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It was easier for me to say no
because it was more familiar for me to say no
than it was for me to take a chance.
So it kind of started as a joke.
Well, what if we hiked from Mexico to Canada?
I don't know, I thought about it and I watched videos
and it looked fun.
And so I said, "Let's do it."
...what I'll be carrying
for my new hike of the Pacific Crest Trail.
Now I did a series of videos called Gear for the PCT
where I broke down the individual...
In LA, I'm just a dude trying to make it as a writer,
write for TV, write some movies.
The thought of choosing to just be outside
and like rough it,
I was curious about it,
but like, I was never going to do it.
Like, I like being clean.
The PCT is a trail that starts at the Mexican border,
goes through California, Oregon, Washington,
and ends at the Canadian border.
It's about 2,600 miles long
and takes about five to six months to complete.
About a thousand or so people start
and only a couple hundred people finish.
My mom raised me and my sister on her own.
I'm very much like her,
in that we're both kind of quiet and reserved
and open up to the people close to us,
but like, around new people, it feels tough to open up.
Her biggest thing was that I was leaving a job,
like leaving stable income to have no stable income,
to just like figure out what I wanted to do with life.
It scares her whenever I like, do those things
that push me out of my comfort zone.
My grandma, growing up in the Jim Crow South,
I was like, it's a life or death situation at that point,
like being in the outdoors.
I think that gets passed down.
Like, I never thought of it that deeply before,
but like that is why I don't explore the outdoors,
because my mom didn't
and she didn't because my grandma didn't
and she didn't because of racism
of like real shit, like real stakes,
and I don't know.
I just hated the fact that I had a fear in me
that wasn't mine.
I leave for the trail in four days.
So can you explain what this is you're buying?
A poop trowel.
Be serious. This is serious.
'Cause this is good for the environment.
A poop trowel is a tool that you use
to dig a hole, six inches deep,
so that you can relieve your bowels into a hole in the woods
and cover it back up.
Leave no trace as they say,
as I've heard.
I have a insight.
- What? - I realize,
I realize what my favorite part of the outdoors is.
- What? - Shopping.
The idea to hike the Pacific Crest Trail came
from watching my friend, Mary,
hike the Appalachian Trail.
I feel supported,
but then it's kind of nice...
Mary grew up doing a lot of adventurous stuff,
like her parents used
to take her paddle boarding and camping.
She hiked the Appalachian Trail all by herself.
I've known Mary for about 13 years.
We met all the way back in community college.
We both took circus class.
After a while, we became skating partners,
so we were able to team up
and do something weird and crazy and unexpected.
Anytime I look back at the interesting, weird,
crazy things I've done, Mary was a part of it.
It is the moment.
I think we look good.
Mary's bringing a camera
to document our experience on the trail.
Oh, I got my poop shovel.
I was thinking more like a gardening spade, you know?
- Yeah. - Just like a full blown,
- like, shovel. - Yeah.
There was one that was like plastic
- which makes me-- - But I guess this makes,
it's like,
- doesn't take up space and like - But that's, yeah,
it's a lighter version.
I'll touch it now
but I will not be touching it when you get back.
Oh well, guess who said we could share a poop trowel?
- Gross! - She was like,
you could get that, 'cause it was like 20 bucks.
I was like--
...she was like, well we could just share it.
Do you want to though? Should you share it?
It was a joke.
I dunno, it sounded,
it sounded, I felt like it sounded like a joke?
All right.
My goal today
is to make it to that point right up there.
This is, let's see,
preparation hike for the PCT.
That was intense,
but I made it,
intense, but I made it, intense.
It's tough to actually say
I feel like I'm prepared just through these practice hikes.
I feel like nothing's gonna prepare me
for when I'm actually living out there,
but I've been hiking with weights in my backpack.
I've been hiking during the hottest parts of the day
to try to mimic the desert,
to see how hot it's gonna be
or how it's gonna feel.
This is so fucking beautiful.
It's right there.
It's so crazy how close the city is to nature.
I don't know. I guess it's just getting real.
I've been hiking with my friend, Adrienne,
who's been helping me out,
which is with motivation and just having a buddy there
to take my mind off the actual hiking part of it.
I'm so proud of you.
I can't believe you're gone in three days.
I know.
Yeah.
Still feel like...
When I first decided to do it, I was super excited.
I was like, oh, I get to like leave society
and be out in the woods and like rough it.
It's gonna be fun with my friend, Mary,
like, doing some cool shit.
Be honest, it's actually making me nervous.
I'm really nervous.
So why are you doing it?
What's the reasoning for cutting your hair?
It's a lot.
It's like I've grown a relationship with my hair,
and now I'm like getting rid of it.
So it just feels like another part of me
that I'm letting go to do the trail.
How you feeling?
Especially this week,
it just feels like so much letting go
and like even this,
like this is the last time I'm seeing you,
but then also like I'm letting go of my hair.
It's just like, how much...
'Cause like, even though I signed up for it,
it's like, damn, how much...
do I gotta keep giving up just to do--
like keep sacrificing just doing this thing?
You have to sacrifice some things
to become that new person.
To become that new person
and you gotta let some people go.
And you gotta let people go.
Yeah, make sure he don't come back because...
I'm hiking the trail for freedom.
Freedom from my comfort zone,
freedom from generational fears passed down,
freedom from the expression, "Black people don't do that."
Really, dude, everybody.
It's like, well, why?
They all scrunch up they face and say, "Why?"
Well, a lot of people are definitely fearful.
Yeah. Yeah.
- I mean, you know? - It's real.
Black people out there on the trail.
We ain't never been out there on no trails like that.
You know? Historically.
Growing up Black,
a lot of times I felt like I was always being watched.
