Zero at Snoqualmie Pass (mile 2393), no hiking
Holy banana pants, five months! It’s been a wild and wonderful experience and there is still a bit to come as we make our way towards the Canadian border. But I’ve yet again learned so much during the last month and I’m excited to share these ten lessons with everybody.
1. Hiking is fine, standing is torture. Seriously, I can hike all day every day. Wanna do 20 miles? No biggie! But standing still for 15 minutes while hitching is torture for my feet.
2. Oregon is the worst state for dinging a cathole in. The combination of small volcanic rocks under thin soil, and the dense root systems of so many trees and plants means that digging a 6-8 inch hole to poo in can take an unfortunately uncomfortably long time when you really need to go.
3. The trail actually made my period more regular. Weird. I have no explanation for this. But I can say that even after five months on trail I still don’t like dealing with my menstrual cup in the wilderness.
4. One day a gnat is going to fly into the back of your mouth and because it’s too much effort to cough it back out, you’ll just swallow it. This will be both a low and high point of the hike. On the one hand, you’ve transcended personal comfort to the point of pure functionality. On the other hand, you’ll have just swallowed a bug.
5. People who have the ULA circuit really like to talk to other Circuit owners about their packs. Between two thru hikes and countless weekend trips I have hiked 2,500+ miles with my Circuit and people still stop me to talk about the bag that we’re both wearing. This strikes me as especially weird because it’s literally one of the most popular packs on the trail, and yet people would consistently stop me to talk about the bag as if we shared some great secret of backpack selection. Nobody walks up to fellow Honda minivan owners and wants to talk excitedly about this super ubiquitous car, so what’s the big deal with wanting to discuss the thru hiking equivalent of a Honda minivan?! I think these are the same people who believe they invented oatmeal for breakfast (read: clueless about how unhelpful they are, but eager all the same). Picture this, I’m standing in the supermarket cereal aisle trying to decide if I want to try something besides cheese sandwiches for breakfast. When someone slides up to me and asks what I’m doing. Once I explain my situation and the fact that I’ve never in my life been known as someone who likes breakfast foods (just ask my mom), this cereal aisle stranger will lean in conspiratorially and say “you know what I like for breakfast, oatmeal.” As though they were the first person to come up with the idea that oatmeal—the quinticential American breakfast food that is sold in the breakfast aisle across the country—is in fact a breakfast food. Quite original there, Janet! Oatmeal for breakfast?! You don’t say! By chance do you hike with the ULA Circuit? Wanna talk backpacks?
6. At some point on the trail you’ll get your own pee and poo on your hands. Turns out living in a situation with limited toilet paper supplies where you dig a hole to poop in, isn’t super hugenic. Hand sanitizer for the win, and try not to think too much about it.
7. Hiking the PCT has made me want to put more effort into my appearance, not less. I’m not sure if this is in reaction to wearing the same outfit day in and day out for months. Or if it has something to do with turning 30. Or if being in nature for this long has made the artificial way in which we judge each other’s appearance all the more obvious to me. But I find myself thinking about building a wardrobe that is distinctly me, and moving away from the “whatever is easiest business casual” aesthetic I’ve been rocking since leaving the film industry. Putting actual effort into the way I look each day so that people will take me more seriously. I know that taller people get hired and promoted more often than short people, that women who wear makeup to the office are seen as more professional than those who don’t, that men are still paid and praised more than women, trans, and nonbinary folks. And some of those things I can’t change, but I can play the game I’m given instead of uselessly rebelling against it to nobody’s downfall but my own.
8. Somewhere around central Oregon a good number of hikers will be well and truly over this hike and begin accelerating their daily miles in an effort to get the whole thing over with sooner. This will happen to another wave of hikers upon entering Washington. Conversely, there will be a substantial number of hikers who will begin to slow their pace in Oregon/Washington because they too have realized that this hike is going to end one day. Instead of trying to rush to the end this second group of hikers is looking to extend their hike. It is important to note that only hikers who enter Washington in mid-August or before will have the luxury of slowing down because at some point it’s going to start snowing and everybody wants to be off trail before that.
9. After this hike I’ll be 1,000% ready to take a break from backpacking, but never ready to go inside. As the summer begins its slide into fall I’ve begun to think about all the ways I love playing in the outdoors that aren’t backpacking. I’m looking forward to trail running, rock climbing, skiing and maybe even getting into ski touring. Heck at this point I’m even excited to go on day hikes where I don’t have to carry a tent and sleeping bag with me! I hear other hikers talk about how after the trail they’re looking forward to chilling inside and catching up on TV they missed. And that does sound nice, for a weekend, but after that it’s back outside for me!
10. I miss creative challenges that aren’t blogging. More than that I miss being around other creative folks with the same relentless “yes, and” energy that I possess. I need both extensive outdoor outlets for my energy, and challenging creative ones for my brain. Spending too much time exclusively in one pursuit or the other is stifling and frustrating. I’ve begun to draft plans for creative projects I’d like to do after the trail, and am looking forward to reducing my blogging efforts to once a week, and writing about things that aren’t the trail. I am so grateful for everyone who has followed along on this journey with me, and thrilled that I was able to share it with so many people. I promise this site won’t go totally radio silence after the trail, but there will be a reduction in content and I very much hope you’ll stick around to see what’s next.