Hi everyone. I'm a little out of sorts after being chomped by an exotic, long-necked Gruiform and getting a tetanus shot, which has made me rather sleepy over the past 24 hours, so I'll check in with you all a bit later on. On top of this, I am annoyed about the fact that this blog (from what I hear) keeps getting traffic from online porn sites (!!!) If you are scanning through this blog in search of online pornographic stuff, you have come to the wrong place, my friend. Nothing all that racy here, unless you're turned on by pictures of cookies, wildflowers, scenery, etc.
Also, if you are out there just setting off on the Pacific Crest Trail, heading northward down in Southern California, here is some second-hand advice, pulled straight from the pages of my first book. (when I say 'second hand,' I mean to say that I didn't come up with this advice myself. It was told to me before I started out on the trail, and I thought about it every day.)
-- Don't quit the trail when you've got bad blisters. Only consider quitting when they heal completely.
--Don't even think about quitting the trail during a rainy, muddy, blecchy, two-week stretch of bad weather. Only consider quitting on a sunny day when the weather is mild and everything is going just the way it should.
-- Never quit during an ugly, dried-out, scorched-earth day on the trail.
--Obviously, there are very legitimate reasons to stop doing the trail (getting injured, for example, or an unavoidable life conflict, or getting timed out or running out of money completely, or realizing it would make sense to just do it section-by-section, or maybe the trail just isn't for you. But don't just up and quit because you're a little achey or impatient or not going as quickly as you wanted to go, or other people are bagging more miles than you can, or the trail doesn't conform to each and every one of your expectations. As they say, it gets better.
- Don't make a mad rush to Canada (unless, of course, you're coming up against snowfall or some other practical consideration). There's nothing in Manning Park!
-- So long for at least a couple of weeks or so, and if you're so inclined, I'm still occasionally beeping out updates on Twitter. And if you are out on the trail and feel like sending an update into this blog, feel free to do so. Happy walking. Oh, and one more thing -- as limitless as the trail might seen, in the scheme of things it is very short indeed, so try to enjoy yourselves!
3 comments:
Can I now say I walked the PCT from north to south? (It was in Reds Meadow, of course!) MIL
Yes, you have, indeed, conquered the Pacific Crest Trail! Thank you for writing in. Now I'll have to write an updated blog entry about my (our!!) return to the PCT.
And yes, you can, definitely, tell people that you 'northbounded' the Pacific Crest Trail. Instead of walking the entire 2,650 miles, you walked 2,650 millimeters of the trail -- but no one has to know that!!!! Anyhow, I am very proud that my daughter has now set foot on the PCT, along with her cousins, her mom and her grandmother.
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