[Cdt-l] Trail Comparison ...less nuts and bolts

[Paul Magnanti]

..and now that I've given the nuts and bolts, here's a more purple prose take. ;)

As
mentioned previously, the CDT for me was the most challenging, difficult
and frustrating of the three trails. 
The isolation at times, the route
finding, the rough edges.

But, it was indeed the most rewarding of the trails I walked. 
A trail where I saw a grizzly bears in the wild, heard wolves. 

Being on
top of Temple Pass in the Winds one glorious morning. 
Standing on the
ridge in Montana and Idaho and seeing NOTHING around except the
mountains.

The rawness, intensity and wildness is what makes the trail so rewarding. 

Felt
as if I was forging my own path (even with maps and guidebooks). 
Was
misplaced enough where sometimes I did feel like I was forging my own
path. :D 
Originally, said it was my favorite of the three trails. Now?
Well, hard to really choose a favorite. 
Think all three had something
that made me like them all for different reasons.

The CDT I already mentioned. 

Hiking the AT was like my first serious relationship.
Full
of passion and energy. Every day was something totally new to me. Took
lessons from that experience that I still carry with me. 
Found the AT
to be the most physically difficult (terrain, heavier pack, worse
overall weather, inexperience). 

The
PCT is where I truly felt comfortable for the first time with
thru-hiking. Knowing that thru-hiking is what I indeed want to do. 
The
10 days in the High Sierra is still the overall highpoint in my
backpacking "career". The PCT is perhaps the "happy medium" forthe
three trails. Wild
in places, easy to get solitude or companionship as needed, easy
tread,over all great weather. A trail made for end to end hikes. Most
importantly, it is where I made friendships still strong over four
years later.

As
I settle into what my buddy D-low aptly calls"domestication", thinking
of why these long journeys are done. Not just for the physical
challenge, or the adventure or being immersed in nature. It is for all
these facets and more. For the journey itself. All the challenges,
joys, experiences.

Crossing
the divide this year, and being a bit of a history buff, think of the
the divide crossing that happened 200 years ago: The Lewis and Clark
Expedition. In his journal, Lewis wrote: 
"As we passsed on, it seemed
as if those scenes of visionary enchantment would never have an end". 

And I think that is why many "repeat offenders" do these long hikes...to
see more scenes of enchantment. 

Finally (yeah...goes the crowd. :D), was asked a few times if this completion of the CDT makes me a "Triple Crowner" .

Yep.

Don't
feel esp. "hard core". Feel lucky. Not once, or twice but three times
now to see this country on foot for months at a time. The US really is
extraordinary in its diversity and beauty. 

Wild
horses in Wyoming. The craggy peaks of northern New England. Thick
forests of the southern Appalachians. The sheer remoteness of Montana.
Crater Lake at sunrise. The unique combination of the raw and the
sublime of the High Sierra.

All
scenes of wonder forever etched in my memory. All scenes of
enchantment. With any luck, will experience more scenes of enchantment
in the future...


 ************************************************************
The true harvest of my life is intangible.... a little stardust 
caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched
--Thoreau
http://www.pmags.com