[pct-l] Why we do what we do..

[Paul Magnanti]

"I don't know what I was thinking....."


Brick mentioned that many parts of SoCal are not exactly in wilderness areas....

True. But it was desolate at times, and somehow seemed more remote compared to 
the parts
of the TRT I mentioned. Mainly because of the amount of people on the TRT vs 
what I saw on the SoCal portion of the PCT.
(Part of the local open space like feel. I don't go to the Flatirons here in 
Boulder hoping to get away from it all.. :) )

So it was not wilderness..but it was WILDness in its own way.


But, what sane person would hike by highways, cross (and walk on!) dirt roads 
near the aqueduct, etc. etc. etc.

One of my good friends is a very avid outdoors person. Probably spends as much 
time in the backcountry as anyone.
Skis, climbs, and backpacks with a passion. 

But, he said he could never thru-hike. Why? Because our long walks do indeed go 
through such areas as logged over clear cuts,
dirt roads in the middle of the arid SoCal terrain, and along highways.

But what were we thinking?

We were thinking that the journey was something we wanted to do. That spending a 
weekend here and there is not enough.
That there is something wonderful and marvelous than an average schlub like me 
can take a pack and walk from Mexico to
Canada under my own power.

Yes there was garbage and graffiti at times. But there was also the smell of 
sage brush at twilight. Seeing that wonderful fog roll in
below the San Gorgonios.   The cactus in bloom.

So..what was I thinking? How much I loved it all (even as I cursed it some 
times).  And how much I miss it. :)

Typical for me, now that I am financially stable again, I am starting to wonder 
when I pull off "The Next Big Hike".

So it goes...

And that is what I am thinking. :)





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The true harvest of my life is intangible.... a little stardust 
caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched
--Thoreau
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