[pct-l] Solo hiking

[pmags at yahoo.com (Paul Magnanti)]

"I wait. Now the night flows back, the mighty
stillness embraces and includes me;  I can see the
stars again and the world of starlight. I am twenty
miles or more from the nearest fellow human, but
instead of lonliness I feel loveliness.  Loveliness
and a quiet exultation. "

So said Cactus Ed (Abbey).

I really can't say it much better..but because I
ramble on, I'm going to say something anyway. :-)

When hiking solo. I do not feel alone. I do much
thining that otherwise would not be done. Everything
is more intense. Somehow the views are vaster, the
sounds sharper, the smells more intense. The feelings
are overwhelming. In short, I feel intimately
connected to the universe in which I walk. I do not
feel alone...but more connected.

When I did the PCT, I went 3.5 days without seeing
anyone. I stumbled in a herd of elk on damp Oregon
day. The sounds of hoofs crashing through the woods,
the smell of damp earth, the incredible sight of the
large elk going through the woods.  Almost four years
later, this image is etched vividly in my memory.

When I did the Colorado Trail, was caught in a
snowstorm on San Luis saddle (12500' plus, well above
treeline!). I bailed into Creede. The following day,
was again on a divide. The mountains around me were
white, the sky was a deep blue. The air had the
crispness of Colorado in autumn. It was an over
whelmingly intense scene. My eyes filled up with the
intense emotion I felt with the beauty encompassing
me.

Solo hiking can be difficult. You are by yourself, in
your own thoughts. You must use your own resources. I
don't think being alone is what makes going solo
hard...I think confronting yourself, having all around
you that much more intense...that is what people find
difficult.

For me, solo hiking turns a thru-hike from an
exntended vacation into a wilderness pilgrimage.  When
going solo, I am forced to confront on a very gut
level what I am seeking on the pilgrirmage. The
beauty, the emotion, my thoughts. And I would not have
it any other way.





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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