[pct-l] Tethers to the other world...

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

On Oct 14, 2012, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Tethers to the other world...
> From: sagegirl51 at gmail.com
>
> I didn't read this as selfish. I read it as being aware of self  
> and  understanding the transition from being in "community" and  
> going into "alone". And being clear about boundaries and self.

Yeah, me too. I understood what he was saying. Going out is going in,  
to paraphrase Muir.

I carried a dumb phone on the trail. I didn't even plan to carry it.  
It was an accident because I forgot to put it in my bounce bucket. It  
was nice to have a phone. I called my partner to hear his voice, to  
give him news from the trail. There was no expectation about me  
checking in or anything. I called when I could, and sometimes I  
didn't call even when I could.

I totally set off expecting an old-school wilderness solitude  
experience. I had no idea the PCT was so social and so close to  
civilization. I expected to be all alone the whole time and maybe be  
able to check in and say hello when I got to town. It was quite a  
surprise when I saw how many people there were, how often you are  
near civilization, and how easy it was to call from your tent at night.

Later, as I got further north, cell service got more spotty. Since  
there really wasn't any expectation that I had to check in, or any  
threat that if I didn't get in touch I'd get a helicopter rescue, I  
would just call in when I had service and sign off saying I will try  
to call in a week if I can.

In some places I was surrounded by hikers with smart phones. They had  
the whole thing all planned out. They had phone numbers for rides. No  
serendipity, no unexpected experiences. This wasn't the experience I  
wanted to have.

The loneliness of being "out of touch" was both sweet and salty with  
tears. It was good that way. I saw beautiful things and had this sad  
feeling inside that I wished my partner could be here to see this  
alone like me.

If people want to bring SPOTs and phones and whatever, that is fine.  
But there is value in NOT bringing those things, too. And it's not  
selfish. How can it be selfish to not call somebody every single day?  
Someday when the PCT is completely covered with cell service, will it  
be selfish not to call them every hour? It used to be all you could  
do was send a postcard every now and then.