Hi everybody. Doolittle here. This next post is about Seven (Jeremy) who is married to Dealer. Thru-hiking the PCT was his idea. Somehow Dealer allowed Seven to talk her into joining him. The details of that exact moment are still a little sketchy. Was she ill, inebriated, asleep, all of the above? Clearly, the commitment was conditional. And this is also why, in every trail town, Dealer needs to be convinced (cajoled? compensated? coerced?) to continue hiking to the next town.
But it’s not really fair is it? For one, Seven is a trial lawyer. He is good at building a case and making a presentation. Secondly, Dealer already bought the biggest pitch of all: marriage. So we know she is susceptible to his charms. Finally, the thru-hike is one of Seven’s life-long dreams. Dealer knows this, and even after all these years of marriage she is still trying to make his dream come true. We can all relate.
I like people who are steady because I am not. I am not flaky or erratic, but my mood fluctuates a lot. Being with steady people helps me be more productive. Seven is one of those guys. You can rely on him to be a certain way – positive.
This is also a great quality to have on the trail when grinding through the miles and coping with adversity. Seven and I were well-matched on the trail. I enjoyed hiking with him. I have no doubt that he will accomplish his dream. And having just completed mine, I know how satisfying that accomplishment will be for him.
Here are some of his thoughts on the PCT. (The photos are mine.)
Seven talks about the trail
Hi! 7 here. It’s tempting to say that I’d rate my experience so far on the PCT as a 7 out of 10 and just leave it at that, but I’m not sure that’s what Doolittle was hoping for when he asked me to contribute to his blog, so here are some random thoughts:
Quitting
To be clear, there is no “quitting” to other thru-hikers, instead you’re “off trail”. The word “quitting” suggests that hiking the PCT is some sort of competition, and it’s not. It’s an experience. If you told someone you went to Paris, they wouldn’t ask you how fast you were able to see the entire Louvre Museum. That’s not the point — you can see as much or as little of the museum as you want, and you can take as long as you want to do it.
The PCT is the same way. It’s not like your hike won’t “count” if you don’t hike all of it, or if you take years to do it. That said, I confess that it will bother me until I finish the entire trail — not because of what others will think, but rather because my goal was to hike all of it; and as long as I am able, I will keep aiming for that goal.
Cold soaking
I had researched this concept before starting the hike (rehydrating meals, often over the course of hours, using cold water), and relegated it to something that was only for extreme minimalists who slept directly on the ground and hiked without shoes.
I’m a believer now. Admittedly, the food options are limited (do not cold soak instant mashed potatoes no matter what anyone tells you), but it’s easy, saves weight, and seems to be getting more popular. I’d roughly estimate that of the hikers I ran into, the breakdown between cold soakers and stove users was close to 50/50. Now we just need all the trail food folks to come up with a variety of good tasting cold soak meals.
Trail lingo
Really bristled at using it at first — zero, nero, PUD, slack packing, camelling up, town legs, tramily, hiker trash, flip flop — the list goes on. It felt that hikers were trying too hard initially and maybe pretending to be part of an exclusive club that had its own language.
I eventually saw the utility in some of it as a shorthand way to convey some useful information. Still not gonna say sobo or nobo though.
Sun shirts
How did Dealer and I not get the memo on these? It seems like we were the only ones not wearing them at the start of the hike. Instead we went for the classic collared, button-down, multi-pocketed, purportedly-vented travel shirt. And we hated them — never could get them clean, they were hot and heavy and uncomfortable, and buttoning the cuffs when I got dressed every morning felt like I was getting ready to go to the office. We finally joined the cool kids in Big Bear and switched out our shirts.
Generational differences
I’m planner and a scheduler and to me there is a correct order to getting things get done. Which is why I didn’t start thru-hiking until after I was retired, the kids were done with college and moved out, and the house was paid off.
So I was fascinated and impressed with the young hikers who were putting their lives on hold for the PCT. More than one of them told us that everything they owned was in their backpack, and that they had sold, given away, or thrown away the rest of their possessions. Similarly more than one young hiker described themselves as being “most recently from” a certain place, but that they currently had no home. I’ve never been brave or reckless enough to do anything like that, but it does make me wonder if that kind of commitment makes them more highly motivated to complete the trail.
Aloneness
Aloneness is different than loneliness. Even though I hiked the entire first 700 miles of the PCT with Dealer, and also with Doolittle for the last 3-4 weeks, there was a lot of alone time. The three of us would often spread out while hiking over a half-mile or so of the trail and not get back together except for breaks and meal times. Which leaves a lot of time to let your mind wander.
Some people listened to music or podcasts or audiobooks, but it appeared that most hikers were like me — not listening to anything but my own breathing and the sounds of the trail, and just getting lost in my own thoughts. Not so much a zen-like state of mindfulness, but just taking the time to think, about the future, the past, regrets, victories, anything. I really enjoyed it and think others did too. So if you see me on the trail, just give me a head nod and go back to whatever narrative was going on in your head. I won’t be upset, I’m 7.
