[pct-l] Pct-L Digest, Vol 99, Issue 16 - Heights

[RMarquis]

I understand one's aversion to high places.  My husband groans when movie scenes show extreme heights, though he managed to enjoy most of the 4 days he rode with me up in the Washington part of the trail.  I agree with Tatran about keeping one’s focus on the trail.  When I told my husband to focus on the immediate trail in front of the horse and keep his eyes on the uphill side, he found it worked for him.
If you are interested in seeing some trail pictures from the perspective of the back of a horse you can go to my blog site and check it out.
hrsnarnd.wordpress.com
I added a clip from the phone video I took while going over Forester Pass that shows the narrowest part I remember.  Being an extra 4 feet off the ground might make is seem a little scarier?  But that was the best part of the trail for me.
Have a good hike,
Rhonda


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Message: 1
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2016 17:58:54 +0000 (UTC)
From: <jcil000-hiker at yahoo.com>
To: "pct-l at backcountry.net" <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Subject: Re: [pct-l] NOT vertigo Friendly / Mango /   Re: Pct-L
Digest, Vol 99, Issue 15
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<724063776.335501.1458064734324.JavaMail.yahoo at mail.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8

Mango,?
Regarding the post of exposed drops, how much trail width are you sayingwhen hikers reach those points?
Some would experience fear with 10 foot width and some with3 foot width. Are there places with less than 3 feet of track?
And what kind of distance is involved? 100 yards of exposure ? ?More?
Day Early


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Message: 2
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2016 13:24:29 -0500
From: Brian Watt <bwatt at 1fifoto.com>
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Heights
Message-ID: <56E8535D.1040705 at 1fifoto.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed

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