SRA Stories: Jan Schelter

Over the years, rowers log thousands of meters on the water.  This year, Sammamish Rowing Association rower Jan Schelter logged thousands of miles on land, completing all 2,652 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail. Stretching from Mexico to Canada, the Pacific Crest Trail is a legendary wilderness path made famous in part by the book Wild by Cheryl Strayed. Every year “thru hikers” spend several months covering every single one of those miles. Jan Schelter was one of those thru hikers this year.

In 2004 Jan was talking to a co-worker who used to row at Sammamish Rowing Association (SRA) when they suggested that Jan might like rowing. Schelter said, “It was like a no-brainer to me. Of course I would love rowing.” Schelter described herself as an outdoor person ever since she was a teenager so the decision to try rowing was a natural one. She decided to take a sculling class, but it ended up not being the right time in her life to pursue rowing so she quit. “Then in 2015 I read The Boys in The Boat. While I was reading it I was telling my husband ‘you got to read this’. So he read it and said he wanted to try this. We both signed up for Learn to Row in the summer of 2015.” She has stuck with SRA ever since.

Jan, far right, with other SRA rowers.

Eager to hear about Schelter’s recent journey on the PCT I jumped right into asking her about the endeavor. “I was mostly a northbound hiker,” she said. Thru hikers typically go from Mexico to Canada making them north bond hikers (NOBOs), but some choose to go from Canada to Mexico making them southbound hikers (SOBOs). “We started April 18th, and I finished October 9th.” Schelter had a partner who was with her for most of the journey, but had left the trail around Crater Lake about 2-3 weeks earlier of when Schelter finished. I was curious if hiking alone made her scared. “Culture tells me I’m supposed to be scared, but I wasn’t. I had no reason to be.”

Schelter reaching the Northern Terminus

Schelter explained that no one was around, because she had to “flip-flop” around the trail. Due to heavy smoke and fire in California, Schelter and her partner had jumped from Mt. Shasta to Willamette Pass in central Oregon (400 miles). When they later returned they went southbound so her actual finish was at Mt. Shasta instead of the Northern Terminus she had reached earlier in Canada.

While the end of her thru hike was quiet and free of too many hikers, Schelter said it was in stark contrast to the beginning of her trip when there were crowds of people. “Fifty people start a day. You have to get a long-distance permit, which was instituted to spread people out. There used to be hundreds of people starting every day.” Schelter agreed that the increased popularity of hiking the PCT could be partially attributed to the publishing of the book Wild that she compared to the rising popularity of rowing after the book The Boys in the Boat was published.
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Thru hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail often give trail names to fellow hikers, based on defining characteristics or trail moments. Schelter’s trail name was Neon- given to her because of the high viz neon rowing hat she wore every day to honor her rowing friends. Her now sun-bleached rowing hat also resulted in a chance meeting of another rower who knows a member of the 5am team - alas - the small world of rowing.

On her Facebook page, Schelter posted updates and photos as often as she could. Her friends from home served as her own personal cheerleading squad that motivated her each time she read their encouraging comments. Most of those cheerleaders were from SRA. Her other big cheerleader was her husband who sent her boxes of food and supplies along the trail. 

A photo of the PCT posted on Schelter's social media

Support came from not only friends and family, but strangers as well. Along her PCT journey, Jan met many “trail angels”- people who help thru-hiker’s with food, supplies, encouragement, shelter, transportation, and other bits of “trail magic”. Trail magic can be as simple as leaving behind water bottles or as elaborate as hosting an entire barbeque meal just off the trail or hosting hikers in personal homes. Jan experienced many of these trail magic moments and was blown away by the kindness and goodness of people. She couldn’t help but reflect on the intangible trail magic her friends from home had given her. “Learning about the amazing people here [SRA], and the support that they gave me- that was nothing short of amazing.

A typical river crossing

I asked her if she ever had a point where she felt like quitting. She said, “Mostly no. The only time I considered it was near the very end. When there was 315 miles to go my partner had left the trail so now I was by myself. I felt like I had already been successful since I had done 2300 miles so what was the point. But my husband encouraged me to keep going. When there was 100 miles to go, the weather turned - it was unsettled and rainy. My husband was nearby and again encouraged me to keep going. Plus, we were able to camp together the last three out of four nights so that was helpful. Deep down I knew I wouldn't quit.”

Knowing she wouldn’t quit came partly from her drive to achieve goals. She said she has always had a strong drive, but through rowing she found a new dimension to it. With rowing, she experienced her drive as more than commitment and determination – there was a depth to it. She said she was “pulled” to Canada, like a fish on a fishing line being pulled in. There was no choice.

​Reaching the end, which for her was Mt. Shasta, was a bittersweet moment. “I was incredibly grateful for the experience,” Schelter commented, “I suppose I was a little teary-eyed to have actually finished. I was also thankful for the support that all my SRA friends gave me along the way. I didn’t expect that- I didn’t know it was coming. I was also relieved to be finished!” Schelter is glad to be back in her own bed and to have indoor plumbing, but she occasionally misses life on the trail. To help prevent the sense of loss one can feel after finishing this big of adventure Jan is throwing herself back into rowing to help with her transition back to “normal” life. 

For Schelter there were too many amazing moments to narrow just one down to her favorite. The desert section was fun because of the new environment, each sunrise and sunset served as a new masterpiece in the sky to be admired, and hiking north of Snoqualmie Pass to the Canadian border was heart-warming since it has been her backyard playground since the ‘80s. On her trek, Schelter logged 2,652 miles over 6 months, she met people from all over the world, online cheerleaders followed her progress, she ate more pizza, hamburgers, and candy bars than ever before, and she discovered how truly unbounded her potential is. 

Reaching the 1,000 mile mark

As Jan prepared to start a post-PCT workout at the SRA boathouse, I asked Jan if she had any advice or final thoughts about this incredible adventure. “The PCT is such an amazing journey, so many experiences. So, I would say, live the National Geographic’s Nature Magazine motto- Dream it, Plan it, Do it.”

Schelter- sitting atop a rock on the PCT

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Author

Elizabeth W. Wilson
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