Lseeley - Pacific Crest Trail Journal - 2012
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Journalist
City: Dallas
State: OR
Country: USA
Begins: Apr 18, 2012
Direction: Northbound
Daily Summary
Date: Fri, Jan 13th, 2012
Journal Stats
Entry Visits: 3,386
Journal Visits: 4,812
Guestbook Views: 314
Guestbook Entrys: 1
Journal Entry
Its time to go shopping! This weekend my goal is to get the last of my gear purchases, get all of it weighed and see if I made my target. It's getting down to the wire. Only 3 months away and lots to be done. I ordered my food dryer today and excited about learning how to use it and experimenting. I tried to email an entry to this journal from my smart phone and it didn't show up. I tried typing an entry on the website with my smartphone - neither worked. That's a problem I need to resolve. I like this process of research, planning, and finding solutions to the little problems that pop up.
I've been thinking about fear. I think some fear is healthy. My greatest fear is that my body won't be able to handle it. I have a lot of old injuries that like to say 'hello I'm gonna hurt today'. Already my knees and hips are being problematic. So, I'm training, trying to get strong, working with my PT, and staying positive. I'm really not afraid of doing this hike alone. However, because I'm doing it alone, I'm putting a lot of time and attention into the planning. I'm also taking a class from mountain education in snow travel and navigation. An old flight instructor of mine was always saying "prior planning prevents poor performance". Mostly I'm just jazzed to have the opportunity to do this.
Since 9/11 I've been joking with my crews that if Comair ever went out of business or if I was furloughed I would just go hike the PCT. Then in 2010 I started seriously thinking about it and when would I be able to do it? How could I convince work to give me the time off? I knew 2011 was unlikely but hoped 2012 would be my year. All of 2011 I followed blogs and journals, planning and obsessing. I still didn't know how I would get the time off but determined to find a way. And then Comair offered early retirement severance packages due to downsizing. I qualified. Barely. I took it. And now here I am getting ready to go! I'm hiking the PCT!
