PCT 2023: Why Did I Quit the PCT?
*This is just my experience, and does not apply to all thru-hikers. I’m just sharing in hopes that it helps fellow hikers. I’m always looking to learn, grow and evolve.*
You Quit? After all that preparation? What happened?
Thru-hiking is hard. Really hard. A common joke shared amongst some friends of mine on trail was to utter out loud, “The trail sucks, man.” Then we’d laugh, and keep hiking. However despite all the discomfort, exhaustion and pain, it can be 100% worth it. The rewards can greatly outweigh the challenges. That’s why I have accumulated over 2,000 miles and 150 nights on long distance trails. I love it.
I feel greatly inspired and motivated when I’m on trail. I often feel so accomplished and capable after a thru-hike. Feelings of gratitude and humbleness give me a renewed perspective on life and existence.
After I’ve hiked a trail for weeks and hundreds of miles, I feel like any other goal or challenge off the trail is completely obtainable compared to a long distance hike. I also feel so motivated.
When I have spent hours upon hours moving at a walking pace through expansive landscapes, I am in awe at the scale in size and more importantly in time of nature. Whatever the mountain peaks, valleys, rivers and aging trees I am immersed in, I have difficulty putting in perspective the centuries or millennia that they have existed and will continue to exist. Humans are just a microscopic dot on the timeline of existence. Witnessing landscapes that are hundreds and thousands of years old, I am reminded I better make the most of this life, now.
The romantic idea of solo hiking in nature seems like a great experience in theory. In reality, I am not that solo hiker. At least not right now. I am a social hiker. Sharing the experience of a hike with friends is a key part of the experience. Being half of a pair, or part of a group of hikers to enjoy the highs and shake your head at the lows together make the hiking experience more memorable and meaningful.
I love the feeling of being part of a group that is working together to achieve a goal or overcome a challenge. There are a handful of experiences in my life where that feeling of being in-tune with others felt almost tangible. It feels like being in a flow state with others.
Playing music in a band. When I was jamming with my friend Zack, as he beat on his drum kit in our dim, windowless rehearsal space in Chicago, we could give a simple nod or quick glance and know when to change tempo or sections of a song.
Working as a firefighter/paramedic. Being assigned to my crew that could run calls with minimal communication, and everyone doing exactly what needed to be done when it needed to be done. I loved when we would run back-to-back calls, driving around our district intervening to help people in their emergency.
Running in a group. Recently as I have become more engaged in running, I frequently run with Atlanta Run Club. We often self-sort into smaller groups, running at a common pace. I love the moment when we start to near the end of our run and without a word we start to increase our pace. We are weaving in and around other pedestrians and joggers along the pathway to the finish. I feel like those giant school of fish that swim together like they are one large organism.
Hiking long distances with friends. After everyone has their trail legs, meaning they are in hiking shape, I enjoy the challenge of a big ascent, rather than dreading it. I know there is no doubt that we are about to set a pace and climb to a high mountain pass without stopping. No one has to talk about it. We just know. We move as a team, quickly and steadily to the top.
What was different this time? Why stop?
The TL;DR is I put too many constraints on my thru-hike attempt.
I met a hiker on day 6, name Kale (but he said that was not his trail name), who had a serendipitous perspective of the PCT. As I saw him hiking ahead of me I assumed he was a thru-hiker. When I caught up to him as he was taking a break I was surprised when he told me he was a section hiker. Kale told me that he had hiked from Campo to Warner Springs 4 years ago and was just now resuming this trail. What Kale said next really resonated with me at this particular moment. Kale said he had the next 5 weeks carved out to hike as far as he wanted to. He told me that anyone that can hike the entire PCT in one lifetime has achieved something really incredible, and that anyone who does it in a single thru-hike is just a little bit crazy.
Kale’s words gave me a lot of relief and new perspective on my current hike. I felt like it was okay to not thru-hike the PCT. It really is incredible to even section hike a trail that stretches 2,650 miles in a single lifetime, rather than a single summer.
Here is the list of self-imposed criteria for my 2023 PCT Thru-hike attempt:
Complete the trail in 96 days (27.6 miles/day)
I am a sponsor at PCT Days, August 18-19, 2023. I wanted to complete the trail BEFORE the event.
Schedule and meet with gear shops along the PCT to solicit wholesale opportunities. Limiting my town stops and time in town to the stores’ hours.
Take marketing photos of my tarp and bivy as I hiked and camped along the trail.
Meet my wife near Lake Tahoe, take a triple Zero, and try to maintain some normalcy in our marriage.
Low expectations and opportunities to form a Tramily (trail family) since I had this strict schedule.
In hindsight, this combination of expectations and goals was a recipe for disaster. If/when I attempt an entire thru-hike of the PCT (or CDT), I would remove every single one of these except for having my wife meet up with me along the trail.
I think doing a 100 day attempt of the PCT would be a fun challenge, but I would not set such a strict timeline and allow it to happen more organically.
I would not insert a major business commitment like the PCT Days Trade Show in the middle of a thru-hike - or I would at least not set it as a finish date.
Trying to meet with gear shops for business purposes was great in theory, but it was too restrictive with timing my food resupply and being in town during their business hours.
Due to my daily mileage, I was often packing up camp before sunrise and setting up camp after sundown. This means I was not taking photos of my tarp and bivy.
Time apart from my wife on a long distance hike is one of my biggest challenges. Maybe I’ll do more section hikes with her? Or maybe that’s why the retirees that thru-hike have been married for longer and that makes it easier to be away from their partner? Or I’ll need to see my wife more than once during a thru-hike?
Since I was more rigid with my mileage and schedule I often was hiking later in the day and as a result not camping with other hikers, forming those relationships and sharing those experiences on trail.
Having goals for a thru-hike is great. Being able to change and adapt while on the trail is crucial.
The cardinal rule on trail is, smiles before miles (unless the miles are the smiles).
