As I sit here munching on peanut M&Ms that are meant for my first few days on the trail, I think I will finally buckle down and answer the most commonly asked questions when I mention my Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike attempt. Beats organizing that pile of important documents into my filing bin.
What is the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT)?
In short, it is a 2,650 mile backpacking trail stretching from the California/Mexico border all the way to Canada through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. It usually takes a bit under 5 months to complete with most people going north and starting in late April. The Smithsonian Magazine just published a well written article about it the other day. You can also look at the Pacific Crest Trail Association's website for more details.
When are you starting?
April 22nd. We fly down to San Diego on the afternoon of the 21st and start early the next morning at the Mexican border near Campo, CA. [map]
Where's a good map of the trail?
Halfmile's Maps are the best collection of topographical maps and cover the entirety of the trail. If you want a nice, simple overview map, I suggest this two page color map. I will be posting irregular updates of my position on my Twitter account and Facebook, but I am not intending to meet friends/acquaintances on the trail or really keep a "Where is Paul?" page.
Who is this Amelia character?
She is self described as "about as even-tempered as a hornet, and as social as an oyster" and is probably my favorite friend. Having known each other for about nine years through many trials and tribulations, we have settled into a Calvin/Hobbesian friendship as near to family as one can be without blood. We also both suffer from a certain kind of madness and take a special glee in it, and thus are both the kind of people to go backpacking for 5 months. While we will be starting at the same time down in Campo, California and her parents are our resupply coordinators, our 10 inch difference in height and rather different personalities means we will be hiking in tandem rather than together on the PCT. She has a very entertaining blog that you should totally check it out.
OK, what's all this knee talk about?
In August 2011, I was leading a trip up near Mt. Adams and while jumping down from a ledge my right patella/kneecap slammed into a small rock outcropping. Took out a sizable chunk of skin and made the next two days of traveling rather painful. Back in town, I got an X-ray just to confirm there was nothing broken and got fitted with a leg brace to wear for 10 days. It improved but was still a bit painful. A month later, I reinjured it, which lead to me seeing an orthopedic surgeon and dropping out of the pre-medicine program I was enrolled in. Physical therapy went well but two and a half months in, it took a severe turn for the worse. No idea why, but it is possible the cartilage was still loosely attached somewhere and finally tore completely. That led to arthroscopic surgery that discovered a severe defect in my articular cartilage and cracks throughout. They cleaned up what they could, but it was not the result they were hoping for. What followed was six months of slow, difficult physical therapy just to get back to walking in a straight line and pedaling up hills on my bike.
Basically a mess with torn ligament/tendon, impinged fat pad, and the damaged cartilage. And so, after eight years of soccer, decades of trail running, and a lifetime spent outdoors I got a bum knee all because I jumped and my knee was half an inch from being in the clear. But, I have kept on exercising and pushing it so that I have done hour long trail runs, snowshoed into a remote fire tower, and been training with a 30 pound backpack on 10-12 mile hikes. The knee will never be 100% again and it might not handle the PCT mileage, but I have prepared it as best I can.
Are you excited?!?!
Not so much excited as I am curious. Very very curious. Curious to know if my knee will hold up. Curious to know how my gear will work. Curious to know who I will meet on the trail. Curious to see how the trail changes me. It's an adventure. Exploring, hiking, trying new things, seeing new locations, meeting new people. Makes me very curious to see how it all turns out.
What will you do when you are done?
This question amuses me. I just spent four months planning a five month backpacking trip, which I have not even started, and you already want to know what I will do next? At this point, I am waiting to see how the first month of this trip goes. Only after that will I really get a sense how the rest of my year will shape up. I do have ideas though! The Appalachian Mountain Club has winter caretakers for their huts in the White Mountains, and I have always wanted to do that. I also just finished up the recertification process for being a Wilderness EMT and would not mind becoming an instructor for the NOLS Wilderness Medicine Institute. And, there is quite a bit of technology and code that I would not mind learning and building with to the point of perhaps taking a full time, 9to5 gig with a development firm.