[pct-l] marriage and thru-hiking
Connie Davis
conniedavis at earthlink.net
Fri Feb 15 07:03:54 CST 2008
I met my husband Scott after I had decided to thru-hike but before
the thru-hike, so he knew from our first date that I was planning on
doing this. (He may not have believed me!). We met in 2004, married
in March of 2005 and I left for the hike in April of 2005. I hiked
with my son (his step son.)
I think you've already gotten good advice, but having Mission Control
(the trail name he earned) as our trail support was amazing. He was
very engaged in the hike with us. He kept our trail journal http://
trailjournals.com/lookoutandmongous/ . (The second entry has a
picture of our wedding.) Mission Control bought field guides and
worked to identify the flower and plant pictures I sent him. He was
the consummate shopper, always finding us new trail treats to keep 2
vegetarians healthy and happy on the trail. He was (and is) totally
amazing and supportive.
My son and I pledged to each other that we were going to complete the
PCT. Our motto was "Have Fun, Be Safe, Leave No Trace." As another
person has written, I think the "be safe" is very important when you
consider your loved ones. I believe Mission Control knew enough
about my hiking abilities and experiences to feel comfortable. I
definitely did not want to become injured or worse on the trail and
had my son to consider. That said, you do sometimes find yourselves
in dicey conditions but we were never in a situation that I thought
was too risky. We chose to flip-flop to avoid outrageous (to me)
snow and even worse--fording conditions in the Sierra. I think
Mission Control appreciated that decision, as he also kept an eye on
the weather and snow conditions for us. He was on the PCT-L during
our hike and kept up with the gossip about progress and conditions.
Since we were living in Washington State at the time, we saw our
family a lot for about a month when they met us at every pass (mid-
June through mid-July). Mission Control also met us at Crater Lake
for a couple of nights in August. Saying good-bye after that was
tough. I knew I wouldn't see him until the hike was over. He flew
to California to meet us at our terminus, Kennedy Meadows. It was
amazing to see him, introduce him to our trail friends and do a short
hike on the PCT together for the "Annual PCT Beer Hike." I would
definitely recommend seeing your spouse at the end of the trail if
you can manage it.
I missed Scott very much but it actually helped me keep hiking. I
knew I was hiking "home." I often pictured him and hikes we had done
together while I hiked. My son could also sense when I was a bit
low, and since we had agreed to both not have the same bad day, he
would chatter at me and lift my spirits. I learned to not phone
Scott before I had a shower and food since I often was crabby and
miserable when I first got to a trail town. Scott never said "come
home" when I was crabby and miserable. He told me he knew he would
have to live with me and if I didn't finish the hike I would have
been even more miserable! Very wise of him.
The adjustment to real life deserves a mention. It was great to be
home, having a quiet dinner and a glass of wine with Scott in clean
clothes and with fresh food. I think Scott may sometimes tire of me
pining for the trail. I often daydream about the PCT and relive it
in my head or out loud, and lucky guy, he ends up listening to me!
He's very kind about it, though. We've done a slide presentation or
two about the hike together, which is very fun. I'll let him tell
you more from his point of view. We are hiking the Coast-2-Coast
trail in England this summer, which will be our first long distance
hike together.
We do some trail angeling at Manning Park, so let us know when you
are nearing Canada!
Connie
aka Lookout
Yarrow, BC
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