Devin is off to the California Conservation Corps Trail Crew Program. His plane for Sacramento left at noon today. Here is the last picture of Devin in civilization:

He put on his pack and headed for the security check, and then he was gone.

There is something unsettling about somebody, in 2011, going away for more than five months and getting completely off “the grid.”

Devin closed his Facebook account, turned off his cell phone service, put all his valuables in one bag, including wallet, cell phone, computer and a few extra pieces of clothing, and left the bag sitting in the middle of my living room – where it sat when we came back from the airport after dropping him off.

He will now only be writing hardcopy letters. Mail will be carried in and out by mule train.

To get there, it will take several days of hard, rough hiking. If he can communicate his exact location sufficiently ahead of time with enough accuracy and stability, I will hike in once or twice and “visit.”

He will send me letters to be emailed on his behalf to the distribution list of friends he gave me. If you want his updates, please email me at: <my first name> dot <my last name> at gmail.com and I’ll put you on the list.

I miss him already.