06/03/23 Mile 77-179.4: You can love the desert… but the desert doesn’t always love you back. Just when you think you are becoming one with the desert and the desert is becoming one with you… BAM! Rattlesnakes come raining from the sky! The biting flies you thought were gone, come back, the sun burns extra hot and you have to carry 2 days of water with you because all the water sources have dried up. Ok, rattlesnakes didn’t rain from the skies above, it was one rattlesnake, just one, that leapt off the rock from above my head, into the bushes just in front of me, making me do a little jig and freeze. Now what do I do? She’s not rattling at me and I can’t see her. Now I’m stuck, rattlesnake in the bush to the right, dangerous cliff to the left, I poke at the bush to see if she’ll rattle or move. Nothing. Silence. Is she really in there or did I imagine her? Do I run past? Do I go slow? I DON’T KNOW. We’re at a stand still. I spend time pumping myself up, counting down, “ok Mar, you got this… 1. 2. 3. Go! Wait wait wait… not ready!” Again, “1. 2. 3. Go! No no! Not yet!” I do this for a good five minutes, finally, I get my nerve, muster all my strength, and with a 40lb backpack on my back I “sprint” past the bush, hoping I don’t get struck or tumble over the edge. I made it. You know what’s scarier than rattlers raining from the sky? Every noise after that… water bottle swishing? RATTLESNAKE falling. Lizards in the bushes. RATTLESNAKE falling. Backpack brushing against something? RATTLESNAKE falling. You get the picture.
Oh! Hey! I hit mile 100 and met a great group of people I’ll hike with until we split up again. “Hike your own hike” is a big thing out here. If you fall in with a group, before bed, you may discuss how many miles you’ll go the next day, what time you’re waking up and whatever other plans you may have. No one waits for anyone. If you’re not up and ready, you’re starting alone. If someone is faster than you, don’t expect them to wait for you. Fast or slow. Most of us hike separately and reconvene at the end of the day at the designated camp site chosen the previous night. I actually love this. I love hiking alone, doing what I want when I want, resting however long I want, snacking when I want, going fast or slow (mostly slow, I always make it) but knowing I have people up ahead that I may or may not choose to talk to when I arrive spurs me on. So do the cheers of excitement I receive upon arrival.
We need each other. On the trail and off the trail. I am a person that is quite self sufficient. I don’t need a lot, I rarely ask for help and asking doesn’t come easily. Life is so much easier with help! Being out here has me experiencing what I have always felt we were put on this earth for. Relationship. Service. Connection. I’ve been humbled many times by many people… town people, trail people, my people, from rides, to meals paid for, to boxes of snacks and letters waiting for me at the post office, to advice about trail life. People want to share, help, and be needed, I want to share, help, and be needed, why would I take that opportunity away from someone else? Everything has meaning out here. Everything becomes easier if you’re open, if you ask. 100 miles of lessons I didn’t expect.
On I Grow.
PCT 20 23 