Destination: Trout Lake Creek
Starting Location: Crest Campground
Today’s Miles: 25.90
Trip Miles: 2168.70
Crest Campground (2206.6, 3470) to Trout Lake Creek (2232.5, 3310) ascent (3264) descent (3219)
Andy & I gave an impromptu hiking class at the urging of a Christian home schooling class that was learning backcountry skills. It was fun fielding questions & the kids were great & showed real interest. As we headed on they insisted that their van, located at the trail head, was open & we were to help ourselves. We all have plenty of food but when they mentioned a box of fresh pears we were hooked. It was a bit odd opening someone’s car & helping our self to their food but the pears were awesome. We stayed around until they returned and talked to the kids some more. Good stuff – good memory.
I finally ate a complete pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in one sitting while we were at Weed’s. 1080 calories of chocolate chip cookie dough. Yum. Not to belabor the food thing but that day was interesting because I did not think much about it. But at 5 pm 3 of us split a large pizza. At 7:30 pm I ate a 4 item combination plate of Mexican food with two baskets of chips, and at 9:00 I ate the ice cream. Oh yea, I am still losing weight.
Been discussing who hikes the trail and we have boiled it down to two primary groups: first, a small group of thru-hikers are what we are calling lifestyle hikers. They are travelers & adventurers & the PCT is another big trip. Swiss Miss falls into this category along with Rita. The other and far larger category is those in transition. From what to what is as varied as imaginable but people in transition are drawn to the trail as nearly everyone out here is figuring out “what next”. Now Andy being a philosophy major, argues that by definition everyone is in transition who is hiking. Thunder & I think that is more of an academic argument & believe we can state “transition” as a very relevant part of many if not most hikers. Some have found the answer & they are making plans to implement. Others are not sure what the question is yet. For me I have confirmed my decision to leave corporate life. Beyond confirmation I am happy to report that I know with perfect clarity that it was the right decision. What next? Not sure exactly but building our new “home” is a priority. Family now takes a top place on my list of important things. Giving back to something that is worth it will also be in my future.
Robert Francisco 