鈥淲hy are you hiking the Pacific Crest Trail?鈥 was a question I got asked a lot leading up to my departure on April 19, 2016 from the trail鈥檚 southern end in Campo, California, right by the Mexican border. But, since starting the trail, fewer people ask.听
Hiking the PCT: 2016
I set out in April on a six-month trek north along the 2,650-mile trail. I’ll be filing dispatches every two weeks. Follow my journey here.For the estimated 2,500 people departing from Campo and attempting a thru-hike in 2016, the reasons are many. No doubt I鈥檒l share a few with you in the next 23 weeks as I make my way north, 2,650 miles to the Canadian border.
As for my reason, I鈥檇 been receiving hints听in life that something had to change. I鈥檓 36, and for the past eight years I鈥檝e worked as a freelance writer. I enjoyed the usual perks鈥攏o boss, make my own hours, flexibility, some tax write-offs鈥攂ut of late I鈥檝e increasingly wondered if I鈥檓 not in the same place I was when I started freelancing back in 2008. Writing for online publications pays the bills, but I鈥檝e no safety net, no retirement plan, no sick pay, no paternity leave. I鈥檇 begun to wonder whether I was听suited to the freelance game.
The niggling question is only relatively recent. In my late 20s, I had no qualms. I loved blogging; it was a way to get myself heard and to establish a voice. The Internet was my friend. But now, my website is an island, the RSS reader is yesterday鈥檚 tool, and Facebook and Buzzfeed dominate mindshare.
听
Aside from freelance gigs, I wrote about photography that focused on听the U.S. prison system. My website, , is what I am most well known for. It was the springboard to lecture, curate, publish, and travel, but I鈥檝e still lived one project to the next. Now that the Internet seems less of an ally, what am I to do with the website鈥攚ith the origin, raison d鈥檈tre, and connective tissue of my profession pursuits? My commitment to prison activism is as strong as ever, but it might have to be channeled through other means like听direct action or听teaching.
听 听 听
For work, in the future, who knows? I may continue to write. Or maybe these dispatches from the trail are a last hurrah.听Things are going to change and I鈥檓 not sure what they鈥檒l look like, but for now, we鈥檙e on this trek together. Time out resolves things. Time out in nature cleanses things.
Instead of stress at the line at the coffee shop, I鈥檓 worried about my next water source.
Also, while we鈥檙e talking about reasons, there鈥檚 another one that brought me here: I need to get away from my computer screen. I am writing these words on paper, longhand, then photographing the sheet and emailing the photo to my editors when I have cell service.
For the past decade, I鈥檝e sat in front of a flat, glowing, talking, moving 24-inch surface that spews information at me for eight-to-ten hours a day. This isn鈥檛 a complaint, merely an observation. Walking two-and-a-half thousand miles seems like the听opposite type of activity. Instead of software updates, I鈥檓 taking care of creaking joints, aches, and blisters. Instead of stress at the line at the coffee shop, I鈥檓 worried about my next water source.
听 听 听
听
I鈥檝e done a dozen or so backpacking trips over the years鈥攎ostly in the Sierras, but also in Washington, Utah, Arizona, and Montana's Glacier National Park. I love the sweat, the switchbacks, and the strength you feel your body muster. The re-hydrated food, the gear failures, and the chilly mornings (that muscle-tightening drop in temperature just before sunrise) are all part of the journey, reminding me that I inhabit a body.听
One way or the other, I plan to be听outside,听walking and camping, until October 1. I鈥檝e not been telling people I鈥檒l hike the PCT, I鈥檝e told them I鈥檓 going to try. Let鈥檚 see how far I get.