Ttomczik - Pacific Crest Trail Journal - 2021

The Beginning

When I was a freshman in high school I read a book about a guy who hiked the Pacific Crest Trail. I was

fascinated with his journey which led me on a literary adventure. I read as much as I could about the

Crest Trail (PCT), Appalachian Trail, walking across America, John Muir, ect. I thought to myself that one

day I was going to do something like this. Since then I have backpacked small sections of trail over the

years but have never really been out for more than a few nights at a time...barely scrathching the

surface of what these people accomplished in the books I so fervently read.

Now I am 51 yo. For years now, as I lay in bed at night, I have been "faux planning" my adventures,

strategizing routes, thinking about gear, looking at maps and watching YouTube videos of people going

on adventures of a lifetime. One night I ran across a video channel on YouTube called Homemade Wanderlust.

The channel documents a lady who had put her normal life on hold to chase the dream of

becoming a through hiker. I watched her videos almost exclusivly for weeks. I thought back to my early

teens and remembered the excitement I had to take on such a challenge and it was at this point that I decided

that I, too, was going to attempt to fulfill a lifelong dream. I planned out my finances and decided that I could

pull it off...It was going to take a huge chunk of money to accomplish something like through hiking the PCT as

I have a mortgage, car payments, family, insurance, ect that I am still responsible for, not to mention costs

associated with being on trail and resupply.. I spoke to my wife about it and she said go for it. My boss agreed

to grant me a leave of absence from work. Now it was up to me...do i really want to do this? YES, yes I do.

2021 is going to be the year I attempt to fulfill this dream.

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