The balance we strive to feel recognizes that we can take challenging risks all the while knowing that life is precious and most certainly not to be taken for granted.
We walked away from our Cliffside camp filled with excitement. Our excitement was not an excitement that we would associate with reaching a "finish line", because we have never felt like our Journey was a race, and have known all along that the benefits we would gain from having taken on this amazing experience wouldn't be found floating as a message in a bottle waiting for us at any "finish line", but instead would be found in the day in and day out challenges and moments that we would encounter, some requiring endurance, some testing our perseverance, some pushing our limits in extreme elements, and on the other hand some rewarding us with friendship, reassuring our faith in humanity and filling our hearts and minds with an overwhelming level of kindness. The benefits, or rewards that come with enduring the countless challenges that nine and a half months of living outside while walking from one Ocean to the other across an entire continent have already effected our view of life and will continue to change the way we view the world for the rest of our lives! The life lessons we encountered on our first day of hiking back on March 7th were just as important and just as life changing as the life lessons we encountered today, 253 days later on November 15th. Sure, there is a day we began walking away from the Atlantic and there is a day when we reached the Pacific, but it is impossible to place a start and a stop on a Journey that has accomplished fulfilling a life long "dream".
REMAINDER OF ARTICLE TO BE POSTED AT A LATER DATE.
