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.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

I am a procrastinator

Day 121, last zero---Spent most of the day sort of wasting time. I waited til the last possible time to wash my down sleeping bag. Consequently it is still wet despite many minutes in the dryer with 3 juggling bean bags, one baseball, and one bouncy ball to help break up the down clumps. I really hope it is back to normal loft by the time i need to leave tomorrow. I am not sure what i will do if it isn't, i guess just wait. I had wonderful chinese today at PF Changs. My aunt took my cousin Berti and her best friend for a little birthday celebration. My cousin turned 18 today, it made me feel old, but not too bad. Made a trip to REI after and i dropped more money, but picked up a primaloft filled jacket. It's synthetic so it keeps warmth even if it's wet. It is my down jacket replacement as i head into Washington. Packed some stuff up, but leaving basically a bunch to do in the morning. That being said i need to sleep. Thought of the day; i hope the next 25 days are as painless as possible ::knock on wood::. Song of the day; American Boy by Kanye West and some new girl that likes 5'7 boys (that's me). Craving of the day; nothing really.


JWC on the PCT

1 comment:

Mom and Dad said...

Jesse, glad your sleeping bag finally got dry.
Aunt Terri called me after she dropped you at the trail. She said "oh it was so hard to see him walk away by himself" I agreed it is much easier to meet you somewhere than to see you walk away.
Then she spotted Jefferson Andrea and Shelby and she was very happy to see that you had someone to at
least
start your "walk" with.
Still missing you, hope you're doing ok, now that you're "back at it" Talk to you from Trout Lake
Love, mom oxoxoxoxox