Whenever I went into a store,
I would automatically try to be the good one.
It was instinctual.
I was less conscious of it then.
But as I grew older, I could feel my body code switch
on its own in the moment and that's what I wanna be free of.
Okay.
Dang. This is a hefty setup.
Empty mesh bag in the back there.
Strap me in, dude.
- Look at you. - You look like a camper.
I mean, pack is gonna take a minute to get used to it.
Yeah.
But it doesn't feel like heavy.
It didn't feel as heavy as like when I was just lifting it.
Like, that was like heavy,
but this feels like okay.
Getting the camera taken by mom.
All right. Do a funny one.
Be excited. At least act like you're excited.
Yay. I'm leaving soon!
Definitely not nervous at all.
Not nervous at all.
Definitely not regretting anything whatsoever.
What is fear?
I'm so happy I'm doing this with you.
Doing something that like absolutely scares me
and knowing that like my life is gonna be different
on the other end
and that I don't know what part
of now changes or disappears at the end of it,
and it's like all of that.
So it's like scared
but also like excited to see what I become on the other end
but unsure if I even change or how I change.
Yeah.
One of my biggest fears is
that the depression I had worked so hard
to try to like get comfortable with,
the fear was that,
when I start hiking the trail,
is that depression just gonna like rise to the top?
- That easy. - Easy.
You just gotta do this for like five months.
Yeah, something like it.
- Hey, you got it? - Yeah.
That's the first step.
Look at him.
- Ready to go? - Mm-hmm.
Have a great trip, man.
I look forward to hearing all about it and seeing it.
- See you in a bit? - See you in a bit.
Just have to establish you as the driver.
It's an establishing shot.
I am the official PCT driver delivery girl.
Well, I just wanted to see your face one last time,
sending you all my love and prayer and support.
I'm so excited for you.
I'm so happy for you and I'm so proud of you.
I'm gonna cry.
- Stop. - Don't make me, I'm...
I love you, I love you, I love you.
- Thank you. Thank you. - Have fun.
And I can't wait to see you when this is all over.
You too, sis.
All right. Love you.
Love you too.
PCT turn left here.
Oh, we're starting it, Gar.
Yeah, we are.
Gah!
You know it's, yeah, they made it.
Say adventure.
Adventure!
Welcome to our version
of the first official trail magic on the PCT.
First steps.
Remember, you are loved and you love everybody.
Second one is remember to care for everybody
and everybody cares for you.
And that's the magic of the trail.
The sodas, the food and everything else,
that's gonna occur, but it only happens
because we all believe every day that it's gonna happen.
The desert section is pretty tough.
The terrain is pretty rough as far as just being dry
and a lot of your stuff
and gear gets really dusty and dirty.
So it's a really volatile environment to start off in.
♪ I can go anywhere ♪
♪ Anywhere ♪
What you making?
Mac and cheese is for dinner tonight.
And we've made a new friend today.
Honestly, it tastes like that,
the cheese you would get in like,
like a Lunchable.
- A Lunchable? - Yeah.
It's not as good as it would taste on the stove, but...
it's dinner.
Look like I was slobbing all night.
New day.
Made it through the first day.
Mm-hmm.
All right.
Just five more months.
Five more months to go.
I was like laying down,
and like it sounded like something was walking behind me
and then it stopped, and then all of a sudden,
something just like ran across my head
and I like freaked out.
And I was like, what was that?
And then maybe like 15 minutes later
- I saw you like jump up-- - I heard some noise like,
like over here.
And at first I was like, I'm just gonna ignore that.
I don't know what it is, some animal.
And then all of a sudden, something comes like, zuh-zuh!
What are you asking about?
I'm asking about how to poop in the woods.
I got my trowel.
I got my wet wipes.
I have a...
- Kale? - ...bag to dispose
of... cleaning tools.
How do you feel?
Like I gotta poop.
All right.
I did it!
- How was it? - I'm outdoorsy.
Is that the water?
Yep. That's the water.
It looks appetizing, right?
That's gross.
I'm gonna do it
'cause apparently people are drinking it and it's fine.
And I got this,
but I just want it for the record, gross.
Poison oak literally surrounding the whole thing.
And this beautiful water,
clearly not a sign that we shouldn't be drinking
this sitting water but,
Pure poison.
Here we are.
- * I need you ♪ - * I need you ♪
♪ More than anything, darling ♪
♪ You know that I have from the start ♪
♪ So fill me up ♪
So far, I am happy with...
with the pace we're going,
what we're doing and why we're doing it.
I just can't believe I was scared.
♪ Hallelujah ♪
Oh, this is my jam.
♪ Hallelujah ♪
Ah yeah.
See? Using rocks as tools, we're going full caveman.
Ooh, using Mother Nature to help you out.
Using what I just learned.
It's like when you learn something at school,
and you're like, this is stupid and you go home
and you like immediately are able to use it.
It just kept coming out.
All right.
How you feel?
Sore and tired.
How many more miles we got?
Two more.
All right, we got this.
- We got it. - It's two more.
And it'll be your first, what? 18-mile day?
Jesus. Yes.
Here we go.
What's going on?
Got a hot spot on my big toe.
So I'm gonna tape it up
so it stops rubbing up against my shoe.
It's a long day.
Feels like I've been doing this for like a month already
and we haven't even hit a week.
How you doing?
Fucking,
I say fucking a lot.
Trying to get to a shady spot.
When was the last shade we saw?
I don't even know.
I don't know. I'm just hot and tired.
I wanna sit down.
I just want to be done.
- For the day or total? - For the day.
Holy balls.
Oh, way better.
Nice.
So much warmer.
The windy pants challenge complete.
What is this?
♪ On beat ♪
♪ 50 miles ♪
How you feel, Gary?
