Here's Chris to share his rendition of our final day:
The last few days on the PCT were bittersweet for Autumn and I as our 5 month long journey neared its end. I wanted to propose before our PCT adventure began but decided the moment should be extra special, so I planned on popping the big question at the PCT’s Northern Terminus. It was a risky plan, only 30ish percent of thru hikers complete the thru hike in one shot. Injury, wildfires, financial shortfalls, and various other issues (stat pulled from halfwayanywhere website) cuts the trip short for many hikers. But I had no doubt we’d finish, so I went with it and would’ve adjusted accordingly if something had taken us off the trail indefinitely. People ask if I carried a ring the whole way; the answer to that is no, but I had a plan which I will discuss later in this post. For everyone who knows Autumn Kruse personally, they will agree when I say she has a particular taste when it comes to the finer things in life (jewelry, clothes, wine, etc), so I decided she should pick the exact ring she wanted following the proposal (we have been off trail for almost two months and she just settled on a ring!). With this background information revealed, Ill get into the nitty-gritty details leading up to our PCT finish, and proposal.
Autumn and I woke up on August 30th, 2022, rearing to get to the Northern Terminus (PCT finish line) so we could finally rest our weary bodies. This was the 141st day on trail and we were ready to be done. We set up camp 14.5 miles from the finish as this would allow us to leave our tent and sleeping gear behind in order to hike the 29 mile round trip segment with lighter packs. As we set off on the final leg, I began to get nervous. Up to this point, I had been hiding my intent to propose. Auti didn’t suspect anything as she knew I wasn’t carrying a ring. And to be honest, I didn’t trust myself to carry an expensive ring during the 2650 mile trek as we would be fording swollen rivers and scrambling up steep mountain passes routinely. It didn’t seem smart to me, and I knew Auti had particular taste as mentioned before. My ultimate plan was to fashion a ring out of a wildflower picked on our final day.
As we marched out of camp, I immediately started scanning the trail for wildflowers. I am sure, to Auti, my behavior and speech seemed erratic at the time as I would stop frequently to inspect every flower I came upon. I hiked behind her so she didn’t suspect anything abnormal, but she sensed I was acting bizarre. I reeled myself in a bit and eventually found a beautiful Golden Aster near Holman Pass. I plucked it and felt content with my choice. The flowers bright yellow petals extended outwards like the awakening sun’s rays. I slipped it into the mesh pocket of my cell phone case and hoped the delicate little gem would survive the remaining two hour hike to the terminus. However, within an hour, the fragile Aster began to wilt at an alarming rate. It would not survive the final march. I began to panic as the last few miles to the end would drop us a couple thousand feet in elevation, and put us just outside the alpine zone, the precise area where these flowers preferred to grow. As we started to descend into the greener sub alpine landscape, I realized I would have to wait until we were at the terminus to find something viable to turn into a ring.
My scan up to this point was focused primarily on the vegetation close to the trail and not on the gorgeous views around me…Conifer-clad mountains dotted the vast landscape as steep granite pinnacles rose up from a sea of green. The beauty and remoteness of North Cascades National Park is hard to describe on paper. Few areas in the world remain as wild as this section and there is no better place to end such a journey. As I took in the jaw dropping views around me, I was hit with a distinct yet familiar smell: smoke. Throughout the morning, a distant haze lingered near a few summits and ridgelines off to the west. I initially thought the hazy air was fog that had yet to burn off from the sun, but a small, white plume of smoke three miles away from the PCT confirmed my second assumption. A wildfire sparked by lightning a few days earlier had grown in size due to the abnormally dry and hot conditions. A few other plumes were beginning to build north and east of the trail as well. Having spent last summer fighting wildland fires in a nearby area, these particular plumes did not seem hazardous at the time due to the small size and distance from the PCT. However, it was something to keep in mind as we descended into thicker vegetation, losing site of the three growing fires. The National Park and various other federal land management agencies are quick to close areas threatened by wildland fires, especially in this region as mountain weather adds another layer of complexity. Of course, this emerging obstacle coupled with my wildflower dilemma raised my already increasing blood pressure and stress level.
