Made it!

August 25th was a very special day! Parker completed his five month, 2,650 mile long hike along the Pacific Crest Trail. The trail passed through 25 national forests, 6 national parks and countless other federal wilderness lands. It crests scenic and pristine mountainous terrain along the west coast. This is how the trail claims its name!

August 15th the hikers were on top of ol’ Snowy, the highest point that the PCT crosses in Washington. Parker said, “Goat rocks national forest (where ol’ Snowy resides) was the highlight of Washington thus far!” Parker met up and hiked with different sets of people along his five month hike; he explained that these groups are referred to as trail families or “trams” for short. Parker said he loved hiking this last section with such a cool and diverse group of people as these.

The pictures shown above are of Parker and his friends making it to Washington and crossing the “Bridge of the Gods!” Before crossing, he and his friends spent two days relaxing and learning how to kite board in a town called Hood River. They were recovering by staying in the town and not hiking any miles along the trail. This is something that hikers call a “0 day.” After their recovery, they completed the final section of the trail, roughly 550 miles in 18 days before reaching Canada and the end of the hike!

Parker explained that he found joy in competing with himself as the trail stretched on. He also told me that pushing for bigger days was made easier by having things to look forward to. One of these things is an annual Elk hunt with his father, Craig and brother-in-law Max!

“In a civilized and cultivated country, wild animals only continue to exist at all when preserved by sportsmen.” -Theodore Roosevelt
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Here is quote from Max, “Feeling grateful for the opportunity to spend the past week bow hunting in the Southern CO wilderness with some great company. There’s no feeling like hearing a 1,200lb bull elk bugle 50 yards away from you at sunrise. Close bear encounters are also scary.”😂
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Parker has one more adventure planned for this year! He will be joining Max to compete in and Iron Man on October 13th in Louisville, Kentucky!

The swim will be centered around the historic Ohio River. The bike route will take the athletes over plenty of rolling hills outside of Louisville. And lastly the run will pass through four Parks and along the Ohio river.

It will be quite interesting to see where life takes this adventuresome grandson of mine! Parker graduated in Business Management and Entrepreneurship from Ole Miss so I’m sure he will own his own business one day. I cannot see him working for someone; he’s too much his own man and likes to make his own decisions. With all his talent, determination, and tenacity I am sure his life will always be wildly interesting and will be lived to the fullest! And because he is a very smart young man his life will surely include this beautiful young woman Whitney Marr who also graduated from Ole Miss in Business Marketing and make a stunning couple!