[pct-l] That Spring Time PCT Itch

[ca_radiance at hotmail.com (Ryan Christensen)]

Speaking of poison oak: I am currently experiencing PCT hot flashes. It happens every spring at this time: as the days grow longer, the snow is just starting to melt and the deserts are awash in spring's colors. It brings back memories of myself in 1996, preparing for the PCT-all those boxes of food, runs to Costco and REI, the dehydrator humming in the kitchen. The excitement and the fear building at once, growing stronger day after day as April approached. 

 

I will never forget the feeling I had as I stood at the monument on the border and looked north. Like many aspects of the PCT experience, the feeling cannot be properly described, it can only be experienced. But for me, the feeling was one of freedom---sweet freedom. It gave me a wonderful sense of place as I walked towards some distant peak, then a few days latter, I was standing on that peak looking back at where I was. The feel of the land: dense chaparral, hot deserts, graceful black oaks, the whistling of wind through pine, the echoing of a hermit thrush below Forester Pass, the warm womb of Deep Creek Hot Springs. Its all there-waiting. 

 

So to all those out there who are hiking the PCT this year: You are in for a great experience. Be flexible, be in the moment, and let go: its then that trail magic will find you-or you will find it.  You will have hard times, no doubt about it-but fortunately they pass away soon enough. I think the secret is to adapt to the ever changing environments and circumstances the trail will lead you through. Don't get stuck on "The Right Way" to hike the PCT. Because there is no right way to hike the PCT, as long as you are flexible and adaptable there is only your way. 

 

Have fun in (out) there!!