Saturday, September 13, 2008

Will Made it Home Safe

He is my hero. Will made it back to the Snoqualmie Pass Pacific Crest Trailhead at 8:30pm tonight. Preston and I met him with bells on. :) Bear bells that is.

Anyway he had quite the adventure, which I'm sure once he has gotten some sleep and eaten several thousand calories, he will be well enough to blog about it. Maybe next week.

He is getting ready to soak in a hot bath right now both to soothe his shaking sore muscles and to get the layers of dirt and sweat off of him. He was pretty nauseous when I picked him up. He called me about 4 miles from the trailhead and said he had hit the wall and was done. He hadn't eaten since 11:30 this morning because he would just throw it up. His feet were hurting him pretty badly (but wouldn't yours hurt if you'd just hiked 75 miles without sleep? Well, he did take a few naps here and there). But somehow he managed to actually run the last 2 miles.

I was praying for him the entire time during that last hour. It was dark, I knew he was exhausted (he practically went the distance of 3 marathons), and he needed some extra help from above to make it back. Boy was I glad when I saw his headlamp and the hobbling body connected to it come down the trail to the parking lot.

He said he saw 4 black bears along the way, one of which he spooked as he came around a corner. He was about 20 feet from it, so he diverted his eyes and slowly backed away. I almost peed my pants listening to him tell me about it, so if had been me in the actual situation I probably would have had a heart attack and died right there on the spot and would have made a nice dinner for the bear.

Aside from the bear scare though, he said it was some of the most beautiful back country he'd ever seen. He'll post pictures later I'm sure.

I'm going to try and see if I can get some more calories down this boy, give him a foot massage, and see if he'll eat the victory blackberrry pie I made for him.

Will I'm so proud of you. Even if I think you're a little crazy. I love you so much and am so happy to call you mine.

Everyone else - Ciao.

10 comments:

Annalea said...

Vern and I have been checking all evening, to see if Will made it home safely. We're so glad he did!!!!!!!

Take care of him (as if you wouldn't Jenni), and we're eager to hear the story. Have you guys contacted the Reader's Digest yet? ;o)

We're so relieved . . .

Joan said...

Thank you for posting that Will is safely home. I've been watching the GPS link through most of his adventure, and was beginning to worry this evening. I'm glad he's okay. Personally I'd have blocked the door and not let him start until he agreed to a psych evaluation first!
You were all in my prayers.

Heather Matthews said...

I can't wait to hear about Will's adventures. You are crazy! Congrats to little Preston for being 3 months. I love it when they hit this mark :)

Vern Eastley said...

Will, you're the man. We prayed for you throughout your hike. So glad to get the good word on your safe return.

I kept waking up in my tent Friday night and thinking, "Wow, Will must still be hiking!"

Strophic Records said...

Will, you're crazy. Just crazy! I bet it feels so good to have done it though. Great job. We're glad you made it back safe.

Man - you're crazy... :)

Lori-ann:)

Jenni said...

Wow- pretty impressive, that is an unbelievable accomplishment. Although, even though everyone has already said it... YOUR CRAZY WILL!
Glad you made it home safe.

McClains said...

We are glad he is safe, Chris was tracking him! =) Crazy WIll!! Good job though!

The Maddens said...

Will,
We are moving back over there when I am done with school and I don't care what you say I am going to go with you on some of your adventures. That would be so much fun. I don't know about running at the end but I do think it would have been fun and awesome. I just need to start getting in a little better shape so I could keep up with you. 4 years Baby!! Then I might be done with my masters if I don't fail any classes.

Billy

Heather Smith said...

Wow! 75 miles! That is just amazing! Go Will! Hope you're doing okay! Congrats!

Unknown said...

Wow that IS adventurous with your bear bells and all. You guys are so ca-razy.