By Thane Grauel

LEAVENWORTH, WASH. — A 22-year-old Staples grad is on the last leg of a journey to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, from the Mexican border to Canada.

Along the 2,650-mile trail through California, Oregon and Washington, Ben Shmaruk has encountered smoke from wildfires, hazardous storms, swarms of mosquitoes, and bears — a lot of bears.

He began his quest March 30 and expects to complete it Aug. 21.

It’ll be a remarkable personal achievement, but the fact is, he’s not doing it for himself.

It’s in honor of his dad, Alan Shmaruk, who instilled in him as a young boy a great love of hiking.

Alan was diagnosed in September 2019 with Stage IV pancreatic cancer.

After the shock of that news, the family regrouped.

One way they saw to move forward was to help raise money to find a way to detect pancreatic cancer early — something that does not yet exist.

The family formed a nonprofit, PCT4PC, aiding the efforts of Dr. Richard C. Frank, Alan’s primary oncologist and director of clinical cancer research at Norwalk Hospital’s Whittingham Cancer Center.

The family notes the nonprofit has no administrative costs — every penny donated goes to the study.

So far they’ve raised about $35,000 and hope to hit a goal of $50,000.

The Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail begins in the Southern California desert, then roughly follows the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges.

The point where Ben Shmaruk began was near the Mexican border. His final destination is the northern terminus, at the Canadian border.

Ben recently called the Westport Journal with an update on his progress from a small town in Central Washington called Leavenworth.

It’s a Bavarian-style village about 100 miles east of Seattle. It’s got alpine architecture, about 2,400 people who call it home, and what Shmaruk has sought in towns all along the trail over the last four-and-a-half months — a chance to charge electronics, and access to wifi, a phone signal, real bathrooms and decent grub.

“The big thing for me is food. I eat a ton of food,” he said, because he burns more calories on the trail than he takes in. “I enjoy eating a lot of food without any consequences.”

He said that when in town (meaning places like Leavenworth) he always tries to connect with his dad, who he last saw on his pass through Yosemite National Park. Ben was meeting another relative there, but was elated to get a surprise visit from him.

Ben Shmaruk is okay going it alone on the trail, and actually prefers it. While he said it’s nice to run into other hikers he’s seen before, he likes to do his own planning and not let anyone slow him down.

Still, family and friends have had a curious way of popping up along the trail. For instance, earlier in the trek, a couple of his uncles came to his aid in the California dessert when he was having an ankle problem.

On Wednesday, Ben was accompanied by a friend Staples, Angus Fuori.

“We hitched down from Stevens Pass,” he said — 35 miles from the trail to town.

“We hiked for five days and we’re doing a day hike tomorrow,” he said. “We have the day off today, and then he’s heading to grad school after that and I’m going to finish the rest myself.”

Ben will return to Lafayette College in late August, just a few days after returning home. His sister, Julianna, 19, who is managing the social media for the family nonprofit, also is a student at Lafayette.

Alan Shmaruk said his son, an engineering student, was less than thrilled about doing a year of college online instead of in the lab. He said taking a gap year in the age of COVID and instead having an adventure was a good decision.

Ben treks 30 miles many days depending on terrain, and is on his fourth pair of Salomon Speedcross trail running shoes since March.

He dialed the mileage down for his buddy, Angus, and said they splurged on a hotel for the night so they could rest up.

Ben said he appreciated the company, because hikers began thinning out on the trail once he ventured into Northern California, and even more so when he got to Oregon.

“The dessert and the Sierra were definitely more social,” he said of all the hikers he’d cross paths with. “NorCal was a mix.”

The upcoming terrain will be even more challenging, likely meaning a mere 20 to 25 miles a day.

“I’m gonna slow it down because it’s going to be tougher, the heart of the North Cascades,” he said.

He’ll be off the grid until reaching the U.S.-Canada border, so updates on the website and phone calls will have to wait.

Nearing the end of his journey, he said he’s gathered memories of many special moments and challenges.

Among the hazards on the trail was wildlife.

He’s encountered eight black bears so far. Most react as expected, lumbering off at first sight of a human. But the bears in Yosemite Valley had better things to do.

“They didn’t even acknowledge I was there,” Ben said.

There’s a small population of the more dangerous grizzlies in the Northern Cascades, he said, but they’re not considered a threat to those on the trail.

In his postings on the PCT4PC website, he recently talked about the smoke from wildfires. It didn’t affect his breathing, but he noted it was certainly visible in his photos.

“Getting into the Sierra as a whole was an awesome experience because we were there early season,” he said. “It was a low-snow year so there wasn’t too much snow but it was only PCT hikers back there. The scenery was just so beautiful.”

There, he said, he and a friend he hiked with for that day had to hurry to meet a ride to the trailhead so they could shelter from an approaching storm.

It was a long wait.

“We ended up just shoving three people into my tent because it was really cold outside,” he said. “And my tent is not that large.”

Ben estimates he’ll complete the hike Aug. 21. Then he’ll head home by plane.

“I’m not going to walk,” he said.

He misses his family, his comfy bed, and all of his friends.

Next on his to-do list is restaurants.

“Some good sushi, definitely pizza too, Colony Grill or something,” he said. “Pizza on the West Coast definitely isn’t as good as it is back home.”