When asked what backpacking is; Front Range student Asher Hanes said, “backpacking, in general, is getting from point A to point B with nothing but a backpack.” For Asher, point A had been Mexico, and point B – Canada.
Last May, a week after high-school graduation, Asher found himself in Southern California, greeting the Mexican border, and the beginning of the Pacific Crest Trail. Much like the Appalachian Trail in the east, the Pacific Crest Trail (or PCT) is a trail that extends all the way up and down the country, ending on the North and South borders. Asher, who is my brother, was dropped off by our father on the southern end of the trail. He began what would be a four month journey. During it, he would set up his tent over a hundred times, filter water multiple times a day, and eat freeze dried food. His hike would take him through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. And he would walk through one-hundred-degree desert climates, wet snow, and forests.
I was with him when he made it to Canada. It was raining constantly, and we had grown accustomed to putting on frozen wet socks at the start of each morning. My brother’s hair was wild and long. His unshaven beard crawled far up his cheeks. He was fit, but very skinny. My dad and I (who had joined Asher for the last few days of the journey) watched for a reaction from the Eighteen-year-old who had just walked over two-thousand-miles. Asher was untalkative. But we all smoked cigars together in celebration.
Now, just about a year after Asher started the trail, he shares his thoughts on making it to the Canadian border: “It was a bag of mixed feelings for sure. Getting to Canada, for me, didn’t mean completing the trail. In my mind it was unfinished business.” The “unfinished business” he speaks about, is a six-hundred-mile portion of the trail that he had skipped.
The Sierra Nevada: The home of Yosemite National Park, and the highest section on the PCT. This is the part he skipped. Last year the area had record amounts of snowfall. Because of this, by the time Asher was getting close, the melted snow created rivers at much more the volume they would be normally. The rushing water took out a few important bridges, and park rangers were warning hikers not to try crossing the rivers. Of course some of them still did. There are videos of people forming a line, holding the backpacks of the people in front of them, and crossing. Asher was not one of these people. He saw the crossings as too much of a risk, and he got a ride, bringing him north of the Sierras.
This summer Asher plans to finish what he started. But there is some concern. Towards the end of his journey last year, his ankle started to hurt badly, and slowed his progress. After flying back home to Colorado doctors discovered that he had a sprain, and an injury that could develop into a fracture. There was no telling how long he had been walking on it. Once diagnosed, Asher had to contain his desire to hike all winter long. He has been wearing a brace and has been going to many physical therapy appointments. Asked if he was worried about his ankle, he responded, “I’ll do it no matter what.”
Asked why Asher plans to go back, despite the difficulties, he said, “I really try to do things that I say I’m going to do. Even day hiking a 14er is very difficult and there’s times when it’s not fun, but that’s kind of the whole point. It’s kind of the reward. It’s getting through that difficulty and seeing the view from the top. Or just knowing you had a good day with friends in the mountains.”
In ending the interview Asher tells Front Range students and community members, “You’re doing great. Follow your dreams!”
