Two Weeks, Over 100 miles in. Multiple sunburns, poison Oak, several heat rashes, and more bug bites than you can shake a stick at. One blister, a lightly throbbing big toe, and the hips of an eighty-year-old construction worker, but still my body will toughen up as I go. And after countless conversations with my fellow backpackers I seem to be one of the lucky ones even! I have no major complaints honestly, most of these problems will slowly dwindle away, and (here’s hoping) I will be in peak physical condition. The best in my life!
Mentally, however…
Stress and anxiety seem to be my biggest hurdles, having a couple melt-downs and teary-eyed nights. I miss my cats. I miss my friends. Hell, I miss my job even. But still, luckier than most, I can get these back at the end. I just need to hold strong and take it one step at a time. I didn’t even come close to preparing myself emotionally for life on the trail. I thought it would be simple. Walk a bit, sleep, rinse-dry-repeat. F*****g hell, was I wrong…
BUT!
In all, I am content. I find amusement in nature. Goofy looking trees with knots for eyes, a rather phallic-looking stick, simple practical jokes, and very weird conversations (with even weirder people). You meet some interesting characters on the PCT, and by characters I mean actual comedic-road-trip-movie style people. Some funny, some that scare the crap out of me. Hippies and hobos, gun-toting cowboys with a dark sense of humor, large mountain men who look for rattlesnakes for fun. Honestly I feel like I fit in. FINALLY people who don’t judge me (or if they do, they keep it to themselves). I love making people laugh, it makes me happy to see others happy. Quite frankly, I’m done with city life after this, I just wan’t to be free. Right now I am free, but only for another 2,000 miles or so…
Freedom is a state of mind to me. I’m in a good place right now. Mental breakdowns aside, I’m happy. The trail provides.
See you in another two weeks or so…
-Bones