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[pct-l] A few thoughts...



More about the mental aspsect of hiking. Sorry, I
don't do gear discussions well. :-0



..who can say where a voyage starts - not the the
actual passage

but the dream of a journey and its urge to find a way?

--William Least Heat Moon, RIVER HORSE


The first step on a thru-hike is not when you are the
trailhead. It is not looking  north of the Springer
summit, and seeing a series of white blazes
heading towards Katahdin. It is not being at a border
fence, looking at the rolling high desert hills. It is
not being at Glacier, following where the waters
divide.

The first step on a thru-hike is not getting the maps,
marking your route. The first step is not plannning
your resupply. Or buying your gear. Or training for
the hike. Or buying a plane ticket.

The first step on a thru-hike is when you make the
commitment to walk the trail. The feeling that the
journey is going to happen one way or another. When
you know the journey is something you don't want to
do, but something you HAVE to do.

This past week or so I made the decision to do my CDT
journey regardless of what happens. Leave of abscence
or not. The journey has started in January 2006. I
still have to fine tune my intinerary. Plans still
have to be solidified. Gear has to be tweaked a bit. 

But the journey has started. 

And I could not be happier. 


 

************************************************************
The true harvest of my life is intangible.... a little stardust 
caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched
--Thoreau
http://www.magnanti.com