Halfway Milemarker Reflections ~ Pacific Crest Trail (Challenge 2650)
Some of you may have seen or read bits about my journey so far on other media platforms which, admittedly hasn't been updated as often as hoped due to the craziness of trail life. Initially, I was recording videos and stitching them together so family and friends could have a visual journey of the trail and the environments I was travelling through. Unfortunately after a few weeks it became difficult to keep up with the software lapses and the time that I actually had spare in towns amongst setting up for the next stretch. This meant I fell behind hugely on keeping you all up to date on my hike. It is not to say I won't stitch them together in future...I will. But for the remainder of the trail I will share my journey through my blog and photography. You can check out more through my instagram ~ @bootandtrail
It has now been 3 months since starting this adventure of a lifetime and it is safe to say that it has been a mixture of all things from environments to emotions since setting out from the Mexican border over 90 days ago. I have experienced a number of feelings and have had to use lots of mental strategies as I regularly tackle tiredness, fatigue and hiker hunger. Despite the body being sometimes a little angry, I know the reasons why I am taking on this personal challenge and I am pretty determined to step over the border into Canadian land following all the effort pre-trail and up to now.
The seed to search for a big adventure was planted a few years ago when I gave myself the goal to do a big adventure pre-30. The last few years have been a bit of a blur but I have been lucky enough to squeeze the big adventure into my 29th year!
Since I was 21 I have spent time working in the outdoor and travel industry, this has more then anything developed my lust to see more, do more and enjoy getting out there to try something new.
For the most part I have lived a fairly cheap life with priorities sometimes in the wrong places but I have been surrounded by like-minded people who also thrive off an adventure big or small. When I hit 25 I had the modern day dilemma of 'it's time to settle down', get a 'proper' job (whatever that is) and establish myself into society a little more. However, after only a few years it became clear that stress and time was really consumed by work and that my lifestyle wasn't quite what I pictured with time being spent in wrong places and not with those I really cared about. I was working excessive hours every week and always had something on my ever lengthening to do list.
It came to a point where my health was taking a battering and all I could think about was being in the outdoors to recuperate. This time last year I was having blood tests due to my constant tiredness which got to me mentally and physically. I had put on weight and was struggling to loose it despite trying to train when I had the time. After having a fairly active lifestyle from a short stint in the Royal Marines at 19 and then leading outdoor journeys until I was 25 it just didn't feel right that my body felt like it was 10 years older then my actual age.
It was clear that although I enjoyed the atmosphere of the company I worked for, I needed to get back outside to get my outdoor fix. I needed a challenge, one that would make me feel alive and healthy as someone in my twenties should.
I first saw my friend do this very cool hike in 2016, I had never heard of the PCT at this point or known that such long trails existed (despite working in the outdoors). His story and pictures had inspired me to dream and I knew that one day I had to take on a similar journey.
After reading a little more about the trail it sounded pretty epic.
1. A border to border hike...pretty cool!
2. Mountains...I am a big fan of all things mountain landscape!
3. Desert...I had never really been to or hiked in a desert. My kryptonite is the heat, this would be my challenge and one of my biggest concerns (the other being meeting a bear or mountain lion).
4. And lastly it's a pretty sociable hike...thousands apply to do it every year (there is a low completion rate but still many make it through!) I had worked remotely for 3 years and hadn't managed to create many friendships due to having little time so I was sold!
It was time to start the mental cogs moving and slowly begin to commit which probably started with investing £30 into an app that provides a map of the whole route. Then deciding which year I would be standing on the border. There were a lot of questions but mainly my head was filled with apprehension and excitement.
The planning took a lot of effort, lots of reading, printing, applying, confusion in permits and visas and resupplies and gear...on top of this I decided to meet Abbe in Vietnam for 6 months before heading to California which in theory would be easier to work and save and give me more time to plan. Things didn't all go to plan in Vietnam but the main thing was that I had a start date and I would be standing at the Southern Terminus on my permit start date.
I am now over 90 days in to the thruhike and yesterday I made it past the halfway marker (1,325 miles). The next half of this journey will be the some of the hardest as I now have to do the same distance that I did in 3 months in around a third of the time. It will be a marathon a day but I am excited for every day that is about to come. Each day has been different, each checkpoint gives a new, refreshing rush of adrenaline to get to the next and it is pretty great fuel. It isn't a race but it is a question of beating the turn of the weather in Washington and I plan to keep you updated as I progress over the next two months.
🗺 Next checkpoint: Cali/Oregon border - mile 1691.7 (360.6 miles to go!)
Thanks for taking the time to read and if you have any comments or questions about the trail then do just drop me an email or comment below. 😁
