Hello! I want to hike the Pacific Crest Trail!

[brotherbeau]

Hello! My name is Beau. I recently turned twenty-seven and began to get a bit depressed about where my life was going. I have a general labor job, no wife, kids or really anything significant going on.* I'm not sure I where I want to go in life.* After thinking day in and day out the only thing I can think of is to get away, be on my own for a while. This way I can get away from all of the influence of every one and everything and figure out my my life.* I decided that the difficulty of attempting a long distance thru-hike would be an excellent way to push myself to the max and find what I can do. Let's face it, after a two thousand mile or longer hike there is nothing left that would be a challenge.* I did a bit of research and landed on the Pacific Crest Trail. Starting on the U. S.-Canadian* border in North Central Washington State I want to hike the approximately 2700 miles to the Mexican Border. Traveling through Washington, Oregon, and California,* I would experience the most beautiful and extraordinary places.* Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges, 25 national forests and 7 national parks!* Moving along the coast I would see many things I couldn't dream of.* Crashing of the pacific ocean in the morning, beautiful bald eagle's fishing the remote mountain lakes. Soaring peaks all along the way, the highest being over 13000 feet. Giant three hundred foot tall redwoods and sequoia in Northern California, painted desert in the Southern half of the state. In my opinion this is the greatest experience any human could ask for. The ultimate man vs nature challenge. A man will make himself on a journey like this. I feel that I could compete this challenge, however hard it may be. I'm in decent shape, if I start of slow and work up I could do this. I'm giving myself one whole year to save money and prepare. If anyone has done this or a similar thru-hike and has advice I would much appreciate if you could share it with me.

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

Sounds like an awesome trip Beau, good luck!

[Will]

Check out the documentary "Mile ... Mile and a Half" on the John Muir Trail - 200 miles, 25 days. Read "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed - the PCT. Check out the Arizona Trail. Considerably shorter; runs the length of Arizona from Mexico to Utah. Good luck!

Will