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.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Pleasant day

Day 70, Mile 1084.0---After doing a 25 and a 24 back to back the 2 "19's" have seemed like a breeze in comparison. Today went just as fast as yesterday, but with a break in the middle , i made sure i didn't get into camp too early again. Had a small hiccup today when i convinced myself i didn't know where i was going. After that 20 minute delay i got back on track and i made it to Carson Pass by 2:30ish. There was a small little gift shop sort of thing there and they had a PCT register and free water for thru-hikers. The whole thing is entirely run by volunteers and one of them offered me a diet lemon Coke. Anyone who knows me knows i don't do soda too often and definitely not a brown or diet one. But that was the best tasting diet lemon Coke i have ever had, actually now that i think about it, its the only one i have ever had. Well it was good. Tried to send some pocketmails on the payphone but it wouldn't work. For some reason the smaller company payphones don't seem to be compatible or something. Anyway i got offered a chair in the shade and ended up staying til about 4. While i was there another hiker i met just before Tuolumne Ieadows named Icebag came through. He got the same treatment, and so he sat and stayed for awhile as well. We took off at the same time and both ended up camping here at Showers Lake. We talked about milkshakes at Echo Lake, going into the military, working for the government and fellow hikers and their stories. Seems like an alright guy but i doubt i will be hiking with him much after this as he does pretty big mileage daily. Nice to say complete sentences out loud for the first time in a few days though. Talked to my Mom on the phone at Carson Pass and found out Jarell is definitely coming tomorrow which is great. I had been trying to keep my hopes low in case he couldn't make it. I think i will still get there before him as i only have 10 miles and it's mostly downhill tomorrow. But they have a sandwich deli and milkshakes (according to one guide book) at the spot where i will wait for them, so I'll be just fine. I plan to eat a little and then drink as much water as possible to stretch my stomach out for the buffet. I am going to try and get some extra sleep tonight so i can stay up past hiker midnight tomorrow. I'm going to get on that now. Thought of the day; forgetting to remember is like remembering to forget - actually i can't remember what the thought of the day was so i just made that up, you know what , just forget it. Song of the day; predominantly the PCT song, i am not kidding, i really hope i can pick up something else in town tomorrow. Cravings of the day; baby back ribs, Chinese spare ribs, beef ribs, all kinds. Also a decent sandwich and vanilla milkshake - trying to be practical so as to get it realized sooner then later.

JWC on the PCT------------------------------

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Diet lemon Coke??? You know that chocolate has got to be just around the corner!
:)