Like we hit a milestone.
Do you want me to pull it out?
- Yeah. Fuck. - Okay.
But don't go too hard.
Okay. All right, hang on.
Oh gosh.
Ooh. Ow, ow, ow.
Oh, that was deep.
Yeah, I'm bleeding.
Are you okay?
No.
You wanna go home?
I wanna go home. I'm not having fun anymore.
We go into town tomorrow,
after six full days on the trail.
Not too bad.
It's not bad. I feel like I'm adapting.
So when we go into town, it's called a town day.
And that's basically just to resupply
because you can't carry six months worth of food in one go.
Lots of shade.
It's like popping open your belt
on Thanksgiving after big meal.
That feels good.
Do you guys got trail names yet?
- Not yet, unfortunately. - No.
Trail names have something to do with you.
- All right, what is it? - So I'm Soleil.
- Oh, okay. - Oh yeah, that's right.
Thought Soleil was your real name.
No, no, my real name's Mary.
- Okay. - It actually would've
been easier to remember
'cause we're Mary and Gary.
Leaving your life behind,
you kind of want to adopt a new persona.
You kind of wanna leave the old you behind.
My name's Oke which is short for Garyoke,
because I like to sing a lot on the trail.
You guys get out.
Okay.
On that side.
Starting with you, where are you from?
- From Los Angeles. - Okay.
So you know you can't ride in the bed of a pickup, right?
I did not know that.
- If you're-- - I didn't know.
If you're audio taping or videoing right now,
I'm gonna write five more tickets.
All right, my thing about video is
everybody has the right to video everything.
Here's my trail angel buddies.
- We can help you guys out. - I, yeah,
you guys could ride with me.
Well, just on the,
- you were on the back. - Yeah.
Yeah, you can't, I guess you can't do that
- in California. - Well, whatcha gonna do?
This is like the coolest sheriff
that I heard about him before I even got here.
So you can't get any finer than this.
- Thank you. - Yep.
- He's gonna be getting out-- - The film she's been rolling
- on your experience. - All right.
Oh, he threatened us when I had it rolling.
Said we couldn't do that.
Oh, I bet. I bet.
He told me he'd give all of us a ticket
if I didn't stop rolling.
Mr. Ray here, he, I know him
and he is a super awesome cop,
but he's gotta do his job. You know?
Yeah, he's got, I didn't see him.
He was in my blind spot, dude.
How is it?
It feels so good.
I didn't know,
even if the whole trail was just so you like,
appreciate showers more.
Like I feel like I've already won.
Whatcha doing?
Laundry.
There are no laundry services here.
So you wanna know how dirty it is?
Oh my God.
- Yeah. It's gross. - Wow.
You wanna walk up to it?
That sucker's curled up. He's angry.
Gonna go at it.
- Huh? - He's pissed.
He is pissed. He's leaving now.
Is he?
He doesn't like when I turn towards him.
Got a cave.
Oh shh.
Hello?
He's in a cave.
I'm in a cave.
You can't do this in LA.
He emerges.
And on the third day,
he arose.
I am gonna be 33 this year.
The wind was keeping us up
and my tent pole fell down twice and I just gave up.
I just gave up, Mary.
I'm sorry.
No, it's okay. 'Cause then I just slept
holding the bottom of the right side of the tent
as I lay.
So that's why I'm like this.
I just haven't slept all night,
and I'm just slap happy.
But that'll wear off in like an hour and a half.
And you'll be miserable.
And then I'll be miserable.
You have to laugh to keep from crying,
so they say.
I also feel like I like aged 20 years in my sleep.
Well, in my non-sleep.
What?
A hundred miles.
- Wow. - So good.
How does it feel, Gary?
As I'm like tired, I don't know.
Like started getting like, I don't know, aggro,
super tired, got no sleep last night.
No, it feels good.
After hiking a hundred miles,
I was starting to notice a pattern.
For every frustratingly difficult day on the trail,
there would be another full of trail magic and surprises.
The trail provides, as they say.
Would either of you want
to jump up on him and get a picture?
- Yeah. - Could we?
- Let's do it. - Nothing would make me
- happier in my life right now, - Oh my God.
I'm Chris, by the way.
- I'm Gary. - Nice to meet you, Gary.
Oh, it's Oke on the trail.
Well, Oke?
- It's my trail name is Oke. - Okay.
For karaoke 'cause he won't stop singing.
Hey, that's awesome.
- Wow. - Yeah, come around this way
and jump up on him and get a picture.
You ever been on a horse before?
- Never in my life. - Never? Wow.
That is the first time you've ridden a horse?
First time.
Wow. What an experience.
Can we climb this?
Oh fuck yeah, we're gonna climb it.
Oh, I guess it is a rock.
Right before I left LA,
my friend, Adrienne, handed me a letter
to read on the trail.
Wow.
She says, this trail may test you
and push you beyond your current imagination,
but it will never break you
if you don't allow it.
And I just thought that.
Like I hit that point,
and I was like, oh.
I was just singing that song
about like sticks and stones.
I don't know, something as silly
as just like singing a song all day long.
I got a pocket full of sunshine,
and then like reading a note that I was like supposed
to read the first day
and it's almost like I was supposed to read it today
'cause if I would've read it the first day,
I still would've felt something.
But I don't know.
It's that kind of like I'm supposed
to be here right now doing this thing.
300 miles.
This is cool.
300 is a huge mile marker.
That's a lot.
To like see it? It's, 300's a lot.
200 is a couple hundred.
300 is several hundred.
That's several hundred.
I can now say I've walked several hundred miles.
Oh, here comes our first one.
So you stick out your thumb and you look happy.
I'm warning you, that's my first ever one.
You've got this, yeah, yeah.
