Thousands of miles of 'working things out'

With her first steps on the Pacific Crest Trail, the hiker said her old demons started whispering to her: "You don't belong. You don't fit in. You shouldn't be here."

As the miles passed, another shadow loomed over Suzanne Finney: "I've got this tumor inside me. I don't know what's going to happen."

Finney, 57, who grew up in Modesto and Stockton in the San Joaquin Valley, is trying to leave those voices behind as she ventures ahead this week to complete 800 miles of her personal missing links in the 2,663-mile Pacific Crest Trail - which traverses California, Oregon and Washington. After having never hiked or camped until two years ago, Finney set out to walk from Mexico to Canada. "There's still a lot of places I want to see, a lot of walking, and I need to get it done soon."

Last year, she trekked 1,800 miles of the trail, but was forced to take breaks because of her illness and to avoid forest fire trail closures. On Friday, she departed into the San Jacinto Mountains near Palm Springs to complete one of her missing links.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/28/SP8B18E2CD.DTL

Thanks.

I am following another local person doing the trail again this year --- trying to fill in the gaps from last year.
She also met another cancer-stricken person on the trail, trying to get better.
Could be a fun thing to do if one had the time.