[pct-l] zero days (nights) on the trail instead of in town?

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

On Dec 12, 2008, at 7:33 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> Re: zero days (nights) on the trail instead of in town?

When I decided to hike the PCT I had had it with humanity and was  
looking forward to a lonely wilderness experience. Oh how I wanted  
some solitude and time to think! I expected the hike to be a lonely  
wilderness experience. I was shocked to learn that the trail was full  
of people and it felt more like a party on foot.

I had planned 10 day resupplies so I could avoid towns. I did not  
want to go to any town that was more than 2 or 3 miles from the  
trail, expecting that I would have to walk and not do any  
hitchhiking. I was surprised to learn that I walked much farther and  
faster each day than I expected, and that stopping in town more often  
meant I had to carry less food. Hitchhiking didn't turn out that bad,  
either, although I was not any good at it.

In other words, my expectations changed completely in all areas. This  
was not a wilderness experience at all. It felt more like the village- 
to-village experience I had in Nepal. I was going town-to-town,  
seeing California, meeting its people and my fellow travelers. It was  
a pleasant surprise and I enjoyed it immensely and started looking  
forward to each town stop as a chance to meet new people, catch up to  
(and catch up on) trail friends, and see new places I might someday  
want to live in. It was still a very solitary experience for me  
because I made very few friends, rarely hiked with anyone and pretty  
much kept to myself.

I never took a zero day on the trail. I got caught up in the tide of  
walking daily. I had trouble not walking. Even in town I'd get itchy  
feet after a day. Every time I set foot back on the trail I sighed  
and said to myself, It's good to be back on the trail. As much as I  
thought I might take zeros on trail, the athleticism and obsession I  
seemed to develop precluded that. I had to move. I loved the movement  
more than the scenery, more than anything else.

Long story short, go ahead and plan your zero days/resupplies/gear or  
whatever. But stay open to changes in your expectations, your needs,  
your plans. They will probably change.