Adventure of a Lifetime

Many people look forward to retirement. There are plans to travel south for the winter months, relax, complete projects at home or just slow down in general. For John Gubel of Trout Creek, plans included walking more than 2,650 miles from Mexico to Canada along the Pacific Crest Trail.

Gubel, who has lived in Trout Creek for almost 30 years, retired in 2020 after nearly 40 years with the U.S. Forest Service. His last post was as the District Ranger for the Cabinet District in western Sanders County. After retirement, he spent 163 days hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). He told of his adventure last week at a gathering at the Whitepine Grange.

Wearing a shirt with Bigfoot on it that said "Into the woods we go," Gubel on Tuesday told about 25 community members how he started planning his trek in 2015 as he initially planned to retire in 2017 to hike the trail. He decided to stay with the Forest Service a few more years and retired in January 2020, making preparations to hike the PCT. Part of the planning was securing permits for certain sections of the trail, including one to get into Canada. Some permits are limited in numbers. But Gubel secured the necessary permits with plans to start hiking in May - then the PCT was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The PCT Association asked hikers to stay off the trail. "It was a tough year because I was planning and ready. I had been hiking a lot to get in shape," Gubel said.

With the 2020 plan on hold, Gubel started the entire planning process again and was able to complete the journey in 2021. He started at the U.S.-Mexico border on April 26, 2021, and reached the Canadian border on October 4. Gubel said he didn't prepare as much in 2021 because with the uncertainty of COVID, he still wasn't sure the trip would happen. It did, and he was one of 800 people to complete the PCT that year. He said that of those who start, only 14%-25% actually finish. While he said the average PCT hikers are in their 30s, Gubel completed the task at age 63.

One of the challenges with preparing to hike 2,650 miles is keeping a backpack light. "I'm prone to be prepared for everything," Gubel said of his struggle to not pack every possible thing he would need in any situation. He said the base weight of his pack - including tent, cookware, clothing, etc., everything that wasn't consumable - was 16 pounds. Food was another 1.5-2 pounds per day. A 2-liter bottle of water added another two pounds. Gubel had read the book "Trail Life" by Ray Jardine to learn how to pack light. "He's the godfather of ultralight hiking," Gubel said of Jardine.

Though Gubel had researched the trail and read books about hiking, he had been preparing for the long journey his whole life. He said he hiked as a kid and was involved in the Scouts. His stepfather encouraged him to be outdoors. He told the story of how when he was young, his parents would drop him and his friends off at a trailhead and pick them up at the end. "People probably wouldn't let their kids do that now," he joked. With his Forest Service career and a degree in forestry, Gubel continued his passion for the outdoors as an adult. Even in retirement, he continues to work on wildland fires.

Gubel had taken 50-mile hikes as a Scout and he and his wife Sandi had been on longer week-long hikes, but tackling 2,650 miles was more than he ever imagined. "It's a big commitment," he stressed.

Gubel started the PCT near Campo, California, at the border with Mexico. In his planning, he was set on trekking 20 miles a day and aiming to be done on September 30. "Even for me as a backpacker, I had never done 20 miles a day," he noted. "I killed myself that first day. I was completely beat up at camp that night and had to come to the realization that you have to build up to 20 miles a day. I then went 15-16 a day and then built up to 20." His longest day on the PCT was 26 miles.

On the trail, Gubel encountered a variety of people, but said some people he would meet up with several times on the journey. They would experience "trail angels" or "trail magic" along the way, where local residents or other hikers would leave snacks, water or gear at points on the trail, or sometimes groups would meet hikers along the trail with full meals, such as in Washington when three chefs from Seattle met hikers with a freshly prepared gourmet meal. Trail angels would give hikers rides into towns to resupply, and some people would welcome hikers into their homes to stay for a night.

"There's a saying, 'the trail provides,' " Gubel said. "It amazed me that time and time again when you were lacking food, equipment, or water, it would materialize." At one point in the desert he kept going one day and didn't stop as planned and had to start rationing food. "At a campground on a pass there were people and shelters and food. It was just amazing how these things would happen. The trail itself is a big experience but the people you meet along the way are amazing. People take care of each other."

Gubel met a man from Wales who was hiking 40 miles a day on the PCT. Each person he encountered had been given a trail name. His trail name was "Milano." Gubel was presented with his name by fellow hikers about 400 miles into the trail after they came upon some trail magic that included a cooler full of Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies which he enjoyed. "My hiking friends gave me the name and wouldn't let it go," Gubel laughed.

One hiker that Gubel spent many miles with along the trail was Dave Prescott, or "Easy Goin'." Gubel and Prescott, from Colorado, were both retired and both at the time were 63. Gubel said he still keeps in touch with Prescott.

Another hiker, Giggle Box, was from the northeast and had trouble with the heat along the trail. She became weak and was vomiting. Gubel tried to help get her to a road and off the trail, but ended up having to hike to get cell service and call 911. Giggle Box was extracted by helicopter. Gubel called the nearest hospital later and Giggle Box said the doctor told her she probably only had about two hours left.