I'm getting it. It's flowing.
How does it feel?
Weird.
It's the thing that like,
I've been told all my life not to do.
So it's like kind of like an internal thing,
when you like... internal mechanism
that you don't ever pay attention to
and like now I'm like being told
to go against what my brain's telling me to do.
I'm sorry.
No, I mean it's broadening my horizons.
That's how you evolve, right?
Oh, here comes our next one.
Sometimes we have to hitchhike into town
from the trail because the trail head is just too far
to walk to get into town.
So you'll hitchhike into town,
and then when you're ready to get back to the trail,
you'll hitchhike to get back to that same spot
and then you'll just start hiking from there.
Oh my gosh, thank you so much.
Nice to meet you guys. I'm Gary in the real world.
Gary?
I'm Mary in the real world
- but Soleil on the trail. - Oh, cute. It rhymes.
- Yeah. - You've got our
real names, our government names.
Yeah. I'm Oke on the trail.
I love why you're doing it.
I just, that just makes my whole day.
I'll be thinking on, instead of the rotisserie chicken,
now that I'm full, I'll be thinking on that
for the rest of the day.
Breaking generational curses.
Exactly. Damn right.
- Yeah. - Damn right.
Yeah.
Like, who but the current generation?
It's like our job to kind of break,
- that's how I see it now. - Yeah.
'Cause it's like,
I can be mad at my parents for like,
why didn't you take us camping?
Why didn't we do this more when we were younger?
- Yeah. - It was like,
no, I can decide to do it for myself now.
- Exactly. - And it's so powerful
to like realize that you don't need
other people's permission to go do something.
Isn't that amazing?
It's life changing.
This is the only time
I'm not getting a steady check every week.
And the club was basically shut down.
They're only doing parking lot shows.
- Yeah. - So I'm like,
this is the opportunity to go do something.
You know? What can I do?
And I had just watched Wild.
- Right. - And so,
Reese Witherspoon really...
- She got you. - You saw yourself in her.
I think so, yeah.
What'd your family say when you said that?
I mean, is your family outdoorsy at all?
- Or were you outdoorsy before? - No. Nope.
They were all just like, what? Why?
Do you have money for that?
I think that was like the third question,
like how you gonna pay for that?
I'm like, saving,
and I'm also gonna ask you for stuff later.
You guys.
Just kidding.
My mom thought about money too.
She's just like, how are you? How are you gonna pay for that?
Like what about your apartment?
- Yeah. - Like money?
- A job. Don't you need a job? - Yeah, it's like--
You doing one of these things again?
What about happiness? Have you ever heard of that?
What's happening?
Got a little chafe action going.
I was just like climbing.
I was like crushing it.
I was like, oh, I'm in the zone, in the zone.
I just felt like a burning feeling
every like step after that, like,
oh fuck, my thighs are chafed.
So we're sharing Body Glide.
We're gonna share Body Glide.
I'm good now.
How's it feel?
Better, not burning anymore.
Yeah.
Oh, that's why I like wear underwear.
Yeah, yeah. That's why you wear underwear.
Were you--oh.
- Okay. - I haven't worn underwear
the last like two days?
It's really freeing though.
It is. The feeling is great.
And now I'm seeing like the repercussions of it.
- Yeah. - But the feeling's amazing.
I haven't worn underwear this whole time.
- Really? - Yeah.
Have you been chafing?
Maybe, a little bit. But you know?
Just a little bit of chafe.
You got the Body Glide though.
Just gotta lube myself up every morning.
Along the trail,
you meet really, really weird people,
but some of those weird people become your friends.
My full real name?
- Okay. - Yeah, I know.
- Government. - Thomas Jefferson Corman.
Is it really?
I guess that makes TJ.
Yeah, Thomas Jefferson Corman.
- Thomas Jefferson. - Yes.
I'm hiking with a Thomas Jefferson.
I know, with a racist ass president.
Wow.
I would say that 20 percent of the trail
is physical
and like 80 percent of it is mental.
Well, how you guys feel?
About to cross the true desert tomorrow.
- Yeah. - It helps to have
support around you,
and it helps to also have people around you
who are also going through the same thing
and also having the same thoughts,
so you're not alone.
So Gary and I both drink out of these lovely tube things
and I was wondering what was clogging up my tube
this morning as I was getting over here.
And so I looked at it,
and I was like, what's that dark thing inside?
And it's ants.
And not only that,
there's like 30 ants in here.
Fucking so many fucking ants.
Jeez.
And I've been wondering why I've been feeling sick.
You wanna see that?
Did it taste lemony?
Yeah. I was about to ask that.
- laughs] - Did it taste like lemons?
I don't know. There was so much flavor in here.
I was--been chugging it all morning and going,
mm, tastes so good.
Ew, it's like boba tea or something.
- I know. - Ooh.
- Nature boba tea. - Hiker boba.
All right. That's it.
We should have started the opposite direction.
Oh, what?
I said, golf ball. It's real.
- Is that real? - That's his whole, yeah.
- Oh my gosh. - What the fuck?
He wouldn't pop it and we finally convinced him
that it's time to drain it
- and dress it. - It's time to pop that one.
It started with a tiny blister
but he just kept waiting for it to like get better.
Do you see that? The skin down there.
Oh my God.
What are they calling him?
They were calling this guy, his name is Ned,
his trail name is Ned
but they were calling him
- James and the Giant Peach. - Man, Google it.
Is it E-I-L or I-E-L?
E-I-L.
Steep.
What?
Oh.
Oh, look at the timing.
What?
700.
Holy shit.
Damn.
It's like, seven's the worst,
the first like real number.
Seven's like not playing games.
Like one, two, three, kids. Those are kid games.
Six, you're getting closer.
