Dresses to Dust

Last night I thought about dust. Considering the first 500 miles of the PCT skirts the deserts of Southern California, it is a fitting visual. On the 26^th of April, Adriana (my hiking partner and inspiring educator and climber) and I will be starting our hike! (Image of the beginning of the trail below).

 For months I have slept with my window open and made an effort to spend as much time outside as possible. Now, with the trail only a few days away, I am experiencing a sudden drive to stay indoors and as clean as possible. Additionally, my ability to vegetate on whatever sofa is available to me has dramatically increased. This has given me ample opportunity to catch up on movies that I apparently missed out on as a child. The cheer-leading saga “Bring It On” is just one example. While movies like these can stimulate certain areas of the brain, for me, the outdoors seems to offer something more.

As a friend stated “Backpacking can be empowering because there is simplicity in this sport that does not exist elsewhere. I find it important to remind people that despite it [backpacking] seeming like a huge feat, it is actually quite simple. It helps me to reflect on how insignificant material possessions can be”.

Aside from the somewhat complicated logistics of planning a backpacking trip, once on the trail it suddenly becomes so simple. Sleep. Hike. Eat. Hike. Let’s hope that my experience this time around offers a similar simplicity.

I am currently in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, spending a few days my dear friends from Macalester College. On Monday, I’ll head to Southern California where Adri will pick me up and we’ll spend two days visiting with friends from my past job at High Trails Outdoor Science School, sorting gear and purchasing a few other last minute items like fuel for cooking and a wide brimmed hat for sun protection.

I hope to send a short update before I head out on the trail! Until then, I’ll leave you with a fitting quote I included in a recent email by John Muir as well as a quote offered by blog follower Abby! Cheers, The Honey Bear

“I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.”  John Muir (1838 - 1914)

"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move." ~Robert Louis Stevenson

Six days ‘til trail time!