[pct-l] Northern California Blues

[Karl Brandt <brandt@snf.Stanford.EDU>]

When I thru-hiked I found myself getting really depressed in northern
California. Somewhere around Belden I found that I was having more
trouble getting out of my sleeping bag each morning and just generally
wasn't as happy about hiking as I had been. I noticed that the trail
registers were full of comments about being "in a funk" or "not with
it today".

By the time I got to Castella my mood was in the dumps. I had even
begun to rationalize how it might be okay to quit at the CA/OR border.
Fortunately for me, I ran into a group of south bounders to spend the
night with. We joked around and shared trail stories while cleaning up
and even caught a movie in Dunsmuir. That brought my spirits back up
to where I was looking forward to hiking again. 

The reason I bring this up is that it seems to happen to a lot of
north bound thru-hikers. A surprising number of hikers quit in this
area which seems like a shame after having gone over half way. In
southern California, you could always look forward to the glorious
Sierras when the day to day misery was getting to you. Once through
the Sierras, it was hard to focus on any goal out ahead. Canada was
still too far away to be in focus and there was nothing immediate in
northern California or Oregon that was big enough to focus on. 

I guess what I'm trying to say to you '99ers is that it's normal to be
feeling a little down in this area. Try not to entertain those
thoughts of quitting as you struggle through all the brush and logging
debris in Section O. Even if the trail seems awful for days or weeks
at a time, it has a way of turning wonderful again. I wouldn't trade
my experiences in Oregon and Washington for anything.

Good luck hikers.

-Karl

*********************************************************************
Karl "Birdman" Brandt PCT97 LT98                       (650) 725-3686
http://www.stanford.edu/~kbrandt/


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