Seven's like the first adult number. You know?
That, and like 700's been like put
in our minds from the beginning.
Desert is 700 miles.
Yeah.
You're in the Sierras when you hit 700.
Finally done with the desert.
- Oh. - It is nice to, though,
like close a chapter.
Like, desert's, done with the desert.
Desert's all we know, all we've like really known
up until this point.
Yeah.
So it's kind of cool in that way.
Yeah. What's coming ahead?
Water!
So much water!
So much water everywhere.
I'll hold your...
Ooh, it feels so good. Oh my God.
Wow.
Oh my God. I love being cold.
- This is great. - No, it's colder.
Go!
She did it.
Holy shit.
Ah, it's so cold!
Water is back!
Wow.
How does 13,000 feet feel?
Whose idea was this?
That's what I was thinking.
How y'all holding up?
Okay.
We're at 13,000?
Gary!
- It's the altitude. - Wow.
It's the altitude!
Yeah.
How you doing?
Today is a particularly interesting day
'cause the depression shit kicked in
which I knew, at some point, it would.
At some point, all those like feelings of, I don't know,
not feeling like, good enough.
I guess I knew all of the components it would take
to do the trail,
but in my mind, I just thought like,
oh, gonna go out on a trail and just be out in nature
and absorb nature for five months.
But it's like a sport.
How you doing?
Like shit.
Yeah, those two people just came up
and said you were feeling dizzy.
Yeah. I like feel fine.
I just need to sit down. I'm gonna be okay.
It's just the last 30 minutes was just,
we went up a thousand feet.
I felt gone, like we were going up [indistinct].
- Hey, Oke. - Yeah?
Did you ever, in your wildest dreams,
imagine you'd be sitting on the top
of Mount Whitney on June fourth
at 5:30 in the morning watching the sunrise?
No.
- So you just fell down? - Never in my wildest dreams
or nightmare did I imagine I would climb
that mountain and be up here right now.
It's not uncommon to meet people
that you really get along with.
And so you just link up with those people
and you start to hike together.
You become like a traveling family.
A lot of people will call that a tramily.
And so on those days that you feel like you want to quit,
they are this outside force that can help motivate you
and give you a reason to keep hiking.
I really did decide yesterday,
I was like, stop trying to keep up,
just like find like the rhythm,
pace of my specific body and just stick with that.
And I just like started today doing that
and I'm like, oh, like I'm not already tired.
I don't feel like I'm like,
yesterday I felt like I just like was going, going, going.
And then like halfway through the day, like,
my body starts hurting and it just like takes longer
to get where I'm going,
where I feel like, if I can keep a consistent like speed
that's like my speed,
like, oh, I can like make it there
and not be like dog tired.
Yeah. So it's tough but I'm finding my pace.
The Sierras is when we really started
hitting actual mountain climbs.
Every day, you're pretty much going over at least one peak,
which means you're climbing up a mountain,
reaching to the top
and then having to hike all the way back down
just to get to camp.
Why did the Oke cross the river?
Why?
To get to the other side.
Lots of comedians on the trail.
- Where's Oke? - I don't want
to do it in the morning.
He's got, he's behind me.
- Okay. - Altitude's just bugging him.
Mm. Yeah.
- Yeah. - How far behind was he?
Yeah, he's a ways behind,
but he'll get here.
Yeah.
Yeah, I got in at like 6:30 or six o'clock
and you, this is like, what?
- Nine now? - Yeah.
It's about to be like,
it was like 8:40 when I like walked up.
Oh my God.
You poor thing.
That's so late.
And as I was like walking, I was like, oh, it'd be funny
if I like have to like pull out my head lamp,
and it started getting dark and I was like, oh, what?
Maybe I should be pulling out this head lamp.
Oh.
Ah.
Oh my gosh.
Have you ever been this close to a chipmunk?
No. Is this how I die?
Look what you climbed in 30 minutes.
I'm proud of myself.
Proud of you. Proud of all of us.
None of us do this for a living.
- We can climb mountains? - Mm-mm.
You know, we're doing it.
We out here.
Now let's get through it.
It's kind of going to be dark soon.
This is not supposed to be after dark.
Feel like the sun's about to set.
It's about to be seven o'clock in the morning,
which isn't late.
But I just woke up.
I'm behind the group, slept alone.
You okay, Gar?
Yeah.
I just, I do legitimately feel bad.
I'm like, I hate being,
like legitimately hate being a holdup.
I don't know.
Like, I'm trying but I--
You are. You're doing great.
I dunno, I feel like for the first visceral moment,
I feel like I like,
I feel like I just don't want to voice,
I don't voice enough stuff.
Like I get anxious about like how it's gonna turn out
and I feel like, me being on camera, like it is hard.
Like, it's not easy for me.
And it sounds like,
sometimes it feels useless to say like,
oh, it's tough being on camera,
but like it is,
and I feel bad that you're like, you're waiting,
you're in spots and you're like waiting to film me.
I'm trying to like,
I want to be faster but I'm like not.
I'm just not there.
Like, I can't.
So fucking cold.
I can't do this.
So hard.
I know. I know it's hard.
I just want to be done.
Come on, let's go down to camp.
Let's get you warm. Okay?
Let's keep going
because there's definitely a storm rolling in.
I love you, Gary. You got this.
It's gonna be better once you're warm in your tent.
I gotta say, I'm grateful to have Mary
with me on the trail.
She's so freaking positive, like really positive.
She's positive in that way that like it's encouraging.
I'd be like almost to the top of the hill,
and then I just like look up,
and it's like the sun and then Mary.
Sun is setting.
And we have miles to go.
How are you feeling?
- Yeah. - Oh, cold, tired,
weirdly emotional.
- And I seem... - I can't see.
