[pct-l] Down vs. Synthetic

[jhebert8@xxxxxxxxxxx (Jason Hebert)]

>Jason
>Have you already done the PCT or still planning it?

>I'm planning for 2004.
>JD Schaefer


I gathered by your response to my post that you are insinuating that if I am
planning for a thru hike this year I am under prepared and ignorant of what
is involved.  Maybe thast is the wrong impression but that is the way I
interpreted it.  I am still planning for a thru hike this year, and the
former may very well be true.

I admire your vision and focus, to be able to plan a trip such as this so
far in advance, patience is a virtue, and not one I have mastered.

I started saving every penny six months ago, knowing that adventure was
ahead, but not sure where it would take me.  Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail
was floating around in my heart, but sharing the skys with sailing,
practicing communal living, kayaking in the French Polenisia, etc.  I
planned a kayaking expedition in similar haste with a friend last summer,
and the results could have been different had I spent more time, but I
wouldn't trade the experience for anything.  ANd I knew as I turned around
at my partners urging with views of the vast pacific unvaleing before us
beyond the northern tip of Vancouver Island, I knew that I needed to test my
limits on my own.  I knew I needed to listen to my own voice, and no one
elses.

That has only become more apparent since that moment.  Visions of self
sustaining sea life placed me in the hull of a rotted out old carribean
cruiser, scraping the decades old decaying paint off her ribs and planks.
As I rose every morning to spend the next eight hours of my life scraping
the mask of the beautifully crafted rainforest wood, exposing its raw naked
grain that had withstood the test of time and abuse, I knew I too had a mask
to remove.  One cold morning in early March, as I stoppped to glance around
at the work done and that left to be done, I knew I wasn't learning what I
needed to know.  I thought of how boyent I had been in my late night walks
and meditations, how free I had felt, how new everything was, how fresh the
sea smelled, how much mystery the city scape of Seattle carried even after
my 20 years of island life.  I thought of the presence that navigated me
through the inside waters of Vancouver Island the summer before, the place
beyond media and mirrors of glass.  My decision was made.  With money in the
bank, I gave my two weeks.  Now, less than a month later, I sit surrounded
by itinerary pages decorated with smudge marks and squiggles, bearing the
names of towns I hope to visit and painting images places I am yet to see,
writing, to myself, and to the "trail angels" of this forum who have filled
me with hope, connection, and enough information to leave me camped at the
computer untill the PCT has no boarders to run between.  Then I'd really
have a long way to walk.

Anyway, thanks y'all for everything.  I don't know what I would have done
without you.  This is my last post untill I return from the wilds with
stories to tell.  See you at the ADZPCTKO!

Jason

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