Buck30 - Pacific Crest Trail Journal - 2009

Day 112

The PCT is ending here for me. I started the PCT at mile 456 in Agua Dulce on May 28 after hiking about 1,000 miles on the Appalachian Trail this year The switch from the AT to the PCT was due to some personal issues going on in my life. I really didn't know how much of the PCT I would hike this year or how I would feel, but it became evident fairly quickly that the trail was a good place to be to sort through my mind. As of 2 weeks ago I had every intention of going back to Oregon to do the 200 miles I skipped in order to hike Washington with Kickstep and Annie and then hike south the 456 miles from Agua Dulce to Mexico and complete the PCT. However, in Snoqualmie a couple weeks ago I noticed the raging Los Angeles fires which were burning a huge amount of the Angeles National Forest and the PCT so I started thinking of alternate plans if necessary. The Arizona Trail came to mind and after a couple hours on the computer it seemed like I wanted to hike the Arizona Trail regardless of the fires in SoCal. I noodled on it for the next section and basically had to make a decision in Skykomish since there is no internet/cell phone access for the rest of the trail. I was really excited to try something different and decided to pull the trigger in Skykomish and book a flight and other administrative stuff to hike the Arizona Trail. While finishing the PCT for a 2nd time would be great it would be more for my own pride and determination as compared to hiking the Arizona Trail which should be a very interesting challenge. I'm sure one day I will get around to hiking the 650 miles of the PCT that I did not do this year, but it's really of no concern right now. I got what I needed from the PCT this year which is peace of mind, sanity, some new friends and hiking 2,000 miles on the best long distance trail in the world.

Stay tuned for my Arizona Trail journal coming shortly.


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