I can't keep up. I don't know.
I'm tired, cold.
Ready to set up camp.
Long emotional day unexpectedly.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
800.
Now I'm just, 'cause no words.
Just movements.
♪ 800 miles ♪
I thought you said no words.
Oh true. Yeah.
Originally, when we first started hiking,
it was just me and Mary,
and I thought, that's all I need.
But I think I needed to break the pattern
of feeling like I could do this life thing all on my own,
like I don't need other people.
And I think one of the biggest lessons
that I've learned is that life is so much better
when you have people around you that you love.
Not everybody hikes the trail wanting to form a tramily,
but I think I needed to have a tramily.
We'd wait for Oke but we don't know where he is, right?
- No. - Yeah. Yeah.
I'm not sure when he'll show up.
- I did see some-- - I'll get
my binoculars out and see if I can see him on the trail.
- That'd be cool. - Have his photo.
- Yeah, I have binoculars. - First I thought were joking
- but I know that-- - That's why my name's Peeps.
- Oh, the birds? - Yeah.
- Oh I see him! - Is that him? Okay.
Wait, hold on. Let me look.
Where'd it go?
No, that's Lobster.
I met Hike for day before.
Oh.
Getting to the top of a mountain
and having all of them,
it feels so good.
I feel like I have my own
traveling support group.
Hey, welcome up, Oke.
- Welcome to the top. - ♪ Who hates hiking? ♪
♪ I hate hiking ♪
No I'm kidding. It's gorgeous. It's great. It's awesome.
What up?
What you want now? What?
What do you want from me?
I just threw my heart and soul on a mountain
and now you wanna film me.
I have nothing left to give, Soleil.
And scene.
Eight people make up our entire tramily.
The name we gave our tramily was the Slinky
and that was because,
no matter how many times we kind of broke apart,
we would always somehow like come back together.
Peeps is sweet, funny, caring.
Outside of Mary, she's probably the person
that I like lean on the most emotionally.
King is, he's the youngest of the group,
but he's super knowledgeable.
Snooze and Nugget,
couple who started on the trail together.
Snooze is like the big sister you never had.
Nugget is so snarky and funny and quiet,
and he has such a dry wit.
Lazy Boy is probably the closest
to being somebody I would already have been friends with.
Lazy Boy is funny,
never wants to hike but is sticking this thing out.
Boom Boom is like the fun uncle of the group.
He has that energy,
this fun guy who is doing the trail just to have fun.
I'm just really, really happy that I got this group
of weirdos to finish this crazy weird journey with.
Hi. Hey, Subaru.
Should we get a sign that says like,
"not murderers"?
See, we're like the inflatable...
See? It's the movement!
Because we did the movement.
Yeah, you guys got the waves.
Oh! Fff...
We did it.
- Cheers. - We did it.
Fucking, we did it.
Good job.
- Wow. Good job everyone. - Congrats.
Is that Lazy Boy?
- Hell yeah. - Sure is.
He brought his [indistinct].
- Oh my God. - Yeah. Well done.
30 miles. Hey.
- Hey. - Yeah.
Whoa.
- Do it again. - Yeah, I wanna see.
I wanna try. Everybody get outta the way.
- There you go. - Nice. Yeah.
That was a little better.
Okay. Did you hold onto another side?
Just kinda slowly make your way over there.
Yeah.
You did it.
Know what it is?
No. Do you know what it is?
Not a clue.
It's weird 'cause the first part of it sounded like a clock.
- Yeah. - Didn't sound like,
it was just like a siren. It's like a--
It's a siren which worries me out here,
'cause a lot of times sirens are for fires.
Yeah.
Let's see those feetsies, Peepsies.
I'm working on it here.
- So I wanted to-- - You wanna see my peepers?
- Your peepers. - My tootsies?
Yeah. Show me your tootsies, lady.
Show me, show me your tootsies, Peeps.
It just sounds dirty in so many ways.
Ooh. Ooh this one's even worse.
- Look at that. - Wow.
There's like a quarter inch thick.
Oh my gosh.
Whoa, this is like a Swiffer commercial.
I have a feeling it's gonna look a little different.
- Still. - Oh damn.
Still pretty black.
Yeah, you got, still pretty black.
Yeah, I think we could make a lot of money
with like people with dirty foot fetishes.
You know?
Specifically like hikers and like the miles we put in.
Oh my God, I'm so excited.
Ooh. That feels amazing.
I just love that pooping is like,
the number one topic on trail,
like the number one outside of eating food,
what happens to the food after it enters your body.
It's true.
I never used to talk to Nugget about pooping,
because I knew it made him uncomfortable.
Now I don't care.
Didn't make me uncomfortable.
You guys crossed another bridge
in your relationship.
- Milestone. - It was like,
it totally was a silent but deadly.
Like it came out and I was like, fuck, that stinks.
And then I literally said, "Sorry,"
because I knew Nuggy was behind me
and I knew it was going to be like brutal.
But he was like further back doing something on his phone.
I was like, oh, you're not even there.
Okay, whatever. Fine.
Walking along.
And so he's like, "Hey, Asia?"
I'm like, "Yes."
And he was like, "Did you fart?"
And I was like,
what'd I say?
I was like, "Oh no."
- See it? - Huh?
You see it?
See what?
The lake?
No, look above the lake.
Oh, fuck, yeah.
Yeah. That's smoke from a fire.
Oh God.
I wonder how far away that is.
Yeah.
And she said yeah, that it's still burning.
What are you guys looking at?
Crazy.
This is a like burned out tree root system
where all the roots burned down through the ground
and you can see shape of the roots in the dirt.
It's crazy.
This was a huge tree also compared to like...
Did they take something out there?
- No. - Or it just like
- literally burned to this point? - It burned to nothing.
