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.

Monday, July 14, 2008

A pack of forest fire lites please

Day 72, Mile 1110ish---This morning went fairly well for me. I managed to get laundry going, get internet access, get a pre-breakfast from the hotel, and un-pack some of my bag before 9. We all went to Heidi's for breakfast after that. The restaurant was recommended to me by a fellow pct-er, although now i recall that he never actually said it was good, but you would think that's implied. So yeah the food was mediocre, but it was food and i was hungry. Jarell picked up the tab and said Happy Birthday ahead of time which was cool. I got back on the trail by 1:30ish. I once again turned the wrong way, i hope this isn't a pattern considering i'll be getting on and off the trail two more times in the coming week. When i said goodbye to Jarell, Danyele, and the boys it wasn't as hard as Mammoth, but difficult nonetheless. I like being "Uncle Jesse", and i really look forward to seeing them all again in October. The smoke was the worst i have seen it on the trail today. I don't know if it was that, or the buffet, or just being mostly uphill but i didn't quite make the mileage i had planned on. I wanted to have a 10 mile day tomorrow on trail and now i have about 16.5. I think it is mostly downhill and if i get up earlier i should be there by 2ish. One thing that did help move me though was Jarell and Danyele gifted me with a video i-pod. I got to listen to some Dave Chappelle stand-up. If you haven't seen it you need to go rent Dave Chapelles "Killing them softly". Its one of my favorites and i have listened to it at least 20 times since it came out and it still makes me laugh. I plan to mail the i-pod back soon, but for now I'm enjoying it. Alright i am falling asleep. Thought of the day; i can't tell you how much i enjoy reading the comments left on my blog, thank you, and keep them coming. Song of the day; iim still ennnn laaawvvve wit uuu boooy, bedepi know ya know ya love or something - by Sean Paul. Craving of the day; fresh fruit with water "____ con agua" like i had in Costa Rica.

JWC on the PCT

1 comment:

DANYELIA said...

ow jesse I was so sad to see you leave i wanted to take you back home with us =(.... we had an awsome time with you and now everytime we see mountains Prince asks Jarell and I if that's where you are. The bite on the back of Romans leg was from a spider..... anyhow Jarell is so amazed on how far you've already walked and we'll be down there to welcome you back for sure...... keep truckin =)