CAVE CREEK, AZ — Family and friends of Kathleen Patterson received a little bit of closure Sunday morning, as they finished a hike she intended to do just a week prior.
“It’s been a week since she left the house. It was 7 o’clock, Sunday morning of last week. We feel like she’s here right now with us,” said Steve Patterson, Kathleen’s husband. He was just about to get on the trail Kathleen tried to hike.
Kathleen, who was 62 years old, went hiking the 5.2-mile Spur Cross loop on Sunday, September 25. She checked in with Steve every so often that morning. However, Steve stopped hearing from her after she said she was heading back to the parking lot. A few hours later, Steve reported her missing and searched for her for days.
Wednesday morning, search crews found her body about 200 yards away from a bathroom structure near the trailhead.
“Without going into all the details, she got off course, and walked a lot further she had thought and died really close to here,” Patterson told ABC15, standing in the parking lot of the trailhead.
Steve, their family, friends, and community members went to the trail Sunday morning to finish the hike Kathleen wanted to do.
“Everything about nature, hiking was her, hiking was her thing. We’re kind of honoring it, honoring her by doing something that she loved,” Patterson said.
Emilee Spear helped coordinate the memorial hike. She said she planned on running it alone after trying to help Steve search for her.
“I feel like they're my family now. After that day, it was just very impactful,” Spear said.
She ended up posting on Facebook, asking if others would like to join her in the memorial hike. She thought around 30 people would show up, but around 50 came out to remember Kathleen. People dropped off flowers and they all had a moment of silence before going on the hike.
“It was lovely. Sometimes you go through this one day at a time, or one hour a time and you get a little, it’s kind of like - it takes a village and just the support and encouragement, and the love, it meant a lot. It meant a lot,” Patterson said.
While hiking the trail, Steve said he got some much-needed clarity. He was confused as to why Kathleen would go in another direction, but when he walked by where she did, he said it made sense.
“I saw the mile she walked and knew exactly why she made one turn versus another or how she could’ve made that mistake. For me, that was really comforting, because it just kind of cleared, like, the only remaining question mark in my head,” he said.
Finishing the hike she wanted to finish brought mixed emotions for Steve and her loved ones.
“There's something about this that's joyful, and there's something about it that's profoundly sad as well,” Patterson said getting emotional.
With each step they took Sunday, he felt as if she was there. They remembered and reminisced about her love for her family, friends and nature.
“There were a couple of times when you could just feel something. Cardinals are kind of a sign and a big red male came by... it was chirping with us along the way, and I don’t know it’s kind of -- whether it’s real or not, it felt real,” he said.