As we continued our descent closer to the monument, I became more nervous and anxious. “Would it be too crowded? Would I find a flower? Would I studder while proposing? Would she say yes?”, were the primary thoughts cycling through my head. It shouldn’t have been this stressful but that is just how I am. With a half a mile left, I took a few deep breaths and steadied myself to just go with the flow. As we neared the finish, I could see a dozen hikers relaxing near the finish posing for pictures and reveling in their grand achievement. When Auti and I entered the cleared out area where the terminus was located (U.S.-Canada border), everyone cheered and congratulated us. An unimaginable sense of pride, triumph, and accomplishment swept over me as we “tagged” the monument; Auti and I had walked over 2,650 miles and ascended/descended over 315,000ft in 141 days.
After settling down and taking a few group pictures next to the monument, my mission refocused on operation find a wildflower. I relayed to Auti that I needed to “use the bathroom” and decided to walk a few hundred feet into Canada in an attempt to find another wild flower. I stumbled around the dense brush like a new born baby giraffe but eventually found what I was looking for: a wild Mountain Aster! I carefully plucked the purple petaled beauty and roughly fashioned a size 5.5 ring with a strategic piece of duct tape. When finished, I knew it’d be impossible for her to say no. It was a dazzling piece of craftsmanship. To top off the classiness, I placed the flower ring in my ear phone case which happened to be shaped like a ring box. I began my trek back to the terminus with the “ring” and an intent to finally ask the love of my dreams to marry me.
There were still quite a few people huddled near the monument when I emerged out of the woods; stumbling gracefully, I quickly composed myself and looked for someone willing to video the proposal. I asked Maple, one of our good friends we had met on trail, loudly if she would be willing to take a few pictures of Auti and me in front of the monument. Maple said yes, and as she agreed I whispered, “don’t take a picture, I want you to video us because I plan on proposing.” Her jaw dropped initially and then she smiled slyly as I divulged my intent, she nodded and motioned for me to get going. The gravity of the situation and nervousness overtook me as I motioned to Autumn to follow me to the monument for our “celebratory pictures”. After pretending to snap a few pics, I turned to Autumn and all was clear; I got down on one knee and said, “Although our PCT adventure has come to an end, I don’t want our journey through life to ever end. Will you marry me?” I whipped out my wildflower ring, and immediately dropped it on the ground. I quickly picked it up, and after a few moments she nodded her head. I asked, “Is that a yes, or no nod?”. She said YES! And I kissed her to seal the deal. After sliding the makeshift ring on her finger, I clearly stated that it was an IOU for a real ring. Flowers are cool and everything but diamonds are forever.
We were cheered and congratulated on our new engagement and honestly, I couldn’t have imagined a better setting to propose to my love. We continued to celebrate and reminisce with friends for the next hour until it was time to head back to camp. As we started hiking back to our campsite 15 miles away, I immediately noticed a lot more smoke in the air. When Auti and I summited the highest point, I turned around to look north and couldn’t believe my eyes. The three tiny wildfires we noticed earlier that morning had grown ten times their original size. Ash fell around us and grey smoke billowed out from the rugged landscape. There was a decent buffer between the PCT and growing fires, but the weather outlook over the next few days did not look favorable. Autumn and I hastily continued our hike back to camp, and discussed how grateful we were to have finished when we did. Who knew how much longer the trail would be open. Overall, our trek back to Harts Pass was smooth. We hitched a ride to Mazama where we ate to our hearts content and planned our schedule for the next few days. On September 2nd, we had made it to Leavenworth, WA and were hanging out with family, when I saw a post from the PCTA on Facebook: “The PCT is closed near the Northern Terminus due to the growing Parks fire”. We had missed not being able to finish our trek by three days. Many hikers were mere hours away from finishing their hike when the trail closed; to be turned around just miles from the finish is devastating. Autumn and I had threaded the needle; we came, we saw, and we humped all the way north.