Like that's all that's left, that in the middle.
Wow.
Right? This must have been a really hot fire.
Yeah.
Yet another fire and this one's a lot closer.
Uh, that's really kind of nerve wracking, right?
- Yeah, I let, I-- - Did you look it up?
Well, I saw where it was coming from
before it like really
- hazed over more. - It started blowing.
- It's over there. - It's coming from behind that
and we go that way.
- And down to the river? - So someone who passed
said it was 16 miles away.
That's pretty close.
It is close.
- Yeah. - Yeah. Okay.
I know, I do too.
Should we be sticking our thumbs out and trying
- to hitch from these people? - What's going on?
Actually, it might not be a bad idea.
What you got there?
Can I have some crack? You can see.
Come on, I'll sit with your dog.
Mount Shasta!
- Shasta! - Shasta.
1,500 miles too, guys.
- I know. - I know.
I, it...
Boy, one.
They're coming so fast now.
I know.
The hundreds are just kind of like ticking by like nothing.
We're burning through 'em. Yeah.
How big is it?
- Maybe, is it around-- - 85,000, over 85,000 acres.
Holy shit.
Yeah. In only six days. Like, that's really crazy.
- That must be the 85,000. - Yeah.
- Well, that's how I-- - Damn.
I mean, we hiked,
there's the PCT too, right?
That green line?
Oh, yeah.
So it's right through there.
There's a lot of hikers we've encountered
that are just like really nonchalant about it.
And they're like, oh, yeah,
I'll just like get off trail
- if the fire's there. - Yeah.
Instead of like skipping around
or like go as close as I can.
Ah.
And I'm, I just feel like I'm...
- Yeah. - Yeah.
Yeah. That's so intense.
- Yeah. - Anyway, like a really small,
- tiny fire. - It's the camera act.
Look at these photos from the trail.
From the trail?
Yeah.
You gotta make a fashion statement.
Yeah. Hey, you look great.
Thanks.
It's funny 'cause it just sort
of looks like your mouth is out away from the hole.
It's like he's like a duck mouth.
Yeah. Yeah.
Just looks like you have like your,
like a really strong chin.
Really small face.
Really small.
I just feel lightheaded and I have a headache.
I feel like I can't breathe.
Hiking in all this smoke and fire is just,
it's really tough.
We wake up every day,
and we can smell the smoke in the air,
and we're having to worry
and wonder if the fire is right near us.
It's just made the hike scarier
and the danger like more real
than I thought it was gonna be.
It's hella smoky. It's so, it's so smoky out here.
I can't keep hiking in this smoke.
I gotta tell, I don't know. I gotta tell the group I can't.
I can't keep hiking in this.
So guess what, you guys?
We are 1,000 miles from the border.
- Wait, what? - Oh my God.
- Right here. - Right now?
1,000 miles right now.
Right here?
999.9 left.
What? What?
You really want us to be excited.
999 miles.
Do this.
- Pass-- - Corn cob.
We're the Twins.
- Yeah. - You're twins?
- No. - But we're not.
Oh, I was like,
wait a second.
People always assume
- that we are. - We're twins.
Are they not looking hard enough?
- I guess not. - Guess not.
Yeah.
You guys don't look like twins at all.
I have gotten confused.
Some people don't even think we're sisters.
Yeah. So it's just weird.
- Which is-- - Because people have come up
to us on the trail and be like, oh you guys are the Twins.
And we're like, okay.
Sure.
Literally there's like another Black guy on the trail
and they've been like, hey...
- Odysseus! - Odysseus.
They'll be like, "Hey, Odysseus."
I was like, "Not Odysseus.
Nice to meet you though."
Ah, what a gorgeous view.
What a beautiful evening of smoke and smoke.
Ah.
Glorious.
Run, Soleil.
Come on, kid. Put some effort into it.
There you go.
Yes!
Cheers?
- Finally. - Absolutely.
- Yeah. - Cheers, yeah.
- Cheers. - Are we whiskey-ing before beer?
- It's a whiskey-- - Also--
Whiskey tango foxtrot beer.
Yes.
This is your problem.
Ah, I made it.
Are you about to fart?
Oh!
I thought you were gonna be different in Oregon.
- You were looking at-- - I heard in Oregon
none of Boom Boom's farts smell.
- Very Spartan, Oregon. - Oh, that's true.
I just wanna say that this has been
the single greatest experience I've ever had in my life,
and I've never been more proud of myself,
and this isn't the last time I'm gonna push myself.
I've learned that, when I push myself,
this whole new person emerges
and I'm proud to be that person
and I'm proud to continue to grow
and get closer to the person that I want to become.
And it all stemmed from stepping outside my comfort zone.
But here I am.
Well my favorite question is,
hey, so when are you gonna be done?
And I'm like, I don't know.
Like.
Yeah, my dad,
literally, every time I call my dad,
he, almost like at the very beginning of the call,
he's like, "So when are you gonna be done?"
I'm like,
I don't know, before October?
- Yeah, they're like-- - He's like, what?
That long?
- I know, it's like-- - I told you that last time.
We still have 600 miles to go. Like, really.
All the logs are like moist.
Yeah, everything's moist.
Everything just feels moist.
I know people hate the word moist,
but it feels moist.
Moist.
So moist.
You know, coming from,
like a week ago when we were like trying to outrun fires
and smoke, this is a nice change of pace.
Yeah. Yeah.
This is so much better.
I just gotta say, it looks like Kool-Aid.
My honest opinion.
I was like, oh, it's like logs floating in Kool-Aid.
What flavor Kool-Aid is that?
Uh, blue.
That's just...
that's probably what we, that's like grape.
We call it purple.
Purple Kool-Aid.
Wow!
