Walkabout Day 8

I keep saying "it's not about the hike; it's about getting out and staying out".  So why do I feel guilty if I leave the PCT?

It's a walkabout: I knew when and where I would start, but not when or where I would end. And apparently, very little about the middle! 

I had a lovely, if crowded, weekend at Eagle Creek. Discovered that it's one of the most popular destinations in the gorge!  Wasn't feeling terribly healthy, so ended up in one spot for three days.  Monday re-supplied back in Cascade Locks and headed up (down?) the official PCT.  Camped at Misnamed Dry Creek. Realized I hate setting up/breaking  camp every day, much prefer base camping and day hikes.  Spent another several days at Dry Creek, and finally decided that the PCT felt to much like racing from town to town for my tastes.  So now what??

I'm back in Cascade Locks pondering that...  Decided the new tent had technical difficulties I don't want to deal with, so was planning to head into Portland to exchange for different style. But all the hostels in Portland are booked - something about a holiday weekend? Pesky holidays!

So there are several possibilities I'm exploring.  Rest assured, the walkabout adventure continues, just not on the PCT!  Any adventure suggestions will be considered!

Day 1

Despite rail problems that delayed ALL trains, freight and passenger alike, I made it to Cascade Locks today!  I am thrilled to be in the woods, even if still within earshot of a freeway. The next several months are going to be just that - nearer and further from roads and people, same as up and down the hills (and in and out of cell/internet signal!).  There's a metaphor for life in there somewhere...

Questions

Found a list of questions I wrote down in 2007:
Why do you work?
What do you have in return for your time & energy?
If you didn't need to work for income, what would you do with your time?
If your room and board were paid, how much more would you need/want?

Tomorrow!

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I'm leaving, tomorrow, it's only a daaayyy uuuh-wayyy... (curse you Annie!)

I am amazed at how hard it is to dispose of everything ethically. Sure, I could have just walked away from the apartment and left it all for the landlord to deal with, but I just can't do that (although I did do it to a roommate once when I was 18). Plus I wanted to liquidate as much as I could, which takes effort. Seriously, how is it that minimalism is such hard work?! Sheesh.

The yard sale was a success – I managed to sell probably a good two-thirds of my stuff, the rest has been donated. I also Craigs-listed a few of the more valuable items. I have a couple boxes to send to friends (gifts and returns), and just a couple boxes (mostly important papers) being kept in storage. I am hanging on to the dehydrator, one of the more difficult decisions, but simplified by a friend who wants to do a long-term loan of it – I'm hoping I can convince him to occasionally mail me some dehydrated supplies! And really, that's about it! Everything else will be either on my back, or in the “drift box” that I will forward from Post Office to Post Office (aka the supply closet). The drift box, or bounce box as I was calling it at one point, will have critical supplies that I may not be able to get at various resort stores along the trail: extra socks, fresh fuel canisters, refills of hand lotion and sunscreen proven to not irritate my skin, envelopes and stamps to mail filled journal pages to my mail-drop/holding service, and the like.

For a while, this whole concept seemed unreal. I couldn't imagine that though I was planning to get out into the woods, I would actually be there. Now it is very real, and I can't wait!!

I have no idea how often I will have net access, or the ambition to post if/when I do, so I make no promises. But I have a vague notion of resuppling every 70 miles or so, and posting at minimum “I'm not dead yet!” when I do. Depending on how scenic the area is, and how strong the urge to wander is, this might be anywhere from a few days to a few weeks! In the meantime, I encourage everyone to consider your own dreams, and how you might follow them.

Going public

Uh-oh, I've told people what I'm doing and where I'm writing about it, now the pressure's on!  -grin-  Gotta figure out how to blog from my phone now.  If you're reading this, I succeeded! 

I have been amazed at the overwhelmingly supportive responses I've gotten to this upcoming adventure!  All my life people have always said "you're going to do what?! Oooh-kaay..."  But this time the reaction has been "Oh that's so cool! Good luck!"  Is the change a sign of the times or a sign of the people I know now?  As puzzled as I may be, I'm not going to argue with supportive comments!  Thanks all!

A left turn, then head south

Life has taken a left turn. Again.

I'm quitting my job and going back into the woods.

