[pct-l] Visual Memory of the Trail

[spiritbear2k at hotmail.com (Ginny & Jim Owen)]

This is a good question.   Since we are going back to the CDT next year, it 
has a lot of relevance for me.  After years of looking at my photos (and 
other people?s photos) and rereading my journal (and other people?s 
journals) will I be bored or disappointed with what I experience on our next 
hike?  I greatly doubt it.  I love looking at our photos and slides and 
rereading my journal.  Each time I do I feel the same pleasure.  I enjoy the 
beauty and the memories that they bring back.  And I am never bored by them. 
  But given that there are ?so many trails, so little time? why return to a 
place already hiked?  Why not go to someplace never seen before?

As you say, seeing the same place under different conditions makes for a 
very different experience.  Sometimes better, sometimes worse, but 
different.  Those places that were most special the first time around may 
not be as fantastic the second time around (but Thousand Island Lake is 
gorgeous no matter how many times I?ve seen it) ? but there will be other 
places that I barely noticed the first time that will catch my eye and make 
new memories.  We hope to hike the trail in reverse direction ? that will 
make for very different seasons, and different experiences.  More, it will 
have been seven years since our last hike on the CDT ? the land will have 
changed, I?ve changed, and my memories have faded.  Unlike you, I don?t have 
a terrific memory, so I don?t do a lot of anticipating what is around the 
next bend.  Some memories, however, are quite vivid.  I can?t wait to go 
back to Glacier and the San Juans and the Gila.  Even though the experience 
will be different.  I know they?ll be beautiful.

Bottom line is, I love being in nature ? any place.  While I love exploring 
new places, I have no problem going back to familiar ones, because as long 
as I am outdoors, I am happy.  I have hiked some local trails many times.  I 
never get tired of them.  I look forward to certain things and just enjoy 
the general feeling of walking in the woods, looking for wildlife and 
flowers and interesting sights and sounds.

When I hiked the AT the second time, I had a feeling of coming home.  I 
enjoyed the places that were very familiar and enjoyed the sections that 
didn?t feel so familiar as if seeing them for the first time.  It was good 
to know what to expect in upcoming towns and how the parts of the trail 
blended into the whole.  During the bad days, I could remind myself of what 
beauties lay ahead ? which is easier when you have actual memories to go by 
instead of just knowledge from a book.

There is a lot of world out there to explore.  We have taken advantage of 
our vacations to explore different areas of the country each year ? the 
Beartooths, the Canadian Divide, Alaska, Utah.  But for our next long hike, 
we?re going back to our favorite.  I love the Rockies best of all ? for the 
spectacular beauty, the frequent wildlife, and the sense of remoteness.  We 
could hike the North Country Trail, or the Ice Age Trail, or the ADT. I?ve 
never hiked those.  We could join the hordes on the Camino de Santiago, or 
one of the European Grand Randonees.  If we had the money, we could go to 
Nepal, or South America or New Zealand.  It would be fun.  Exploring is 
always fun.  But I know that the western mountains have a beauty and 
remoteness that calls me much more than hiking a trail that, while new to 
me, does not have that sense of wilderness.  I know that within the CDT 
trails system there are a lot of trails that we haven?t yet explored.  And I 
know that even those places that we will be hiking again, will feel 
different, because so much time has passed.  And those that feel familiar, 
will feel like home.

So despite my familiarity with the trail and the land, and all my memories 
and revisited photographs, I don?t worry that I will be bored with the trail 
when we go back.  I know that if we go back to the PCT again, as we are also 
considering doing in a few years (after the AZT and GDT and CDT), I won't be 
bored there either.  The beauty of the mountains always gives me pleasure.  
The lifestyle of long distance hiker is a good one for me.  Being surrounded 
by nature, no matter where I am, I feel at home -- and happy.

Ginny




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