- Wow. - That's crazy.
Oh shit!
Wow.
Look, you get to walk behind it.
Oh, this is the one.
It's been a great adventure,
but I'm so done walking.
I feel like I'm good at walking.
I can walk now. I'm good.
I was thinking about that today.
I was like,
yeah, I'm like the LeBron James of walking.
Oof. You know?
That's--that really encapsulates the whole experience.
Here we are.
Bridge of the Gods.
Leaving Oregon, going into Washington.
This is just, it's just beautiful.
It's like a beautiful spot
to be crossing to get to a new state.
Yeah.
It's goats.
Mountain goats.
That's crazy.
Probably their poop I kept seeing.
Also your teeth are like,
mine might be too.
Yours are like blue,
from all the huckleberries.
Can you get a shot of this?
Yeah. Who ate all the huckleberries?
Not me.
Is it that bad?
Yeah. It's pretty bad.
How come--how is no one else's mouth blue?
I don't know.
Instead of chewing each blueberry individually,
you load up like 15 blueberries at once
and then you can chew it all at the same time.
Code name, chipmunking.
If I have to perform the Heimlich maneuver,
I'm not gonna be happy.
Yeah, don't make him laugh right now.
It's a very...
All right, one.
...precarious situation.
- Sorry. - 33.
Yeah.
Ooh.
That's a good one.
That's the way to do it.
It just all went, oh my God.
How you doing?
I'm doing good.
Just chilling. Enjoying town day.
Spot on.
- Holy cow. - Really?
I mean, yes. I'm feeling really good physically.
I think we all probably are at this point,
just feeling like, whoa, look at my muscles.
Whoa, look at me go.
Yeah.
When I go back home,
like what does that, LA is just such like a city
and the trail is not the city.
- Totally. - Like how do I like,
take the happiness I have here,
like still have it there?
I'm kind of scared because the trail is ending.
Like now it feels like things are speeding up.
- Yeah. - Like we could be done
or changed out here.
And I never thought that this would be,
I was like, this is gonna feel foreign for five months.
- Right. - I'm gonna get through it
'cause I said I was gonna get through something hard.
- Yeah. - And I didn't expect
to like it and like love it
and find cool people that I like enjoy being around.
So many of us put pressure on ourselves
to be a certain thing, you know?
Yeah. I think being an imperfect person is hard to accept.
Yeah.
I've been trying to like focus and pay attention on,
what ways have I changed?
How have I become a different person?
And I haven't become a different person.
I've kind of just let my freak flag fly.
I've like,
I've let something that was inside of me come out
and I feel more comfortable letting it come out.
I feel more comfortable being myself.
I feel more comfortable being in my skin,
and I have never felt that before.
It's this feeling that I've always had this stuff within me.
It's just, now, I'm letting it out.
I feel like this whole trip has been
about getting comfortable with the uncomfortable.
♪ Happy birthday to you ♪
♪ Happy birthday dear Oke, Garyoke ♪
Mine's already nipped.
♪ And many more ♪
There's exactly 33 pieces of cake.
I feel like I have become comfortable
with the uncomfortable,
now I'm ready to go home
to kind of start the next phase,
the how can I be comfortable
in the uncomfortable in my normal life?
And that's when I realized like, oh,
this whole trip has reached a conclusion,
and I feel comfortable hiking.
I feel comfortable walking every day.
And if I can do this,
baby, I can do anything.
So I see you're brushing your teeth.
What are you brushing your teeth for?
What would you wanna brush your teeth for
in the last mile to being done?
You know.
Well, it's almost like your fiancé's picking us up
and you want to kiss him a lot?
I don't know. All signs are pointing to that.
Like what else would you be using your...
Oh shit.
Oh my gosh.
Dang.
You guys are here.
Hi.
- Hello. - Wow.
- We did it. - We did it.
Ooohhh.
Good job.
Good job to you too. Good job, Soleil.
- Thanks. - Love you, babe.
- Yeah. - I'm feeling something.
Mary?
Damn it.
Now it's time to go back to...
I was trying to think about like how to end a journey
with people that you love
and like what this thing has been
and how to express my gratitude.
And so I wrote a poem
and I wanna read it to you all.
Here's to the birds
and to the trees,
the waterfalls, ants, snakes
...and bees.
To the sun and the shade
and the sweat on my face,
to the laughter and tears
...and endless trail food,
to the morning dance parties...
...to carrying the weight
of everything I brought with me,
To letting some of it go along the way,
to watching all of your expectations
of the trail shatter in the face
of what the experience actually is and being surprised
again and again...
Whoa!
...by moments of meaning and sublimity
and incredible clarity
which you walk into and out of like patches of sunlight
on the forest floor.
To love growing in unexpected places,
to the elastic bonds of friendship
and the slow, strong intimacy of shared adventure.
- That I feels so good. - No, don't do it.
May we all spring back together
when we least expect it.
To the simple eloquence of shared laughter
and a meal with friends.
To the revelation
that this trail is like everything else in life,
moving through moments of clarity
and moments of confusion,
moments of profundity
and moments of profound ordinariness.
Things begin and end,
change you and are themselves changed.
And you just walk through it,
breathing in the moment like the scent of warm pine
and dusty air on a mountainside
and then move on towards the mysterious future.
I love you all.
Oh, we love you too.
That's it.
Get in here, Soleil.
This film is about freedom.
I truly believe
that trauma gets passed down, like generationally,
and that it takes somebody within that generational line
to change it.
Uh.
Thank you so much.
I love you.
Love you too.
And you've been so good. You've learned so much.
I'm so excited that we got to do this together.
Good.
Couldn't have done it with anybody else.
I didn't think you'd ever do anything
- like this. - I didn't think
I'd ever do it.