The Trail Provides: A Boy's Memoir of Thru-Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail by David Smart

Author:David Smart [Smart, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-10-17T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

June 11, 2015

Mile 609, Lander’s Creek Campground (2,041 miles to go)

I stretched my legs, pulling myself from a dreadful night’s sleep, and groaned. Everything was damp. The earth smelled rich and a Stellar’s jay chirped in the canopy above. I peeled the groundsheet off my sleeping bag, stood carefully, and slipped on my shoes before dragging everything into the sunlight.

The fire from the night before had been doused. I lugged the rocks back into the forest, fitting them like puzzle pieces into their original ditches.

Leave no trace.

I snagged my water bottle and walked the footpath to the spring. Water was everything. It was something I had known intellectually my whole life, but the trail had brought a deeper understanding to the concept.

It was a short hike back to the campsite, and I grabbed my backpack like a farmer would a milk bucket and walked it to a fallen tree to take a seat. Inside my food bag was two small oat bars. It was all that remained of my rations and would have to suffice. I stuffed one in my pocket and bit into the other while checking the maps. The road into town was forty miles ahead. Two or three more days of hiking. I sighed.

With the sun balanced atop the pines, my packing routine unfolded like clockwork. Stuffing everything inside my pack, every movement was meticulous and precise as I had developed a subtle understanding of where each piece of gear should live inside a backpack for proper comfort and weight distribution.

After one last glance around the campsite, I threw the pack over my shoulders and tightened the straps. It sparked a familiar feeling. The bag molded against my back, and we became one.

My stomach had thinned since April—any more weight loss and I’d probably looked starved—but the pack fit snugly on my hipbones with the straps tightened all the way. I couldn’t gain weight even if I tried, no matter how much ice cream I shoved down my throat.

I found the trail and took it north, starting slow then finding a steady rhythm. It took about a mile before my legs loosened up, and that’s when things really got going, my feet falling with perfect placement onto trustworthy earth, avoiding rocks, and stepping over logs and roots without needing to break stride or take breaks no matter the uphill elevation. Miles passed before my eyes in a state of oneness with my steps. It was always a game to balance the flow of hiking with the opportunities to enjoy my surround¬ings. Sometimes, I convinced myself I could combine the two without stopping.

I was slowly discovering the advantages of solitude. I had the ability to hike when I wanted to hike, rest when I wanted to rest, eat when I was hungry, and stare into the wilderness when it felt right. In my solitude, I was my own master, another experience I’d never truly known.

During this time, I began to observe my mind without even realizing this was what I was doing.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.