[pct-l] Fwd: "Why Worry?"

["The Weathercarrot" <weathercarrot@hotmail.com>]

----Original Message Follows----
From: Trailsweep@aol.com
Subject: Don't get your Knickers in a Twist
Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 13:24:04 EST

...the following is an article i've written for the PCTA's Communicator 
mag....

Why Worry? Or….Don't get your Knickers in a Twist
"Culvert, Box Culvert" Sven Thesen AT 94, PCT, AT 99

Last year I was fortunate to thru-hike the PCT.  All the classic thru-hiker
obstacles were present: heat and lack of water in the desert, snow in the
High Sierra and the associated "joys" of route finding, mosquitoes, and 
river
crossings. All of these obstacles were expected, and in part, made and make
completing the thru-hike such a challenge.

What made 1999 different from other years was the record snowfall in the
Cascades.  As my hiking partner Jarrod Gasper a.k.a. "Bung" and I were
constantly reminded by well-meaning weekenders, dayhikers, equestrians, and
even trail maintainers, "Mount Baker had the largest officially recorded
snowfall in the WORLD of 1144 inches." And you, you poor thru-hiker have to
walk within 40 miles of Mt. Baker.  "You'll never make it…" was their
constant refrain.  We were told, "You'll never make it through the: "Goat
Rocks Wilderness, White Pass, Stevens Pass, Glacier Peak, etc., etc., etc…"
Believe it or not, in southern Oregon we were even dutifully told by one
weekender that rangers were not allowing PCT hikers to cross into Washington
state!

Encountering these admonitions on almost a daily basis, especially before
we'd encountered any of the rumored barriers, made us first angry: "Who are
they to say we'll never make it through?"  Then defiant:  "We will finish.
We will finish on snowshoes or crampons or in October if need be!"  These
tales of impassible sections disturbed the hike. I began to question the
point of the thru-hike if I was not going to be able to finish.  I began to
worry about these future unseen obstacles and this worry, as it floated in
and out of my conscious, detracted me from the minute-by-minute thru-hike
experience.

However, as we walked further north, through Oregon and into Washington, we
found that these gloom and doom rumors of the trail being completely covered
in snow to be false.  In fact, one of the most dreaded of spots, the Goat
Rocks Wilderness, was essentially snow free.  It was a cakewalk in 
comparison
to what we'd been told. Essentially, all the snow that we'd been issued dire
warnings about had melted out by the time we got there.  Not only was the
trail open for us, but also for four other thru-hikers who were in front of
us, leading the 1999 thru-hiker class.

After crossing a number of these ostensibly unpassable sections, the saying.
"You'll never make it past…" became a big joke.  We said it to rock hops
across streams, at blowdowns, and at the remaining snowfields.  If anyone
mentioned Mount Baker and snowfall, we teased them with tales of the
unpassible Goat Rocks Wilderness.

So, what's the moral of this story?  Don't worry about what's weeks or even
months ahead of you on the trail.  Any Information you're given by fellow
hikers regarding future trail conditions, especially weather related, is
going to be different by the time you get there.  Worrying about these 
future
conditions is mental masturbation and a waste of time.  Focus on the day's
hike: Where you are, the conditions right now under your feet, what you can
see right now.  Don't let the well-meaning words of other hikers disturb or
distract you.  As the Buddhists say, "Be in the moment."  Let go of these
unfounded and future worries and be in the present.  Don't worry, just walk
and enjoy the hike.

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