[pct-l] Things I wish someone had told me before I started my thru-hike:

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

I've been in agreement with all of the things people have said in  
this topic.

There's a saying about trekking in Nepal. You go to see the  
mountains, but it's the people you never forget. That certainly  
doesn't trivialize the breathtaking Himalaya. It just points out what  
a surprise the people of that country are, how much they affect you.

It is a profound experience hiking the PCT to have so many total  
strangers make such a positive impact on your life. Especially for  
the younger people who have grown up in a world of Amber alerts and  
being told never to speak to strangers and not even knowing their  
neighbors or playing outside unsupervised by adults. To find out that  
the world really isn't a dangerous place full of predators is an  
incredible experience of freedom.

As Americans we are so well steeped in pushing ourselves and  
achieving and trying to be great. The effort to walk border to border  
is immense, physically and psychologically. But we all do this kind  
of thing all the time. We strive. We're rugged individuals. There's  
another world out there on the trail and some are going to find it to  
have a very profound impact on their lives.

That I, too, found the hike to be all about the people doesn't negate  
the fact that I also found the hike to be all about the wilderness,  
and all about the solitude, and all about the effort and achievement,  
and all about the food.

The only disagreement I have is that I'm glad nobody told me about  
the people before I started my hike. It was a pleasant surprise.

On Mar 9, 2010, at 5:54 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
> I understand the emotion resulting from association with all the  
> amazing
> people one encounters during a PCT hike but saying, ?? it?s all  
> about the
> people? seems to trivialize much of the effort.