Tyler Gence hiked the Pacific Crest Trail last year; he’s giving a presentation on his experience next Wednesday in Yakima. From the story in the local paper:

So Gence decided to do take some time last year to do a PCT through-hike himself. He did it partly as a fundraiser for a 14-year-old East Wenatchee liver transplant patient, but primarily for the experience. And he certainly added to the latter along the way by throwing in those peak experiences.

“They were all a lot of fun,” says Gence, who climbed Lassen Peak at night, illuminated by moonlight. He climbed Shasta in August with three other through-hikers he’d met along the way.

“We saw that mountain for 50, 75 miles before we even got there,” Gence says, adding that its lure was just too much to pass up. “I’m an intermediate climber, kind of a beginner. Shasta, it was a little scary on the way up, because of all the rockfall. We were passing rocks the size of Volkswagens that had fallen off. That was a little intimidating.”

I went over to Trail Journals to see if anybody mentioned Gence in their travels. Sure enough, he bumped into the famous Funnybone.

I hadn’t seen the staid, sinewy Groomsman since the high-Sierra, when he exited the trail to go to a couple of different friends’ weddings (ergo his moniker). He’s since headed to Canada and flip-flopped directions to resume his hike in a southbound fashion, getting the North Cascades out of the way before Ma Nature turns really bitchy.

It’s good to see him again, even though it’s probably for the last time in my life. It’s a weird thought that; but such is life on the trail, life on the move. One day someone you like walks into your life, the next they’re gone…if you’re lucky. Usually they walk out the same day you meet them. By then, though, I’m elsewhere too. That’s the nature of this beast and it can be a cruel one. We’re all just a bunch of drifters, a bunch of itinerants, floating around like feathers fortunate enough to have escaped the sleeping bag.

Groomsman—Tyler Gence—if you ever read this, no matter how far down the bumpy road of life, please don’t hesitate to get a hold of me. Oh, wait! I just remembered I still owe you twenty bucks. On second thought, don’t bother. Sucks to be you.

That Chucky, such a kidder (though I’m glad he doesn’t owe me any money).