[pct-l] PCT..."Wilderness" experience?

[ned at pacificcrestcustombuilders.com]

Is a hike along the Pacific Crest Trail becoming less of a wilderness experience?

First, my definition:
    A "wilderness moment" along the pct is an amount of time spent there in the absence of man. As a solo hiker, it can be overwhelming, the silence, the smells, the different textures of rock, bark, soil, and water, all the open air all around you. You don't have to be sitting beside the proverbial stream to feel it, either, as, I would hope, many a thru hiker will tell you, the pct "experience" is the life one lives daily absorbing these moments as they are noticed and felt. The more signs of man, the less input of what is natural, wild, and raw. These moments can occur whenever you step away from the group you are in, as well. However, it is my opinion that you experience, notice, hear, smell, feel, less of the environment you travel through as the group you travel in gets bigger. Thus, the solo hiker has the more intense, intimate relationship with his or her environment than those in groups, on the whole. The "wilderness experience" is one of sensory heightening over time; the more time you spend in it, the more of society wears away, the more of the natural rhythms and ways of the wilderness become a part of you. Thus the "recompression" we feel when we return to society after a 3 to 6-month pct hike.

You have a choice:

If you want to learn of the wilderness, live it, absorb all it has to offer, the solo hike maximizes that experience. To achieve this with the greater number of people hiking the trail, you may have to start early or late or go south-bound.

If you want a little mountains and a little human camaraderie, then hike with your friends-doesn't mean you're always together. One of the joys of the trail is that you can easily have both by simply hiking and/or sleeping apart from time to time. It is so much fun to share what you just saw or realized with someone you get along with. Whether that sharing is done immediately or over meals or at the end of the day is up to you. If this is what you want our of your trail life, then travel this way.

If you desire to experience the wilderness from a group setting with all of its constant interaction and relationship, then you can by choosing the group once you hit the trail and head north (or, of course, bring it with you). If you start in Canada and head south, as there are fewer people doing this, your experience may become more of an intimate one. If you are hiking the pacific crest trail to have a good time with new friends while trucking through the wilderness, then stay in the herd-as many will tell you, there are lots of hikers in close proximity to each other, so if you don't like the group you're in, wait a little while until the next one catches up.

So, hiking the pct can be a true wilderness experience with all its new life, ways, and revelations and it can be quite a social trip depending on your timing (and various shades in between!) and why you are out there in the first place.


Mtnned



"Wilderness is NOT a luxury, but a necessity of the human spirit."
________________________________________ Edward Abbey (stolen from "Strider")