As much as I try to convince you all that you're planning too much for the Pacific Crest Trail, I know that the real reason you're “planning” is because you're excited for your adventure and the planning stage can be an exciting undertaking in itself (however unnecessary it may be).
Well, instead of planning you could try reading a fantastically detailed account of Erin Miller's Pacific Crest Trail journey.
Her book, Hikertrash: Life on the Pacific Crest Trail, offers an in-depth look at what really goes into a PCT thru-hike: from the thrills of High Sierra passes to the frustrations of the United States Postal Service (if you don't yet understand, you will).
Erin's (Hummingbird's) chronicles her 2013 Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike. Interesting. Do we know anyone else who hiked the PCT in 2013? Maybe someone called Mac?
Yes, when you pick up and start reading, you can expect to find sprinkles of me throughout the pages – although this is far from the most exciting part of Hummingbird's journey (you'll even discover how I came to be Mac in the first place – and what I almost became instead).
Honestly, there was nothing I didn't like about Erin's book. She writes very honestly, and from the heart. When she was hot, sore, exhausted, I felt hot, sore and exhausted. When she had to say goodbye to good friends, I felt sad. I was rooting for Hummingbird and Bearclaw every step of the way.
-Rebecca D.
Here's a sampling from the very beginning of Erin and Carl's journey (before they became the Hummingbird and Bearclaw I know and love today).
“Friday, May 10, 2013Day 1: Campo to Lake Morena
Miles: 20.0
Total Miles: 20
Miles to Go: 2,640
Carl and I were giddy with excitement when, bright and early this morning, we found ourselves standing next to the tall cement pillars that marked the southern terminus of the Pacific Crest Trail. Years of dreaming and two months of frenzied planning had all led up to this exact moment!
A stone’s throw to the south, a foreboding, rusty corrugated fence separated Mexico and the United States. To the north, rolling hills of verdant desert scrub stretched as far as the eye could see. It was almost inconceivable and somewhat daunting to think that 2,660 miles of trail lay before our feet, separating us from the northern terminus at the Canadian Border. We were actually here.”
The book takes is formatted like a journal and takes readers on a day by day account of life, challenges, and struggles on the PCT. A far cry from the disappointing “I learned absolutely nothing about the PCT from this” book that is Wild.
So stop your useless planning and pick up a copy of Hikertrash: Life on the Pacific Crest Trail to find out what's really waiting for you out on the PCT.
It's available in paperback and on Kindle.
Leave a comment (or even better, an Amazon review) to let me know what you think!