Prior to hiking the PCT, Autumn and I had spent more time living apart, than together. We knew early on that we loved each other, but wanted to test our commitment in an extreme way. The Pacific Crest Trail tested every aspect of our relationship. Mutual respect, trust, honesty, compromise, healthy communication, anger control, and individuality are a few standout aspects where we saw the most growth. Numerous older hikers we met along the trail avowed, “If you can make it through the trail together, you can make it through anything in life.” Well we made it, and I am beyond excited to see where life takes us next. And rest assured, this is only the first of many more outdoor adventures to come. I want to thank all who followed us throughout our journey and helped us along the way. Your kind comments and outpouring of love fueled us to the end. Until next time.
Wow. We really did. After 141 days, we reached the Northern Terminus of the Pacific Crest Trail, completing our 2,654 mile hike. I’ll go back at some point and hike the 40ish miles I missed in Oregon when Chris and I got separated, but we hiked well over 40 additional non-PCT miles throughout the journey, so I’m going to stretch the truth a bit and say I thru-hiked it. What an incredible adventure!
We spent our final days soaking it all in. We took our time enjoying the views, stopping to pick berries, eating our favorite trail foods, and basking in the freedom of life on the trail. Before we knew it, we were setting up our tent for the final time. After getting our camp situated, we prepared our symbolic dinner of freeze-dried Cheese Enchilada Ranchero – the same meal we ate the first night on the trail, a night that seemed like just yesterday and forever ago at the same time. We knew we’d have a long final day, so we decided to turn in early, but right as we were falling asleep, we heard the voices of a couple of our trail friends, Bubba and Crypto, who we knew had reached the terminus earlier that day. We had to congratulate them, so we crawled out of the tent. It quickly turned into a party. We didn’t end up getting the good night’s rest we were hoping for, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.
The little sleep we got wasn’t an issue anyway, as we were running on excitement – and Chris on nerves – as we hiked the 14.5 miles to the Canadian border. As Chris mentioned above, he was a bit out of sorts that morning. He wasn’t talking much, and seemed unenthused about completing such an epic journey – I realize now that he was busy rehearsing his proposal in his head and searching for the perfect wildflower ring. I thought his behavior was a bit weird, but blew it off and focused on congratulating all of the hikers who’d finished yesterday and were on their victory lap back to Hart’s Pass – Canada still wasn’t allowing us in, so everyone who reached the Northern Terminus would have to turn around and hike an additional 30 miles back to finally get off the PCT. Additionally, there was a huge rock-slide just a few days before we were set to finish the trail, which blocked the road to Hart’s Pass and would force hikers to take one of the longer poorly maintained alternate routes to get off the PCT. Luckily for us, the road would be cleared by the time we got back to Hart’s Pass.
The first few miles of our hike to the finish were frequently halted as we ran into a ton of our trail friends who had finished the day before us. It was so bittersweet to stop one last time to chat with them along the trail and reminisce on different stories we shared with each of them. Maddie’s trail family, now part of our trail family too, was amongst yesterday’s finishers. We talked with them a while and heard about the beautiful celebration they had for Maddie at the monument. Her parents flew into Canada and hiked the nine miles to the Northern Terminus from Manning Park. As Maddie’s trail family reached the finish, her parents were there to cheer them in. Although Maddie’s physical body didn’t hike the entire trail, her spirit certainly did - the guys carried her ashes with them as they hiked the rest of the trail in her honor. Around the monument at the Northern Terminus, Maddie’s parents and her trail family spread her ashes in celebration of her honorary completion of the Pacific Crest Trail – a beautiful tribute to her and her dream of hiking the PCT.
