T minus 18-hours, mile: 0
armageddon….Wow, things have changed a lot recently. Where do I even begin? Last week was all about saying goodbyes to some wonderful people, sharing some tears and trying to get my final preparations complete. And the whole while it’s hard to peel your eyes/ears away from the news. And then the weather! Holy hell am I just having everything turned upside-down from “my plan”. Here we were in drought-like conditions and I was worried about water sources drying up, to having to change out some gear and stuff my pack with extra clothes. I might get snowed on tomorrow night, less than 5 miles from the Mexican border! The shaved head is to reduce maintenance, now I may be wishing for the insulation.
I bought the umbrella a couple of weeks ago when I was looking at the long-range forecast of below-average precipitation and above-average temperatures. Hiking umbrellas are a hot/cold thing for hikers. They weigh and they catch wind, but sometimes a hat just doesn’t cut it. And there are several areas of the PCT in the first 700 miles where you are very exposed. A friend of mine teased me on Facebook with a guy walking in the rain with a giant rainbow umbrella, thus the pic of me with mine just to show that my Scout training has stuck with me all these years.
Between my last day in the office (on my official 21st anniversary, too boot) to the last family outing before my departure, and my constant worrying about the mild headache and slight chill feeling (allergies), so much so that I’ve taking my temperature about 17 times a day. And now I’m seeing a run on the grocery stores. So my biggest worry? Getting food. I mean, water in the desert shouldn’t be an issue now, if I don’t get a fever in the first week, I’m probably good to go, and I have warm clothes and rain gear. But there is usually only one establishment in each town that sells resupply food. And then this whole thing with restaurants/bars being required to reduce capacity or even close. I can’t even imagine the disappointment of watching the dream of pizza and beer fading away while reading the Covid-19 notice in the window after many days on the trail.
For many years, there have been some well-known trail angels throughout the trail. Providing transportation, housing, food and smiles. It’s been disappointing to hear in the last year how many of them are getting out of the “the business” for one reason or another. Add in the corona virus, more trail angels have pulled the plug. And then the travel bans happening right now, many people can’t even get to the southern terminus if they wanted to.
The PCT Class of 2020 is likely to be described as the year of change. Maybe, a long time from now, it will be looked at like the K-Pg Boundary in geology. The time-stamp of the extinction of the old way and the birth of the new. Lord willing, I’ll get to witness it.
I will be following you for sure. About the same age and motorcycle injuries! I’m looking at 2021 after I retire. Keep things up to date as I would love to provide some trail magic and cabin use when you cross Hwy 88.