25 Feb. 2012 - Prepping for the PCT

[cue the 1944 Disney soundtrack]

We're three caballeros, three gay caballeros,

They say we are birds of a feather.

We're happy amigos ~

No matter where he goes,

The one, two, and three goes.

We're always together.

Welcome to the trail journal of Charles Doersch, Sean McCollum, and Christo Corl. On April 20, 2012 we will be flying from Boulder, Colorado, to San Diego, California, where we'll be the guests of the famous Trail Angels Frodo and Scout. And on April 21st, early in the morning, we will begin our thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail -- all 2,663 miles of it.

For those who find pleasure in our scribbles as we go, we hope to hear from you. It's a grand adventure, and we are so looking forward to it.

Since we decided in April 2011 to thru-hike the Pacific Crest Trail in 2012, we have been prepping like mad. Hiking & planning & more planning & more hiking & gear research & Yogi Book research & hiking & planning.

You don't even want to know how much gear we have bought, tried out, and returned to REI only to buy more. But we think we're pretty much set now. [We are not listing our gear -- since better, wiser, and thriftier people on the hiker journals of the PCT can offer good counsel in that regard].

No doubt about it, our resolve this past year has been tested. Sudden loss and deep grief, and injury have come flying at us -- along with improbable promotions, book contracts appearing out of nowhere -- pain and sweet promises have done their damnedest to get us to step off the path. But we have kept our eye on the compass, and kept our course true (stubbornness being a thru-hiker trait, so we are told).

So we've been thinking about the Myth of the Dragon Path (one of these days I'll have to put the full tale into the journal ~ it's a really meaningful metaphor for us).

And we quote the poet Rilke to one another as reassurance:

"And if only we arrange our life according to that principle which counsels us that we must always hold to the difficult, then that which now still seems to us the most alien will become what we most trust and find most faithful."

That's how we have experienced it, anyway. Whenever the Path is intensive and difficult, it tests and pushes at the weakest places in our psyches and resolve. We believe in "Hike Your Own Hike" -- but "our own hike" is the one for us that draws us together, draws on our strengths and gives us strength, holds us in love and care even while we fly higher than we ever thought we could. We continue to grow stronger together - and new futures unfold even as we do so. Over the years together, that has proved true and true, and again true. I guess that's "our own hike."

We have no doubt that among the really epic adventures we have already experienced, this one -- the PCT -- will prove itself most life-changing yet. All the PCT journals we have read indicate this will be where our heart is put on the line. And our bodies.

It seems to us that the PCT is one of the longest dragons in the world. And we do love dragons.

Cheers,

Charles, Sean, and Christo.