I can’t believe that the PCT was almost two years ago! I was actually in Japan, being a tourist and reading everything I could about the Pacific Crest Trail. I have no idea why I was drawn to it so much?
There I was living the dream, backpacking my way through south and east Asia, Island hopping and flight swapping. All I could think about was getting an American visa and hiking my way up the west coast.
At times it feels like a dream. Did it really happen? Did I really walk all the way? Did I meet all those people from all over the world?
Then at other times it feels like it was yesterday. It’s dubious and perplexing. Like a lot of things in life, you tend to look back at them fondly despite bad the moments. Through rose tinted glasses they say but I feel genuinely honest when I say that I enjoyed every day. Some more than others but who knew that walking day in day out through the wilderness could be so a kin with me.
Waking just before dawn when the world was still asleep and so still. The aurora glow illuminating everything. No wind to rustle the surroundings nature, just me as I stuff my sleeping bag back into its sack and sling my bag onto my back and march on. It’s still slightly dark as I tramp along, treading quietly along the long trail. It’s half a meter wide and goes all the way to Canada.
Soothing and calm, who knew I would enjoy the silence and my own company for so long. I revelled in it. Sloping up and then down, then zigzagging down then up, the height gained and lost was never ending. Slowly animals emerged, crossing my path. Jays, tiny woodland birds, rabbits, deer, marmots, chipmunks and all aware of me and accepting me as another creature of the forest. I belonged.
