[pct-l] Heights

[Brian Watt]

Hi Sabrina,

I have a healthy respect for heights, and get chills when standing next 
to a sheer cliff. For example, the epitome of this is the Grand Canyon, 
where fearless little kids would run up to the railing overlooking it 
whereas I slowly crept towards the edge, my legs quivering, and stopped 
about 2-3 feet from the railing, which was just enough for me to handle. 
I don't know if you can relate, but that's an example of my own fear. So 
I was concerned before my 2014 thru-hike. However, over time I found 
that my fears were unfounded.

This is the Pacific CREST Trail and not the Pacific Valley Trail. Yet 
many times you are just hiking by lakes, through glens and glades with 
little or no heights. Day upon day your fear will be unchallenged. When 
you do hike up higher the tread is typically cut into the sides of 
slopes about 2/3 the way up a hill or mountain, and not on the top or 
peaks or sheer edges.  Being up high gives you great views which is one 
aspect of this trail's extreme awe-inspiring beauty. And these hill or 
mountain slopes must be less than 30 degrees because if it were more 
than that then the slope wouldn't be geologically stable 
[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3437800600.html]. So personally I 
found I could easily handle the trail on a 30 degree slope. Naturally I 
had to be careful, but in time I became conditioned to this environment 
and accepted it.

It is this conditioning that is crucial. The PCT is a trail whose tread 
is about the width of a narrow city sidewalk. Many times it is littered 
with stuff like pine cones, rocks, and sticks. Because of this cruft you 
must focus on the trail immediately ahead. You are always looking down, 
and hour upon hour you concentrate your focus on the next few feet. What 
I found is that the benefit of this focus is that over time you worry 
less and less about the height. In other words, there is only the 
immediate trail in front of you and nothing else exists to the left and 
right of it. So when you do have to hike through a section which has 
some steepness you can focus, put one foot in front of the other, and 
continue on through it. For example, after nearly 800 miles of hiking I 
got to the snow chute on Forrester Pass. This traverse is only 50 feet 
long, but I was by myself at nearly 13,000 feet. I focused, placed each 
foot and pole, and I carefully crossed it. It wasn't easy, but it didn't 
stop me.

You always have the option of saying to yourself - I give up, I can't do 
this, and turn around. Yet I feel that if you are careful, think through 
each situation, know that others have come before you, and slowly build 
up your mental conditioning then you'll find it in yourself how to 
accomplish your challenges whatever they maybe.

Sincerely,
Tartan