Gubel said something that surprised him about the PCT was the amount of elevation change. In the 2,650 miles, he gained and lost a total of 489,000 feet in elevation over the trail. "You would go from the desert to 8,000 feet up. I was surprised at how much up and down there was," he expressed. The lowest point was at 140 feet of elevation, at Cascade Locks in Oregon, and the highest at Forester Pass in Washington at 13,153 feet.

When asked if he saw many animals on the trail, Gubel joked that he sees more animals looking out the window of his home in Trout Creek. He said he saw a couple of foxes on the PCT, and encountered a large snake during a stop. He said the elevation is too high for many animals and there are lots of people on the trail. Along with "thru-hikers" tackling the entire PCT, Gubel said the trail is shared by day hikers or those out for shorter backpacking trips.

Gubel said the trail is pretty well marked, though one time late at night he took a wrong turn in a state park. He initially didn't want to pack a phone, but with no pay phones in some areas, he decided to take a cellphone. He also had packed a map and downloaded an app for the trail that identifies campsites and other resources. Hikers would communicate along the trail to let others know about the status of water sources, weather and trail conditions.

Though Gubel said his wife Sandi was supportive and encouraged him along the way, he noted that it was difficult for her to not hear from him, sometimes for several weeks at a time. He had a small power pack that would charge his phone a few times until he got to a town to recharge it. But cellular service was limited on the trail. Sandi would mail him boxes of food and supplies along the way. Gubel had planned to retrieve 16 boxes along the way, but one was delayed in a fire evacuation and another went to a youth camp that was still closed due to COVID. "Time away from my wife was hard," Gubel noted. "I would go for weeks and she wouldn't hear from me." Sandi met him in South Lake Tahoe about 1,100 miles into the journey, and then at the end.

There were some detours along the trail. In California, Gubel had to hike 40 miles around an area that was closed due to a wildfire evacuation. While Gubel hiked with others for much of the trail, he also hiked alone quite a bit, especially in the desert portion. "I'm kind of a loner and like my alone time. But I would see familiar faces in town" when he stopped to resupply, Gubel said. "It's interesting the bond you form with people you really don't know." He said the trail towns take care of hikers, as their economies depend on them. He would pack about a week's worth of food at a time, and when he took a day off, called a "zero day," he would shower, wash his clothing, buy food and enjoy a beer or two. Gubel took a total of 20 zero days on the entire journey. "You need those. You don't realize the hunger and how much food you consume. You're burning 4,000-5,000 calories a day."

While normally Gubel would wear hiking boots on a trail, on the PCT he chose trail running sneakers because they were light and breathable. "Your feet get hot and sweaty, so you don't get as many blisters," he explained, adding that he went through six pairs of shoes during the entire journey.

Gubel said injuries are a problem on the trail. "My feet were the biggest problem. I took a lot of beating in the first three weeks" with blisters, a slight knee injury and swollen ankles. He said he lost eight toenails at least once, "some twice." Gubel fell 10-12 times along the trail, with the most serious resulting in a bruised rib. He lost 20 pounds on the journey.

The trail is tough, Gubel said. "Part of this trail is physical, but more of it is mental. You have to push through it and really want it." He said some hikers would express disappointment at the amount of focus that was needed and that they didn't have free time for activities such as stopping to swim in lakes. One morning north of the Sierra Nevada mountains, he was having breakfast with two hikers, Care Bear and Strings. The two said they thought the PCT would be a lot more fun. "They were discouraged and decided to leave the trail. It was heartbreaking," Gubel noted.

"Did I think about leaving the trail? Yeah. The desert was one of the hardest portions, with temperatures in the 90s and not seeing people. It's tough. But then you brush it off and keep going." He said he struggled in Washington. "It seems like it rains all the time." Gubel's son Andrew and his family from Seattle met him at Snoqualmie Pass. Seeing them, and weariness from the miles hiked, put the hiker close to giving up. But he recommitted. "To do something of this distance, you have to be mentally prepared. You really can't understand it until you do it."

Gubel said that because of the pandemic, the end of the journey was a bit different. Canada had closed the crossing where the trail ends at the border. The original plan was for Sandi to pick John up in Canada, but due to the closure, hikers were forced to stop, turn around and hike back down the trail 30 miles to Hart's Pass.

On the last day of hiking, those who had made the journey and were hiking out met Gubel and Easy Goin on the trail with high fives, fist bumps and words of encouragement.

After finishing, Gubel met his wife near Winthrop, Washington.

"Every day was a new experience," Gubel said of the PCT. "Out on the trail you get in a certain mode. So, then it was a struggle to transition to life back at home. It's really hard coming back to the real world." Gubel said he's unsure if he would hike the PCT again. He would like to hike the Appalachian Trail. He didn't journal on the trail, but took photos, and used a pocket-sized Smokey bear calendar to track miles and where he camped. The brief emails he sent to Sandi at home are also chronicles of the voyage.

"By the end if you make it, you feel like Superman. I felt like I could do anything," he said.