[pct-l] the entire distance in one go

[ned at mountaineducation.org]

Diane brings up a point that we've believed all along: take more time to do 
a thru hike, enjoy more of what you're going through, the side trails, the 
lakes, the peaks, climb a tree, lay out in the sun, etc., because you don't 
know your future and whether or not you'll be able to come back.

Why blast on up the trail every day, from before sunrise to after sunset, to 
get in all the miles you need to go the distance quickly because you started 
in May when you could have started "earlier" giving you more time to go 
slower and take in more? I know this idea of "starting early" comes up every 
year and many say, "we can't start April 1st because we'll run into snow." 
So. With winters like we've been having, you're going to anyway....

As Diane said, "Then there are many people who hike the entire distance in 
one go, who spent the final months gritting their teeth, who never took a 
side trail to see a view or soak in a hot spring, who know deep down that a 
thru-hike is not necessarily the best way to take in this magnificent 
trail..." especially when thru hikes are short and fast as so many do them 
these days.

Just for comparison, I did the trail in 5 1/2 months at 17 miles per day 
with a day off each week. I had enough time during the day to stop 
frequently, take long lunches, take lots of pictures, go swimming, 
bouldering, and peak-bagging, read about the flora and fauna and trail 
history as I went along, explore side trails, and wash myself and clothes 
without going into towns. Now, this "stay-on-the-trail" priority is not 
typical of today's thru hiker, but it gave me lots of time to enjoy the 
trail, and that's why I was there in the first place.

If that is why you want to hike the Pacific Crest and do it only once, 
without feeling afterward that you may have missed so much as you flew 
through, consider taking more time and going slower. Of course, I didn't 
start either the PCT or CDT at 17 mpd. I started at 10 mpd and gradually 
increased the miles as my 17-year-old body allowed. Once I was strong, I was 
doing more that my needed average, because I knew that when I hit the snows 
of the higher elevations, I would be hard-pressed to accomplish more than 10 
mpd again.

As I grew stronger (past Yosemite), I was able to increase the miles per 
day, but not by much since the snow was deep that year and lasted into 
Washington (late August was when I finally saw anyone on the trail and they 
were trail crew!). When you're really tuned up and it becomes "natural" to 
rise early, eat, pack, and start enjoying the scenery, accomplishing daily 
mileages almost twice the 17 mpd average is simple and gives you lots more 
time to explore, fish, write in a journal while watching the sun go down, 
and so forth. I have never felt like I needed to go back and do the trail 
again.... There's so much else to do in life, and of course, there's always 
another trail!



"Just remember, Be Careful out there!"

Ned Tibbits, Director
Mountain Education
South Lake Tahoe, Ca. 96150
    P: 888-996-8333
    F: 530-541-1456
    C: 530-721-1551
    http://www.mountaineducation.org
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes" <diane at santabarbarahikes.com>
To: "Charles Doersch" <charles.doersch at gmail.com>
Cc: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 6:32 AM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] PCT-L - Most Common Causes of Thru-Dropout


> All well and good, but I know one person who has never gone further
> than about Lone Pine on the trail. He believes it's all or nothing
> and has started over several times but his knees bring him to a halt
> each time. I know someone else who beats themselves up for not having
> completed the entire trail in one go, who starts over each time as
> well, but feels like a failure despite having had the good fortune to
> be able to spend so much time hiking this beautiful trail.
>
> Every year lots of people hike 500, 800, 1000, 2200 miles and they
> leave the trail in tears over their failure and then flog themselves
> emotionally over it for years. Is what they've done really a failure?
>
> At the same time, there are many people who decide happily that 500,
> 800, 1000 miles is quite enough but they get lumped into a pile with
> all the "failed thru-hikes" that others like to repeat in their
> statistics. Is it really a failure if you go out, hike an astounding
> distance few will ever complete, enjoy yourself and go home?
>
> Then there are many people who hike the entire distance in one go,
> who spent the final months gritting their teeth, who never took a
> side trail to see a view or soak in a hot spring, who know deep down
> that a thru-hike is not necessarily the best way to take in this
> magnificent trail but "success" is bestowed on what they've done.
>
> Finally, even if you do finish all in one go and even if you loved
> every minute of it, you are never finished. It's likely you will
> return to hike the trail in smaller pieces and you will know then
> that it doesn't define success or failure either way, because the
> most important thing is that you keep hiking.
>
> On Sep 22, 2011, at 7:21 PM, Charles Doersch wrote:
>>
>> It was a terrible thing to learn that I could be so wrong about
>> what would make me deeply happy. Apparently I did know what would
>> make me comfortable.
>>
>> Now, we stick to the difficult.
>>
>> Charles & the gang.
>
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