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.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

A Solid Zero

Day 30, a zero - Well i had planned on leaving this evening and getting a few miles under my belt before retiring for the night. But as it tends to do out here, things change and after a few beers, a warm fire, and another guaranteed free meal, so i decided to stay one more night. The pro's were just listed, but the con is that ill be getting up at 5am tomorrow to hit the trail by 6 at the latest. Chuck Norris (trail name) offered to give us a ride in the morning so we took the opportunity to relax a little longer this evening. Didn't do much today, ate 3 oranges and two bananas and had a great sandwich for lunch that's about it. Made some calls to the Madre to change up some food drops and add some things here and there. Got a bunch of new characters into the Anderson's today, and while its nice to meet new folks i like it a little more thinned out then this. With a 5am start that ought to fix some of that, plus most of these people are going to zero tomorrow as we did today. The Anderson's w! as an interesting place to say the least, i probably should have gotten more pictures. Currently "jake" the neighborhood gigalo dog is roaming causing all the other dogs to go nuts as they did last night as well. People are yelling for Jake at equal intervals and Kraig is getting rather annoyed in his attempt to sleep. We are camped up close to the house tonight as we decided at the last minute to stay, so i am just cowboy camped (no tent) right outside the back fence. Some people are trying to get to sleep so i should turn my head lamp off and quit writing. Thought of the day; i can get cynical about pretty much anything given ample time. Song of the day; nothing but a gangstaaa paaharty, that's the chorus, by somebody; and Georgia on my miiiind, this particular version by a blind guy i saw on Ellen for a brief second this afternoon, really phenomenal. Craving of the day; nothing really.

JWC on the PCT

No comments: