[pct-l] Section hiker vs. thru

[Amanda L Silvestri]

I am one of those people who can't just take off for months at a time and go hiking.  That used to brother me a bit as I didn't feel like I was a real member of the community.  That has changed over time.  Instead of hiking day after day, week after week, month after month, I hike on the weekends and on my vacations.  This keeps the experience fresh for me.  This past year I changed my work schedule so that I get off every other Friday.  With almost a three day weekend a month, I was able to take the three days off between my Fridays and the holiday Mondays and get a week off each month for six months!  I was able to leave my day hikes behind and backpack into the Sierras.  I will do more of that this year also.  I am looking forward to completing the JMT.
 
During my hikes, as I wasn't chained to a schedule, I discovered some wonderful places.  In the San Bernardino Mountains I found wonderful communities that were only 1 1/2 hours from Los Angeles, where I live and work.  I can't afford to buy a house in L.A. but I found a great deal in the mountain town of Crestline for half what a smiler house would have cost me in L.A.  Fixing up the house and enjoying it and exploring the whole mountain cut down on my PCT day hikes but it was a good exchange.  I soon picked up on my PCT hikes again and now I have a wonderful retirement home and weekend get-away, a gift from the PCT.
 
A little more hiking (I was heading south bound) brought me to Mt. San Jacinto, perhaps the most beautiful area in Southern California.  I gave up a summer to volunteer there as a Wilderness Ranger.  It was a bit of a drive every weekend, but a wonderful experience that I shall never forget.
 
Eventually I made it to the border.    Then from L.A. I started heading north.  I have been hiking along the PCT for several years now (along with a lot other hikes that weren't on the PCT).  I itch to see more of the trail and often envy those who can through hike, but know that at my age and with my job and responsibilities, a through hike just isn't going to happen.  But the trail is always there for me.  I have to travel further to get to it each time and finding a way back to the car is always a challenge (I have done a lot of out-and-back hiking) but it never gets old, even as I do.  
 
Through hike, section hike or day hike, the trail is a treasure and I for one am thankful to be able to share in it.
 
See ya out there!
 
Amanda (Shepherd)