Mexico to Canada: The Concrete Jungle

Some thoughts before departure...

I am still not a vet, doctor, lawyer, dog trainer, cia agent, fbi agent or a navy seal so...walk
I am doing this for the challenge of course, and I hope to gain a confidence that comes with this type of endeavor. But also I hope to gain some new knowledge about the world and the truths that reside in it.
Am I walking to "find myself"? Or just to take a walk. You decide...and you'll probably be right.
I'm not in the best shape of my life, but I do have a lot of new great gear so....
After living with my parents the last 2 years, it makes perfect sense to walk 2650 miles - alone.
Yes there will be bears, cougars, rattlesnakes and scorpions both imagined and real along the way. I'm definitely more worried about those imagined.
Am I scared? Not as of yet, more of just a constantly increasing anticipation. But check back with me on the 3rd night in the desert.
I tried to keep my pack fairly light, but I definitely would not call it ultralight. Somehow when I added up all my ultralight gear and put it in my ultralight pack, I ended up with just slightly heavy.
My biggest concern for this trip is that I get too hungry somewhere along the way, my brain goes awol as it usually does when I get hungry and subsequently you never hear from me again...I'll try to eat frequently.
I am not Christopher McCandless. This is not Into the Wild.

Friday, May 9, 2008

The Concrete Jungle

Day 9, a zero - I'm going to make this short because i need to get to sleep soon; its way past my on-trail bedtime. The majority of today was spent looking for new shoes and a new pack. The former was accomplished the latter was not.I was looking at the newest version of the shoe i have, and i decided that maybe the shoe was a little soft and a trail runner would be best. So after what seemed like an eternity in retail land i finally found the shoes i think i need, appropriately named "the Beast". They are a little heavier then i would have liked, but i think they will help out a lot in winning back my feet's trust. Still trying to figure out how to get the new pack, its on back order most places but i think i might be able to get it as early as next Monday or Tuesday. So until then i will just deal with the current pack...uh obviously. Wish i could have seen some folks while i was here in LB. Although it is probably best that i did not. I feel like I'm getting too soft as it is just being able to sit and have my knees at a 90 degree angle, really its like a treat. Alright this is already too long and my pillow is whispering sweet nothings into my ear. oar-vwah

JWC on the PCT