[pct-l] many thoughts...

["Jennifer R. Doebler" <TUBABABE@psu.edu>]

Dear friends,

Every day when I return from student teaching, I check my email to find the
usual pct-digest floating in amongst other obligations.  Yet no matter how
many other things I have to do at that moment, I find myself planted firmly
at the computer screen reading the wisdom and wit of various list-serv
partipants talking about things I remember questioning last fall.   And for
what it's worth, I made a list of things that I feel one should keep in
mind no matter what their ultimate goal is on the PCT:

1.  Train wisely and well.  The more in shape you are before you start, the
quicker you can acclimate to the trail and its demands.
2.  No matter how much planning you do, things will always change either
right before you leave, on the trail, or somewhere in between.  There is no
such thing as over-planning (except if planning becomes less like fun and
more like work), but remember that even the best laid plans...
3. Hike with an open mind.  One of the most frustrating experiences on the
trail this summer was when a guy I didn't know bashed other
hikers--including my partner and I.  Not only did it take away from the
serenity of the wilderness, but it created resentment among those who met
this gentleman.  Don't be that guy.  :)  Hike your own hike--that's the
motto I've heard time and time again and I firmly believe in it.
4.  Take pictures.  Trust me; if you haven't hiked the PCT yet, you'll
never want to forget it.  I thought that the fifteen rolls we took were a
lot, but I missed so many moments when I reflect on it...I wish I had taken
more.  Especially of the people we met along the way.
5.  Make sure if you take a partner that you are on the same page.  My
partner and I developed very different attitudes after a few weeks on the
trail.  And looking back on it, I don't think we ever really had the exact
same goal to begin with. 
6.  Use a hipbelt.  My pack probably never weighed more than 20 lbs, if
that, during most sections of the trail.  But in the end, if I had had a
hipbelt on my homemade ultralight pack I could have continued from Echo Lake.
7.  Don't let anyone trivialize what you accomplish on the trail.  Whether
you finished from Mex->Can, had to stop in southern Oregon or even southern
california, or went for a weekend outing by Crater Lake, YOU WERE HIKING.
Just because you shot for a thru-hike and made it for two weeks before
twisting your ankle, getting sick, or feeling lonely, at least you were out
there and you tried. Most people will never experience half of what you
experience on your journey, regardless of the length--and you will be all
the better for it.
8.  Meet your fellow hikers.  They will make lasting impressions on your
heart (i.e.  Annie and the Salesman, Glider, Smokey, Katy, Gordon (2),
Jason B, Seth, Katherine and Cory, Mike the Brit, Sean K, Shannon, the
Norwegians, the Plumbers, etc....) and help you through times you didn't
think you were going ot make it through.  


That's all for now.  I think often abotu the PCT and how I didnt' get to
finish the trail.  I will go back soon to either re-start adn try again for
the whole sha-bang or just pick up from Echo Lake and continue North.  But
for now, I have the warm memories of an incredible adventure and have
learned so much from  that hike (which was also my very first backpacking
trip) both about hiking and how to do it better and about myself.

FTK,
Jen "Talus" Doebler, 1/2 of Team "On Fire"
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