The Breakdown

Mark here:

 I'd like to take some time to explain a little bit about this backpacking trail. It's a 5 month self inflicted torture marathon, a series of mental obstacles all different from one another, a time to discover what type of person you really are, and a constant test on your willpower to succeed. Above all else though, it's the essence of backpacking and freedom combined that changes who you are at your core.

I've been instructed to write a short post about the PCT and what it actually is and what it means to hikers. The Pacific Crest Trail is a National Scenic trail that spans 2,650 miles from the Mexican border in California to the Canadian border in Washington.

 Since we'll be heading north we will often be referred to as "nobos". That's a north bounder mixed with a hobo (we will look and smell much worse than a hobo). Southern California is hot and dry and filled with rattle snakes, scorpions, and circling vultures above. After passing through the largest windmill farm on earth, we begin the high altitude Sierra Nevada mountains. The bears, mountain lions, mosquitoes, wild flowers, raging rivers, afternoon thunderstorms, gorgeous sunsets, white granite landscapes carved by glaciers and snow covered mountain passes make it arguably my favorite place on this earth.

From there, we hit Central California and it's huge pine tree tunnels, then the infamously "buggy" Oregon, and the wet Washington where our journey ends 2650 miles north of where we started.

Okay well that's all I've got at the moment. Amanda and I are leaving in 1 hour for San Diego. 

Cheers.