Anticipation About the PCT While Eating Bagels

“If you come at four in the afternoon, I’ll begin to be happy by three.”

― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, “The Little Prince”

I begin my hike on the PCT at Walker Pass in mid-June. However, it feels as though I began it months ago when the idea of hiking it after graduating college formed in my mind. Through writing my thesis and ordering my cap and gown I was reading Yogi’s PCT handbook and Carrot Quinn’s book “Thru-Hiking Will Break Your Heart: An Adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail.”

So now I am graduated and I didn’t realize the wait between that and being on the trail would be so drawn out and long. I have all my gear and now I am left going over my resupply plans over and over. As if something will actually change. As if Kennedy Meadows will fall into a sinkhole. Where would I get my bear can then?

This is my first large hiking endeavor but that doesn’t make me nervous. Events, where I have to rely on myself, are the least stressful type to me. It’s when I have to rely on someone else having common sense that stresses me out. It’s one of the reasons why I am solo hiking. I don’t want to have to worry if my partner has enough food or if they are going to be warm enough when the temperature drops, because if I was with someone I would.

I have been walking around Prospect Park lately to try and get in some miles. They say getting out of New York City and into nature is “easy” and “Just take the Metro-North!” This is all true, but in reality, it is so draining. Getting to Grand Central early enough, dealing with the subways, and then doing it all again coming back is such a chore. So I just walk around the park and watch people who seem much more in shape than me run by. Then I think, “Hmm, maybe I should be running?” but that idea quickly gets vetoed by my mind. I am walking the trail, not running it, right? I see the flaws in this argument but I don’t really care because I am heading to Red River, N.M., before I start.

In Red River, I will be able to hike actual mountains instead of walking around the Prospect Park loop three times. I can hike to the top of Wheeler Peak and camp overnight. I will be able to test my gear and finally seam seal my tent. It’s the little things like that which make living in NYC so difficult when it comes to getting outdoors. But then I remember the bagels here. The bagels, man! So freaking good. My favorite order at the moment is a whole wheat everything bagel, toasted, with scallion tofu and avocado. 

I purchased an SWD (Superior Wilderness Designs) 35L pack with full suspension and some modifications like a Y strap for my bear can and a trash pocket. I am afraid I am going to get a trail name that is “bald eagle” or “America” because it’s red, white, and blue.

God help me if I do. But until then I will sit here waiting for my flight to Bakersfield and read the water reports for the tenth time.