Overview and Reasoning
Walking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) has been a dream for me for some time. There’s a map of the PCT hanging next to my desk at home for the last 5 years or so. Just so that I won’t forget. I walked the entirety of the Israel Trail (Shvil Israel), HaGolan Trail, Jesus Trail and Sovev Ramon - all in Israel - and parts of the Camino de Santiago Frances and Portuguese in Spain, Portugal and France. But it was always thru day or weekend trips, never carrying overnight gear on my back, and always with friends. The PCT is a trail in a different league. There are more difficult trails on the planet, but the PCT is definitely in the Premier League. It’s much longer at ~4000km, there are sections that cannot be done in day trips, and it travels thru some of the most beautiful scenery in the US. At 61, with a repaired Achilles tendon and an ailing back, I didn’t think I can do the entire trail - although there are people my age that did - but I wanted to at least experience it.
Most people that start the PCT are thru-hikers in potential, i.e. They plan to walk the entire PCT in one season. Some succeed, some not. Others are section hikers. They plan to only walk sections of the PCT although these can eventually add up to walking the entire PCT. My plan was to section-hike, i.e. to walk section A of the PCT in Southern California in a couple of weeks, and possibly come for more in following years. I have gear for overnight stay, but I optimize to stay in hotels where possible.
People do the PCT for many reasons. Some because they are young and seek to prove that they can. Some do it following a crisis or tragedy, such as in the movie Wild. Some have a mid-life crisis. Some have demons they need to get rid off. Who knows. There are so many reasons. Whatever the reasons are, doing a PCT thru-hike is an overwhelming commitment and I can only salute those who have it in them.
What demons am I trying to conquer? Is this mid-life crisis for me? Neither. For me it was simply the discovery and the scenery. Seeing new places, hike in nature that I didn’t see before. Why alone? I always hiked with friends, and I wanted for once to experience hiking by myself, at my own pace.
In the following stories of this publication, I will report on my PCT Section hiking adventure.
