Mindful Trekking -- Rattlesnakes, Don Juan, and Cheryl Strayed
J. Kevin Mann's journal about hiking, being outdoors, and enjoying nature can be followed at www.mindfultrek.com. What follows is an excerpt from his blog regarding his walk from Tehachapi to Kennedy Meadows. This is Kevin’s second long hike on the PCT.
I appreciated Kevin’s philosophical perspective on walking the PCT as articulated in one of his earlier entries. He draws from Carlos Castenada’s The Teachings of Don Juan. Don Juan explains, "All paths are the same: they lead nowhere. They are paths going through the bush, or into the bush. In my own life I could say I have traversed long long paths, but I am not anywhere. Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't, it is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn't. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you strong; the other weakens you." On the PCT hikers are often asked where are you going. Usually we answer "To Canada," but really that is only the briefest of stops. Maybe it would be better to say towards calm, gratitude, and equanimity. Or different hiker might be headed towards mischief, fun, and romance.
For those of you who saw the movie or read Wild, Cheryl Strayed's book that features her PCT hike, this is the section where she began . . . Tehachapi. After a couple of miles paralleling the freeway, the trail switchbacks sharply up, with 3,900 feet of climbing before reaching Golden Oak Spring after 17 miles, the first water in this section.
Hiking on, at about 6:30 I came to a camping spot that was so perfect it seemed almost like a desert vision. Flat areas for tents, and tree cover to cut the wind. I abandoned any thoughts of going further and pitched next to a newlywed couple that was hiking the PCT for their honeymoon. We talked for about an hour about their lives, and it struck me how privileged I was to have this intimate glimpse into their hopes and dreams, even though we just met and might never see each other again.
The following day we had a repeat of the perfect hiking weather of the day before, with a cool breeze and warming sun. This was also Mother's Day, so when I found a spot with cell coverage, I called my wife Christine to remind her of what a great mother she is. I reminded a few other hikers to call their mothers and reflected that most of the people on trail were at least a generation younger.
The trail reaches Landers Camp, the last natural water source until a spring 35 miles distant at McIvers cabin. That spring is sometimes dry, which then makes the next water source at Walker Pass, seven miles further on, potentially resulting in a 42 mile water-less stretch, the longest water-less section of the PCT. I carried 5.5 liters from Landers Camp, which would be adequate to get to McIvers Spring given the cool weather we were having, but hoped for a water cache at Bird Springs Pass to supplement what I was carrying.
Three of us hiked into Bird Springs Pass together and were rewarded with a fantastic water cache of about 150 gallons. We all cooked a meal at the cache and I drank about a liter of water. Two other hikers, Christina and Luke, had arrived ahead of us and were lounging in the very small patch of shade made by a Joshua tree at the cache. Suddenly the two of them jumped up so fast it was like a Jack-In-The-Box had sprung. A Mojave-green rattlesnake had come out of the bushes and headed straight for them, giving them an adrenaline-fueled bounce to their escape. The rest of us at the cache were more amused by the spectacle of their retreat than worried about the snake, although a strike would be serious and probably require a rescue operation. Just another minor trail drama.
Hiking out of the cache I surprised another rattlesnake who was just one foot off trail in a bush and dazzled his rattle at me before slithering off. Although rattlesnakes are obviously dangerous, since hikers don't fit their prey template, strikes are rare even though encounters are frequent in the desert section.
This section is one of the more beautiful in the lower 702 miles of trail, and it also has many transitions between ecosystems with elevation changes as well as ridges that separate weather systems. It also marked 2,700 miles of hiking on the PCT between last year and this one for me (the trail is 2,650 miles in total), and it gave me some reason to reflect on what I like about long-distance hiking.
Traversing vast landscapes - long-distance hikes go through and past wilderness areas, cross major ecosystems, and give a literal as well as metaphorical meaning to being on a journey. Walking 25 miles in a single day gives a rich experience of the natural world.
Living simply - living out of a backpack for weeks and months as a time simplifies life down to few possessions and activities. Possessions are not the key to happiness, and I experience this everyday on a long hike. Spotify and Audible, on the other hand, do make life great!
Tolerance and acceptance - on trail I meet and share living space and water sources with people of many ages and backgrounds and from many countries. Customs and habits differ, and within limits it's possible to accept these differences without a lot of stress.
The last 52 miles into Kennedy Meadows are beautiful, and relatively easy hiking. For some reason, I carried 4 liters of water even though there was a spring at 13 miles in. If everything happens for a reason, it made sense to have so much water as I met Jonathan and his dog Bonnie who had completely run out of water, and I was able to give them a liter. The rest of this hike was uneventful. Hiking this section for the second time I was able to appreciate it more as the weather was perfect this time, and by contrast it was storming, wet, foggy, and cold last year.