Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Chapter 8 describes Cheryl’s experiences en route to the High Sierra, the tallest peaks on the PCT. She struggles on the trail, despite her lighter backpack and being fitter than she was at the start of her journey. Three weeks have gone by since she started hiking. The season and terrain have changed. Gone is the arid landscape of the Mojave Desert. The Sierra Nevada are cooler, more verdant, and so full of water sources that Cheryl no longer needs to fill her dromedary bag. She catches up with Doug and Tom. The following day brings ice-covered hills. Cheryl uses her ice ax during this part of the hike. She then learns that the trails ahead are covered in record levels of snow. Concerned about the conditions, Cheryl decides to bypass the High Sierras and rejoin the trail in Sierra City. Bypassing will allow her to hike through Oregon instead of stopping in Ashland as she planned. Cheryl learns that Greg is also bypassing when she runs into him the next day. The two grow closer as they descend the trail and hitchhike to the resupply station at Lone Pine. During a stop in Reno, Cheryl encounters a woman who tells her the feather Doug gave her comes from a corvid—a raven or crow—and symbolizes the void.