As we got closer to the terminus, Chris got weirder. He could hardly form a sentence if I could get him to speak at all. Maybe he was overwhelmed with the completion of such an arduous journey? No – I knew he was up to something. I had a strong suspicion of what it might be, but I did my best to ignore his behavior, not wanting to ruin my own surprise. When the time came and he got down on one knee my suspicions were confirmed, and of course I said yes! I’ll be honest, I was disappointed there wasn’t champagne and cake to celebrate, as I tend toward an instant gratification/celebration mindset, but our Ramen and M&Ms lunch would do for the time being. We would have a proper celebration the next day when we got off the trail. And let’s be honest, you don’t get engaged for the cake and champagne. You get engaged because you found your person, the love of your life, the one you want to adventure with forever.
I found all of that in Chris. I’m so excited he asked me to marry his goofy, sexy, sometimes irritating, incredible ass. I can’t wait to embark on all of life’s adventures with him. Taylor Swift sings “I like shiny things, but I’d marry you with paper rings”, and I’m so with her, although in this case it’s a flower ring. He promised a real ring will eventually replace the flower ring, but honestly it wouldn’t need to – I’d wear that wilted wildflower stuck together with duct tape forever if it meant getting to do life with Chris.
Following all the congratulations and our Ramen and M&Ms lunch celebration, we took to the book – behind the monument there’s a large book stored in an ammo can filled with stories, gratitude, words of wisdom, and so much more from hikers who reached the Northern Terminus. We spent a long while flipping through the pages, soaking in the words of all the inspirational people who’d been there before us. It was such an honor to add our own thoughts. We wrote:
08/30/2022 I proposed to my love, Tourniquet, at the Northern Terminus. This trail, these people, and the nature are magical. Here’s to a beautiful ending and an exciting new chapter in our lives.
-Monte Cristo
I said yes! And I can’t wait for all the adventures to come. Thank you, Monte Cristo, for walking with me, learning with me, and growing with me over the past 4.5 months. I loved you then, I love you now, and I’ll love you forever.
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To all the miles from Campo to here
To all the blood, the sweat, and the tears
To all the good days and the bad ones too
To the friends who’ve become family – Tour Guide and Bad Review
A piece of piss, maybe not The PCT at times was a twat
But profound and fantastic just as well
To the PCT, a beautiful hell
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Thank you everyone who made this incredible journey possible!
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Miss Maddie Magee – the Angel of the PCT - thank you for giving us strength each time the going got tough. Rest in peace and paradise.
-Tourniquet
As we closed the book and placed it back in its ammo can, we were also closing our own metaphorical book. Each chapter of our PCT adventure was finished, and the book was complete. But it was already apparent that this was one of those books that would leave us forever changed, forever better. The stories that lay between the front and back cover of our metaphorical book also lay permanently within us. Stories of fortitude and friendship, stories of love and laughter, stories of regret and forgiveness, stories of perseverance, and stories that we will cherish forever.
Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail was one of the craziest, most difficult, most profound adventures either of us has ever embarked on. We learned about ourselves and each other. We grew in mental strength, and shrunk in physical size. We shed more blood, sweat, and tears (just me) than we thought humanly possible. We met so many incredible and inspirational people, and a few weird ones too. We saw landscapes so beautiful it was hard to imagine it was real. We spent each day wrapped in nature, and slept each night spooning Mother Earth. There were many times we wanted to quit. There were days so miserable we fantasized about falling off a cliff and getting hurt just enough for a helicopter ride out and an excuse to leave the trail. And then there were days that will go down as some of the best days of our lives. There were days I’ll dream of going back to when I need an escape. All of the days, though, each of the 141, were a gift – it’s not lost on us how incredibly lucky we are to have had the opportunity to hike The Pacific Crest Trail.
Thank you again to everyone who contributed to our hike and made the adventure everything that it was.
Hump on, friends.
-Tourniquet and Monte Cristo
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