Pacific Crest Trail Whispers

Is it me, or does each passing year seem to be going faster?  The last time I turned around there were burgers on the grill and the deck was so hot from the summer sun,  I sprung with reckless abandon to the comfort of the shade. Here it is, February- groundhogs, valentines, family birthdays, anniversaries, and the earth turns again.

Considering how time is zipping on by and how little of it we have in a lifespan (insert slow violin concerto here), I’ve decided to head north from Campo, California this spring to explore the PCT, one exciting (albeit excruciating at times) foot in front of the other. What a journey it will be!

Yes, I’ve read/seen WILD, so I’ll just get that answer out of the way. This journey was not inspired by a fellow author’s misguided attempt to find herself amidst promiscuity and substance abuse. WILD is a good book about self-revelation and I enjoyed the read, but in the book, the PCT was a vessel to a very lost soul who needed something- anything- to heal her tattered heart.  The vessel could have been a bike ride across the country, a cruise to Bermuda or a new career change.  She found the clarity she needed along the trail, but the book wasn’t fundamentally about hiking the PCT.  If anything, it was a good reminder of how not to hike the PCT. It’s inspirational to think that a journey can change someone’s life in a positive way and I hope that we all look for positive spiritual replenishment in our endeavors.

This coming fall, my Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail- Washington guide will come out and will contain everything a section hiker needs to enjoy the entirety of Washington State from the dense deciduous forests near the Columbia River to the high country passes and ridgelines of the Pasayten Wildness- no camp or water source has been left unmentioned! 

I’ve spent the last two years hiking, data collecting, photographing, planning, huffing, puffing, writing and writing and writing for this gorgeous book and I’m deliriously excited about getting my hands on the fresh-off-the-press, full-color guide and sharing it with you.

I’ve hiked Washington’s PCT so many times, I know every cairn and cedar by heart, so I’m excited to enjoy California and Oregon’s rugged landscape and take it all in- the whole untamed mess!  I’m looking forward to sunsets, mountain vistas, the blooming desert, small towns, trail angels, and stretching the comforts of my slightly introverted self.  It won’t be all butterflies and bear cubs though. I’m prepared for the rashes, the aches, the weather, the chafing, the bugs, rattlesnakes and the lurking, scary creeps which…of course…wait for you with wide google-y eyes in the bushes. Or so, Hollywood would like us to believe.

This journey is simply to check things out, enjoy the physical and mental taxing and dig deeper into my gumption.  In a nutshell, it’s to enjoy life from a slightly different view point. So wish me and my feet luck as I hunker down into full planning mode before I hit the well-worn trail.

Updates to follow!