[pct-l] Time

[Eric Lee]

Mike wrote:
>
Is it possible to hike 45 miles a day with no zeros in order to complete the
hike in 2 months OR do most agree this adventure is worth quitting their job
for?  I want to embark on this amazing adventure sooo badly!
>

There are only handful of people in the world, and by that I mean literally
less than a dozen, who have both the necessary conditioning and the
experience to do the trail in anything like two months.  If I remember
correctly the current speed record was set by Scott Williamson and Adam
Bradley in 2009 at 65 days, 9 hours, 58 minutes, and 47 seconds.  They are
to hiking what Lance Armstrong was to cycling, or Michael Phelps is to
swimming.  Map that to your own conditioning and experience and make of it
what you will.  :-)

Quitting your job?  I think only you can answer that.  If your job is just a
way to pay the bills to you, then it's quite likely worth quitting to do a
thru-hike.  If your job is helping to build a career that you love and want
to keep doing, then it's a tougher decision.  If your job is providing
support for others who depend on you, then it's even tougher.

Brick's suggestion of just getting out there and seeing how far you can get
in two months is a good option to consider.  2,650 miles is a long way.  Too
long for many.  A lot of people hike for a couple of months and discover
that they've gotten everything out of the trip that they want to get, or
their bodies break down in unexpected ways, or whatever.  A thru-hike is
about 20% "amazing adventure" and about 80% "I'm hot and dirty and tired and
in pain and sick of walking but I'm too dumb to quit."  There's no shame in
breaking the PCT into two or three big chunks and doing it two months at a
time.  Many people would argue that you'd actually appreciate the experience
more that way.  And hey, if you get close to the two month mark and decide
that you're still having fun (or too dumb to quit!), you can always just
phone in your resignation and keep walking.

You've already gotten a lot of great advice on this thread and I think most
of it boils down to, "Decide what's most important to you in life and do
that.  Don't get distracted by things that seem shiny but aren't actually
important."  For some people, hiking the trail is the most important thing
in life.  For others of us, the most important things in life are being
around while our children grow up and having a stable job so we can take
care of our families, so thru-hiking will have to come later.  (Section
hikes keep us sane in the mean-time.)  Everyone's equation is different but
the important thing is to understand what yours is and then act decisively
on it with no regrets.

Eric