[pct-l] Being joined by friends

[Paul Magnanti]

My buddy Tim joined me for both the last week of the AT and the PCT (Alas, he had to take nursing boards and was busy watching his 1 yr old daughter. He was going for his 1 wk triple crown! :D)


He did the 15-20 MPD on the AT  and the 20+ MPD for the PCT. 


He is also in good shape and is stubborn like me. :)  Like me he enjoys walking all day and not as into camping.

SOOOOOOOOO..if you have friends join you hiking, you have to

A) Realize you are going to do much less miles than you normally do 

OR 

B) Your friend is going to realize that s/he is signed up for hiking and not camping. 

If you friends are in shape and a bit nuts, B can be a good option.

I've known Tim since Catholic school and we have a rapport that goes with a nearly 30 yr (egads!) friendship. 

I would not use my experiences as a baseline, though. Not many people want to join their buddy on the last week of a thru-hike and do the thru-hiker mileage!


A better option may be to have your friends a spend zero day in town with you and then maybe hike out with you a bit to get the PCT-experience in a much less arduous form. 

Good luck!





 
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The true harvest of my life is intangible.... a little stardust 
caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched
--Thoreau
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