I wasn't sure what would happen when I moved to Spokane.  I experimented with "normal life" for  a few months - got an office job, my own apartment, went shopping on Saturdays and to church on Sundays.  My apartment is less than a mile from work so I walk to and fro, and I've actually been going home for lunch!  There's a wonderful wilderness area latticed with hiking trails a few miles south.  I adore living alone.  And I'm absolutely miserable.  

I'm just not cut out for city life.  I knew this, and yet I tried to do it again anyway.  So I'm selling everything and heading for the woods.  Different woods this time, gonna explore the west coast for a bit.  The plan is to hit the Pacific Crest Trail starting from Bridge of the Gods, and head south.  It's a walkabout - I know where and when I'm starting, but no idea where or when I'll stop!

My vague plan is to leave the trail occasionally in towns with hostels and temp agencies where I can pick up a bit of food money to keep me out in the woods longer.  I may even try exploring the desert - I'm still pondering tree-less hiking concepts!  I'm going to be a hermit, wandering around with my belongings on my back, contemplating life and writing about it.  I'm following my dream, my passion, and fascinated to see where it will take me and what I will learn along the way.

I've gone for a walk indeed!

Mileage

All right, I give up. I keep writing in my head and trying to get myself to type it and save paper, but I just can't seem to do it. So I'm back to “wasting” paper writing out longhand then typing it up, but at least getting the words out to where other people can see them, in hopes they might prove useful, inspiring, or perhaps just wryly amusing.

Last week I mentioned doing a lot of hiking to various parks in town, then getting to Palisades just before sunset. I did go back the Palisades the next day, and it was very cool, but I want to do some more exploring there before reporting on it.

I believe it was Saturday that I had a chance to use the library internet to estimate my mileage from the park recons – I was shocked to find I'd done about 15 miles! Well I guess that makes sense – I was out from 10a to 4p, so 6 hours. I had noticed previously on the well-marked Centennial Trail that I was covering 5 miles about every two hours. “Average” (who's that?) walking speed is considered 3mph, which I think is what Google uses to calculate the time, but I'm more a rambler than a speed-racer! I have come to the conclusion that I have no real interest in speed or distance, simply experience. Based on what I've read, this makes me somewhat unusual, but then I've been reading about thru-hikers who slog through the crappy parts of a trail to get to the good parts. Okay, whatever.

When I lived in Minnesota I would go up to the North Shore and backpack on the Superior Hiking Trail, which is a lovely footpath than largely follows the ridge line overlooking Lake Superior. This trail has semi-improved campsites about every 7-8 miles. I never tried to get any further than the next site on a given day, so I'd guess my narrow-rocky-trail up-and-down-mountains speed to be closer to 1mph! I'm hoping to head up there in June 2012, so maybe I'll try paying closer attention to actual mileage and speed. Maybe. The trees and mountain streams are far more important after all!

I have recently learned that not everyone knows the same tricks with Google Maps, so I figured I would share some of mine. This can be done before a trip to get an idea of what you're up for, but I usually do it after to find out just what the heck I did!

*Using Google Maps to Estimate Mileage*

Find your start point. Right (context) click, select “get directions from here”. Find your endpoint (if looping, pick a spot a short distance away – we'll correct it later.) Right click, select “get directions to here”. If you want to get really spiffy, change from auto to pedestrian icons on the left info panel – this helps with one-way streets, but is an option in only some areas.

Google has drawn a blue line indicating the computers suggested route. If you left (regular) click, you can drag the line to where you actually went. Each click will add a 'stop' on your route. Be as vague or precise as you desire in re-tracing your route, and Google will tell you the total distance in the left info panel.

If you looped, you put your destination in the wrong spot in order to get enough blue route line to grab. To correct that location, just grab the green marker and drag-and-drop it in the right place.

You can also type the start/end addresses into the boxes in the left info panel, but I find it easier to point-and-click my way through the whole process. That and I may not know the address where I stopped hiking and jumped on a bus (usually due to sunset!) but I can easily recognize it by matching to the paper map I carry when hiking (street maps are an advantage to urban hiking!).

I use a different method to map out off-road trails, such as the snowmobile and skidder trails I was exploring while living in Maine, but that's a lesson for a different day!

Enjoy your walk!