[pct-l] Why Ned missed the ADZPCTKO

[Ned Tibbits]

To PCT hikers past and present,



Today I sit next to my husband Ned as he tries to decide which elder care facility will be best for his ailing mother. This is the mother who watched her son prepare food drops in her living room amongst her many antiques in 1973. She worried and walked every step with her son of 17 years. She knew she couldn't stop him from hiking the PCT even though at that time it wasn't officially finished. Being a widow she knew only to allow her son to fly even if that meant she would worry every day. She couldn't wait until she would receive a mail drop which contained slides and journals of his trip. One night at 2:00am she received a phone call from the local sheriff's department around Mt. Adams. Her son was missing and a search party was sent out to find him. Ned had no idea he was lost to anybody. He was merrily traveling 25 miles a day with a 65 pound pack. He came out on White Pass and put his pack down and a guy in a tow truck came by and asked if he was hiking the PCT. Where upon Ned answered yes and the tow truck driver said the sheriff is looking for you. The tow truck driver took him to a gas station on White's Pass and Ned talked to the sheriff where he learned that there had been a search party for him. Ned continued on and finished on September 2, 1974. Even unto this day he fondly remembers all who preceded him. I know he thanks Ryback and wishes he could have met him but the woman who stood beside him in 1974 now needs him.

 

Ned's wife,



 Juliee