[pct-l] Fwd: Off Trail

[David Thibault]

Mark,  Thanks for the great post.  Just a couple of thoughts about your
experience.


The average person needs about six weeks to get into thru hiker shape.  For
most people on the PCT that will happen
between Agua Dulce and Kennedy Meadows.  Until then it is very easy to over
do it and wipe out.  Your hiking pace
will be pretty similar throughout the hike – but the number of miles hiked
a day will steadily rise.
On the PCT and CDT it is more difficult to do lower mileage days at the
beginning of a thru hike because
water sources end up pushing extra miles.  As you found out you have to
hike what works for you.


Also as you found out, pack weight can make a big difference, especially as
the days add up.
On a weekend hike I can carry a heavy pack - for a few days no problem –
but it starts wearing the body down.


I usually find I am not that hungry the first week or two of a thru hike
and have to force myself to eat more .
After that 6 week break in I don’t ever have to force myself to eat (except
when stricken with giardia).


You have to mentally treat the hike as a series of shorter hikes.  You are
not hiking to Canada but instead
are hiking from the Border to Mt Laguna,  from Mt  Laguana to Warner
Springs, etc.  Otherwise the mind
starts playing tricks on you about how far and difficult the hike is.   A
thru hike is just 25 one week hikes back–to-back!


People start to have problems with the mental aspects again as they hit
Cascade Locks – thinking they are just about done.
These mental games start to re-emerge.  Again force yourself to just think
about hiking to the next resupply.
The only time your hiking to Canada is when you leave Stehekin.



About leaving the trail.  I have a rule someone told me years ago that
makes sense.


1)       If you are thinking of leaving the trail wait 3 days, if the
thought is still the same through
out the 3 days then leave.

2)       Those 3 days must be on the trail – not in a trail town.


The trail will always be there.  I finished my PCT hike with Iceaxe who had
a great story
about having crashed and burned on his first thru hike 18 years earlier.  Lots
of the same issues.
He said he always felt a bit like a failure for not being able to complete
the trail.  He then realized
that wasn't the case - he had just figured out how to do it.
Last year he completed a triple crown.
The trails will be there (at least if we support them – are you a PCTA
member?).

Hope to see you out on the trails doing a thru sometime.

Day-Late

.Hello all,
>
>   Sad to say, I left the trail at Idyllwild after 2 weeks out of Campo. I
> was reluctant to post, but after reading today's pct-l, I thought it might
> be a good thing. My feet held up pretty good, my body was strong, but
> mentally and emotionally the trail beat me. It did become a bit of a grind,
> .