Humans of the PCT

More shots from Bass Face and his Vortex under the I10.

Hannah, under the i-10, Cabazon 2019

So my twin sister actually did the PCT last year, her and her boyfriend, and they absolutely loved it. They wouldn't stop banging on about it, and I just thought, I definitely have to try that. I knew it was always something I wanted to do, from hearing from them, and then took six months off work and thought I'm only going to do a section, so I'm going to do a thousand miles. So I just want to get out to the wild and be feral.

I wanted to take some time off to get back into nature. Be outside. I was toying with the idea of maybe a cycle, a long cycle ride, and I've done hiking before, but then when Jenny and Joe completed it last year, I was like yeah, definitely, that's the thing to do.

So I hadn't really heard about it until probably two and a half years ago when they started planning it. And we'd done long hikes in Scotland before, and they were training for them when we went over there, so I started being drip fed information about it, and I was like that sounds craaaazy, like noooo waaaaay! And then even when they were doing it I was like, could I do it by myself, kept asking my sister like, would it be fine to do it solo? Only when they got back and they told me more about it in like full depth, I was like okay, yeah, definitely, I'm getting a permit.

What's your favorite part of trail life?

"I think just in general, I love having my portable little bedroom that I just put up anywhere, and every time I open it in the morning it's a different scenery. So I think that's the favorite thing. Sometimes you'll be in the forest, other times you'll be in the desert, sometimes yeah you may be by the side of the road.

But yeah I think that's the favorite thing and the favorite day has been the summit, up to San Jacinto the other day. It was so hard, it felt so dangerous that oh my God why are we doing this, but then when we eventually got to the top, it was just incredible.

I was really quite scared about the Sierras, and then we had the snow storm the other day, and I was like ooh God, what are the Sierras going to be like? But then speaking to another, like part of the trail family we're kinda with who's done it before, she was like they're incredible, like it's not as cold, it's beautiful, the water crossings won't be as bad as you think, so I'm looking forward to the Sierras. And you can have fires so I'm looking forward to just chilling around a fire and having a sociable evening.

So what are you most anxious about, still the Sierra's?

'Coming back. So yeah, I finish at Lake Tahoe and I have to finish then because I'm a bridesmaid for a wedding back in London. So I literally finish, fly straight back to London and then I'm going to be a bridesmaid. So I'm kind of looking forward to seeing everyone but I'm also scared of going back into normality.

What do you like most about yourself?

I think I have quite a positive attitude, and I think sometimes, or often, that kind of reflects off other people back onto myself, like if I'm more happy in a situation, say like something's quite scary then they'll cheer up and it will bounce back to me."

Bass Face Brings The Vortex

We hiked briefly with Bass Face for maybe a mile along some of the last stretch of trail leading down out of the San Jacinto area to the I-10. He was racing off the mountain to meet his parents at the underpass, who were bringing some epic trail magic. Word was quickly spread to hikers I'm both directions and especially after that last horrid mile plus of soft disintegrating sandy footsteps and 30 plus mile an hour wind, whipping and cutting with sharp lifted sand on every inch of exposed flesh, Bass Face and his parents truly brought the vortex. At any time there was 10-20 hikers taking in the Oasis, as Bass Face's father grilled dogs among tables laid out with cookies, fruit, sodas, and other snacks deeply enjoyed by tired hikers coming off the trail.

It was the first big trail magic we'd gotten to enjoy on trail, and will be long remembered. Bass Face himself was an equal amount of the fun, with his enormous enthusiasm and playful attitude. Not to mention, no small measure of style. .
As always, the community is such a big part of why we walk this trail, so the allure of even a temporary vortex is very real.

Thank you Bass Face and family.

Over the next week or two we'll be starting to schedule to talk with all of our volunteers, prioritizing those who are leaving first. If you have interest in our project, please get in touch! We've messaged each of you that has expressed interest, so check your message request box if you haven't received it!

If you have any suggestions for questions and content you're interested in hearing about from our volunteers, please let us know!

