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

[Sabrina Harrison]

Thank you again for all the details and tips! I love visiting your blogs and websites. I'm logging these names and locations for research purposes. Very helpful and fun to think about!! You guys are great. 
Cheers,
Sabrina 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Mar 20, 2016, at 1:03 PM, RMarquis <hrsnarnd at webformixair.com> wrote:
> 
> 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
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> 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
> Message-ID:
> <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
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> 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
> 
> 
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