Days 14-17: Back to Dunsmuir once more
Ancestral home 
Shoeless, but not hiking 
Hole the deer ate through the tent 
The last few days on the trail brought some interesting days.
On Day 14, I crossed paths with Peacemaker. On his second day out, he was struggling with a heavy pack on his section hike to Bridge of the Gods. He was a few years older than I. I found him bent over, taking a breather. He said he had forgotten his trekking poles. I offered him mine and he refused.
He hiked on, but a few minutes later I came across a young hiker, Legs. She was pushing fast and would catch quickly up to Peacemaker. I gave her my poles, my address and told her to pass them on to him. He could mail them back when he got a chance. I only had two days to go and already had my trail legs.
The hitch from the trail into Dunsmuir is difficult. There is public transportation at 7:00 am M-F (only). There are a couple of infrequently available trail angels. The road that crosses the trail is a lonely onramp to the I-5. People rarely stop. The intel from people coming NoBo was that luck was the primary element of getting a ride into Dunsmuir.
Luck was on my side, as I had no sooner crossed the road and stood on the onramp when someone stopped to pick me up.
The following morning, I was on Amtrak and headed home.