Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Chapter 15 opens with a violent rainstorm. It is Cheryl’s second-to-last night on the California portion of the PCT. She puts the rain cover over her tent, getting soaked in the process, and spends the night shivering in her anorak. She wakes earlier than usual the next morning to hike her final miles in California. Along the way, she loses the bracelet Aimee gave her but decides she no longer needs it. Minutes later, she is elated to reach the border of California and Oregon. That night, Cheryl thinks about the festivities and resupply box awaiting in Ashland, her original endpoint before bypassing the High Sierra. She arrives in Ashland the next day to find it full of people mourning the death of Jerry Garcia, the leader of the band the Grateful Dead. Panic ensues when the post office clerk cannot find her resupply box. Cheryl goes to the co-op and marvels at the quantity and variety of food on offer. A worker notices Cheryl’s necklace, which spells her last name in silver letters. The clerk misreads it and thinks it spells “starved.” Cheryl buys a Snapple lemonade and chats with passersby, including a couple who invite her to a memorial for Jerry Garcia at a local club.