Month: April 2016

Life Happens Fast: Adjust Accordingly

First I was going to take the month of June and do Seiad Valley to Crater Lake, which gives me a good 200+ miles. I couldn’t quite figure out how to get from Medford (where I will fly into) to that far down, and I am not into hitching and Greyhound goes nowhere near it sooo, flash forward:

My Dad lives in Medford, and almost all of my friends from childhood, so I figure I will start near Ashland, continue to Crater Lake, and if I am making good time…schlep up to Diamond Lake.  I haven’t yet tried to rope my childhood best friend into picking me up, or perhaps meeting me and camping for a few nights at the end…but I will link her to this post and surprise her.

My timeline was the last week of May through June, but life has  lobbed a curve-ball in my direction, so I may need to adjust the timeline just slightly. I plan to go slow and enjoy

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pricing vital gear

every detail. I am not trying to pound out miles, but instead give a good shakedown of my gear, make notes, befriend wild creatures, listen to my body, listen to the forest, and decide if my grand goal is to do the whole 2600 miles in the next few years. And of course overshare everything with photos and witty captions.

 

So if anyone is magically going to Seiad Valley in June from Southern Oregon, hit me up. I will also get the last few pieces of gear when I am in the valley. I am Amazon exhausted…a term I created, just now.

 

Breaking it Down-Feral vs Wild

Q: Have you seen that movie Wild?

A: Yes, yes I have. Since every time I mention hiking the PCT (starting years ago) I get asked that question, I figured I should go ahead and watch it. Loved the outdoor shots, but I do not have a sensational story or demons to wrestle with. I just look forward to taking a really long walk.

There, got that out of the way. Whew. Moving on.  For those of you who know me, I grew up in the woods and mountains, and for my friends and I this was out backyard and playground. We were feral, dirty, little wildlings that feared nothing and explored everything without the trepidation that hinders us as adults. The worse thing that ever happened was Poison Oak, and even then we wore it like a badge of honor; whose eyes were the puffiest and how many little girls can you fit into one oatmeal bath?

Fast forward to now, my life in Hawaii and as much as the ocean is my solace and home, I do long for the challenge, physical and mental, of being alone in the outdoors for a ridiculous amount of time.  Since I am not in a place right now to take six months of leave from my job, I have honed it down to one month and two trail sections. The following posts will detail plans and gear for  gear-junkies and fellow PCTers.  Unless of course I can figure out how to make fancy links.

 

So here is post #1, scattered and succinct. Had to start somewhere.

Terra (no trail name yet) <<<others have to pick that for you.