[pct-l] Goforth continues hiking

["Joanne Lennox" <goforth@cio.net>]

Well Folks I am still at it

Somehow my first post to Karen Elder(a postcard) was posted by Steve
Fox,with whom I hiked from Snoqualmie Pass to Stevens Pass.  Nice to put a
face on someone on the net.

Had nice weather from Stevens Pass to Stehiken and then all the way to
Manning Park.  Washingtonians must be gritting their teeth, having suffered
a summer of bad weather weekends, only to have some great weather after
labor day.  I loved the open grassy meadows and tammarcks(larch) north of
Rainy Pass.  These last two sections have been very challenging on my
tender knee, and probably some of the roughest -up and down- terrain.

I was able to see a few people who I met at the kick-off in April at Moreno
and some others who  had been signing registers ahead of me throughout my
2,100 mile walk.  These are the people that I know and SAW and were either
immediately in front of me or behind on my way into Manning: Ron Vaughn and
Little Bear(Robert Berard), Sean, Jaime Feldman, Pete Carr, Denis Kermicle,
Tracy Bahr and Scott Sederstrom, "Jersey" Jim Smart, Frank Tripechicio, and
Lara,Jason and Charlotte from the Kickoff.  A special congradulations to
all these strong folks, and I am constantly drawn to thoughts of those
people who I shared the trail with up to Crater Lake and who must still be
on the trail and only a few weeks from the end of their oddessy - my very
best to these folks also.

I now head south from Snoqualmie Pass and hope to "close the gap" at Crater
Lake in a months time.  Getting back on the trail after two weeks at home
certainly was the MOST DIFFICULT thing that I have done on this hike.  I am
however very glad that I have done it, but it continues to be very, very
difficult, and I am starting to get that lonely sinking feeeling that I
associate with being on the trail for the first month - alone and in all
those snow storms.  However,there is a balancing effect that happens when
you start to see the season turn into an automne, and see the Pacific
Northwest which stands in such contrast to all that lovely Californian
terrain.  The commitment to "finish", perhaps CONTINUE is a better word,
simply means that one remains out there walking for a long time, this
creates the cause to have things happen.  The more time you are out there,
the more things happen, and the more you see.. Sometimes it just takes
time. PLEASE, PLEASE do not feel that I am putting down anyone that hikes
slower, that is a section hiker, a day hiker, or what have you.  At the
beganning of this hike I started out to hike the whole thing and that is
what I WANT TO DO.  When I came off the tail at Crater Lake I did not
believe that just finishing was a good motivation.  In some regards, I have
changed my mind.  When I looked at the other things that I have done
because I had to finish them (degrees, art competitions, national titles,
mountain traverses and first ascents, etc), I came to see that I had had a
lot of experiences because the need for completion put me in the situation
where these experiences were unavoidable.  Perhaps it is not finishing that
is important to me, but rather TRYING to complete something that I myself
started. I happily will accept all the support , encouragement, best
wishes, and prayers that are sent my way.

I will leave tomorrow and am extremely busy, so that I will not be able to
answer any E-mail, but you can bet that I'll be pressing the "receive
e-mail" before I leave.

For the rest of you, I wish you such an Indian Summer as we are having, and
I wish you  some miles along a soft-tread trail amidst the splendor of
autumn in the mountains.

Goforth




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