[pct-l] (no subject)

[Steel-Eye]

Good evening, Brad,

During the 42 years that we've been married .. and the 47 years that I've know her .. my wife has become accustomed to periodic absences due to my forays hiking in the wilderness, military obligations, and business travel.  I am fortunate that she is competent and self-reliant.  She doesn't seem to worry when I hike, having learned that I always seem to reappear at the right time and place.  She worried more when I traveled to large cities in questionable countries .. Yugoslavia, for example .. then during my months on the PCT.

Section hiking was the most difficult for me because I would arrange to meet her at a specific mountain pass, at a specific date and time.  Because I did not ever want to be late, even an hour, I had to be very conservative in my daily mileage estimates to assure I could arrive on time in spite of potential delays.  I didn't have that stress on the PCT because she knew, within a day or two, when I would arrive at a trail town and I would phone when I could.  When I phoned from a trail town I would tell her where to send a resupply box, how many days food I would need, the number of Calories per day I wanted, and if anything else should be included in the box.  She had a list of a few items that should be included in every box, like ChapStick, TP, etc. and she had a whole pile of gear I might possibly need, all labeled for easy identification.

 

It was helpful that she knew I would stay on the trail, specifically avoiding off-trail adventures such as solo peak-bagging.  She participated in the hike by tracking my progress, providing resupply logistics, downloading photos from the SD chips, and by transcribing/posting my trail notes onto the TrailJournal site.  

 

As far as being lonesome, she has a dog and a cat, plus kids and grandkids close to home.

 

Steel-Eye
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Brad Kueneman 
  To: pct-l at backcountry.net 
  Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2008 9:59 AM
  Subject: [pct-l] (no subject)


  Hi everyone, 

   

  First post intro - I'm obviously a hiker, and love to bp! My typical trips are a week or two, longest was three, and I try to do a couple of trips each year. I'm planning on hiking the JMT, and the more I read about that, the more interest I have in reading journals of PCT thru-hikers, and that's what got me here!

   

  The idea of a long hike intrigues me, but that would be new for me. so here's my question:

   

  For those married hikers that leave their non-hiking spouses behind for a long thru-hike, how has that worked for you?

  Have you found any particular difficulties or issues come up?

   

  I am happily married, no kids, but have never left home / wife for several months at a time. just wondering if any of you found that difficult for you and/or your spouse, and if so, in what ways?

   

  thanks!



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