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