[pct-l] 35%

[Mike Chapman]

It started on a mild sunny morning april 29th,a journey that changed
my life forever. I had the best feeling of my life 90 something miles
in,I was walking into the sunset on a high ridge,me and a few hikers
ducked into a corner with less wind and we made chow and had some
laughs,but the feeling I had was so awesome it still brings me tears,a
feeling of freedom,a feeling that sends shivers up your spine,the
feeling of being alive and letting it all go. A little over a month
later I started a domino of injurys that had me at one point looking
at a 35% chance id never see another day....but that was not the end.
I ended up home healing for a while,and those great feelings had me
hell bent on the pct comeback trail(theres a point where toughness
becomes stupidity), I made a hell of a trek north and turned around
for home a week later,because something wasnt right. I was home for a
day and I had a bigtime accident(think human kabob,in a bad
spot!),this was the hiking deathblow,another surgery,but being a
stubborn fool I waited and waited to go back to the hospital,and since
I was a victim of a severe reaction to antibiotics(S J Syndrome) just
a month before,I was really not into trusting doctors who didnt know
my case,so I hopped on a bus,bleeding with a crazy infected wound,I
traveled back to the docs that knew my story. I made it just in time
to keep all my body parts!  On top of the newfound injury,the doctors
caught something they missed the first time,now I had to gamble my
life and legs on antibiotics that will either kill me or fix me,im
glad it worked! (my alternate was steroids,and hope that my body can
fight it,but it was a dire straits alternate in the doctors mind,and
he gave me the choice) I ended up healing in strange towns for about 6
weeks in total,all for about 7 total weeks on the pct. Was it worth
it? I wouldnt change a thing. The bonds that I made are the thing that
I didnt even conceive before I strarted,and are the biggest brightspot
of my journey. Some say that hiking long distance ruins alot of
people,I can relate. I treated people that love me like they didnt
even matter,I put myself before everyone,I deal with thoughts of
failure that sting more then anything ive ever felt. I walk back and
forth in my living room in the dark of morning,with my coffee,thinking
of how,what,why,and when will I lose this feeling. Ive taken the
failure out on my best friends,I ingnore them,I was told by a close
friend,"How can you ignore the ones you love,but you would do anything
for these strangers you met on the trail!"  Motivation will force me
into action come spring,so this is a warning to the hiking world,ill
be back,Hike On!  P.S. Sorry Scott W,but the new record that makes the
pct record look silly is the dude that walked the length of the amazon
in 2 and a half years,4500 miles! Its on a documentary,its
raw,unreal,and downright sick in the head hard terrain,add drug
cartels,no food caches,oh and your soaking wet 24\7!!!