12/13-19/2014: Having looked carefully at the PCT maps, I think I’ll confine my van-assisted trips on the PCT to fairly well-used roads and, at this time of year, to elevations below 4000 feet, the latter for the winter weather and the former for the uncertainty of dirt roads here, there, and everywhere. It’ll make my short segments discontinuous, but I can live with that.
I can see myself graduating to overnights and then maybe short multi-day trips as the seasons advance and the weather improves. How long shall I stay in SoCal? Until, I suppose, the urge to explore the PCT farther afield overcomes me!
Addendum 12/18/2014: Maybe I ought to take that WBC course this winter. I just want to learn newer skills, but I’m afraid of being a problem to my fellow students by not hiking fast enough or far enough. Maybe they’ll have a section for Senior Turtles.
Addendum 12/19/2014: I’ve been up in Bishop for a few days and today (Friday) went hiking along Pleasant Valley Reservoir with the girls. What a great hike! Puffing up that first little rise was tough for me, and I was pooped by time we finished. We didn’t quite get to the power plant, but we were certainly in sight of it. So, say 1.75 miles of the 2-mile road, making a 3.5 mile round trip. Wonderful day!
Friday, December 19, 2014
Friday, December 12, 2014
Friday, December 12, 2014
12/12/2014: I've long wished to hike the PCT. I'm a week and a half past 73 years old now. Too old? Well, I think two things:
1. Just because I may never finish is no reason not to start.
2. "Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." -- From Medifast leaflet
3. I will never know if I can or can't if I don't try.
4. Much of the SoCal section is desert, and I hate the goddamn desert. (This means that I don't care if hiking little bits from accessible roads means I miss some in-between miles.)
After reading *Wild* by Cheryl Strayed and now hoping to see the film, I hope that come January 1, 2015, I'll start dayhiking parts of the trail, beginning at Campo. This will help me get in shape without having to carry tons of water. I plan to start my camping in Maybelline at Campo, one day walking south to the border and the southern terminus of the trail and back again, and the next day hiking north to Hwy. 94 and back again.
After that, I'll dayhike those stretches where the trail crosses a road I can reach in Maybelline, hiking one day south and back again and the next day north and back again from there. I really don't want to do all of Section A because of the goddamn desert. When I'm ready and the snow is gone, I'll probably jump to backpacking short stretches from road crossings (and back again) and eventually multiday trips, probably starting with the San Jacintos or San Bernardinos, maybe even north from Hwy. 178 (Walker Pass).
Who knows? Maybe I'll live long enough to walk the stretch through the Tejon Ranch easement!
The PCTA web site has directed me to an amazing series of free PCT maps by "Halfmile" (trail handle). I hope they print out well on the Canon.
Posted by Ant Kathy at 2:59 PM
12/12/2014: I've long wished to hike the PCT. I'm a week and a half past 73 years old now. Too old? Well, I think two things:
1. Just because I may never finish is no reason not to start.
2. "Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." -- From Medifast leaflet
3. I will never know if I can or can't if I don't try.
4. Much of the SoCal section is desert, and I hate the goddamn desert. (This means that I don't care if hiking little bits from accessible roads means I miss some in-between miles.)
After reading *Wild* by Cheryl Strayed and now hoping to see the film, I hope that come January 1, 2015, I'll start dayhiking parts of the trail, beginning at Campo. This will help me get in shape without having to carry tons of water. I plan to start my camping in Maybelline at Campo, one day walking south to the border and the southern terminus of the trail and back again, and the next day hiking north to Hwy. 94 and back again.
After that, I'll dayhike those stretches where the trail crosses a road I can reach in Maybelline, hiking one day south and back again and the next day north and back again from there. I really don't want to do all of Section A because of the goddamn desert. When I'm ready and the snow is gone, I'll probably jump to backpacking short stretches from road crossings (and back again) and eventually multiday trips, probably starting with the San Jacintos or San Bernardinos, maybe even north from Hwy. 178 (Walker Pass).
Who knows? Maybe I'll live long enough to walk the stretch through the Tejon Ranch easement!
The PCTA web site has directed me to an amazing series of free PCT maps by "Halfmile" (trail handle). I hope they print out well on the Canon.
Posted by Ant Kathy at 2:59 PM
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