[pct-l] Introduction

[kbrandt at cats.ucsc.edu (Karl Brandt)]

On Thu, 6 Nov 2003, todd kimmel wrote:

> Just wanted to take an opportunity to introduce myself.  My name is Todd,
> I'm 26 years old, I'm a PM for a construction company in the Bay area, and
> I'm leaving my job next spring.  If all goes well, I'll be in Mexico next
> April in hopes of being in Cananda by early October.  My longest hike, up
> until this point, was a 3-day 50 miler that I wish could have been longer.
> It was actually along a section of the PCT by Echo Lake and Desolation
> Wilderness.
>
> Although I didn't grow up in a "hiking/backpacking"-type family, I've grown
> an affinity for it over the past few years through friends. In fact, I was
> originally planning on thru-hiking the pct with a good buddy of mine, but
> unfortunately he can no longer make it...ya know...new job...possible
> marriage...etc:)  Anyway, seeing that the timing is perfect for me, I don't
> want to push this off.  Besides, I figure I can meet people along the way.
> Does that happen often?
>
> I'm not really sure what my pace will be and I'm not 100% sure I'll get from
> Mexico to Canada in one shot.  My plan is to give it my best shot and,
> barring injury, I will be on the trail from April 15th to October... can't
> wait.
>
> Anyways, if anyone has any advice for a first time solo hiker, please feel
> free to write.  It would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks, and I look forward
> to meeting you along the way.

If you're going northbound, you'll hook up with plenty of other hikers. I
had met another hiker on this list. We started together at Campo but
informally said that we'd stick together as long as it was convenient. It
worked pretty good. We split near Idylwild but not because of any
problems. From then on, I altered between hiking with one or two other
hikers and hiking alone. I really liked the mix of hiking alone and with
others. It gave me the chance to share hiking with others who loved it as
much as I did while hiking alone gave me the experience of relying on
myself.

-Karl

*********************************************************************
Karl "Birdman" Brandt PCT97
http://people.ucsc.edu/~kbrandt/