I had only briefly set up this page while on trail earlier this year and found it a bit too hard to maintain while on trail, but as we approach the hiking season of 2020 bit by bit, we will be using this as a hub for the Humans Of The PCT: Class of 2020 project. A full description of the project is here:

We all have heard the call to thru hike, and it is indeed a calling. Very few of us can honestly say we thru hike because we simply enjoy backpacking. Leaving our job, friends, family, and bed(!) behind, we toil away hour after hour, month after month through abject discomfort by a love for the thru hike and so much that it entails. There may be a lot of overlap and some common general reasons but the reasons we're out here is manifold. Every one of us has a unique reason, and a unique story why we got on trail, and an equally varied experience on trail. Within such a diverse group of people, perspectives, and experiences, we have found a tribe. We all heard that call, and left so much behind to just walk. Simple in many ways, complicated in others, but it is a beautiful journey that leaves very few of us unchanged in some important way.

For me, this tribe we have all found is a major part of the calling. Thousands of people with as strong a passion as me to walk off into the desert, the mountains, the forest and then somehow find out how to come back (or if we're so lucky, to just keep going). This project, The Humans Of The PCT, is focused on the people that make this unique tribe of people. To share the stories that brought them to make such a big fork in their lives, their fears and hopes for the trail to come, their experiences during it, and their reflections afterwards.

This trail is made of footsteps, miles and entire ecosystems, but most importantly to me it's made of the people and their experiences. It also is made up of more than just us hikers, but our friends and family left behind, the regular or unexpected trail angels along the way, the trail maintenance folk that toil on the trail year on year so that we can keep walking it, and so many others. Every one of us has a unique story worth sharing, which can offer insights both entertaining, moving, and helpful.

The Humans Of The PCT project will be taking on a range of forms, depending on what each person is interested in sharing. From a simple statement they'd like to make, or a headshot from on trail, to a text/audio interview, or even a videotaped interview. It is my hope to speak to as many of this years class before, during, and after their experiences on trail (no matter how long they were on trail or how far they got) to show how their perspectives changed and what experiences that call to them to be shared (not to mention that oh so dramatic before and after picture!).

These interviews, images, and other work we create will be shared on the FB PCT Class of 2020 page and my own social media accounts (I am currently deciding how much will be put on my current Living The PCT social media accounts and which will go on to their own separate platforms.), but also for those who consent, the long term intention would be to make any or all of the following: individual topical videos or audio episodes, a full length documentary, or a full book. What is shared will be up to each participant. I hope to do some similar work every year for each class, and also use this project as a way to gain support and funding for PCT supporting organizations, who lobby for the protection of and maintenance of the trail. Which organization(s) are supported will be decided by the participants.

If you want to participate in any part, please get in touch. I will be fitting in either remote interviews, or when possible in-person (In or close around Portland, Oregon) as we close in on the start of the 2020 PCT season and will be coming out to PCT days and hopefully on and off around the PCT season as people pass through my area (perhaps also at other locations along the trail but I don't have any expectation to do this yet). I have had a substantial response since asking for volunteers but I urge more people to come forward as there will be inevitable drop off of people as trail life or town life takes over time and interest, as well as wanting as many perspectives as possible. FB messages work, as do emails to [email protected]

Nearing the end of our day we came to the banks of Whitewater Preserve, and before we could convince ourselves to keep going, the laughter and enjoyment of a tramily swimming in the creek made the decision for us. Before we were set up, Beats rolled into camp and joined us. We only chatted a little bit that evening, but as happens much of the time when we get up later than planned in the morning, it was for a good reason, whether we know it or not to start. While short, we had a good conversation with Beats, and he was kind enough to let us share some of his experiences and thoughts, and snap a few pictures. He hiked the AT last year, and you can feel a lot of the peace of pace and the effects that six months of tight community and time to think can have on a thru hiker. In the short conversation we had, a lot of the passion of the trail, as well as it's costs, came through.

What are you most excited for on trail.

"I don't want to say the views, because they are ever present. I'm going to say… I don't want to sound cliche...The people. It's always the people that make the experience, sometimes. Like, I can be alone, I'll have my own day, but if I'm with someone else sometimes, like, it kinda changes everything that plays out, so I miss the people, you know?

My only trail brother from the AT last year ended up killing himself within the time after because post trail depression, you know."

Is there anything you'd like to say to anyone listening, especially if they're going to thru hike?

"If you're going to thru hike, take your time. Being off trail is one of the worst feelings in the world. Especially after you've experienced, like, elation from being on trail. Take your time, you don't want to rush this. It's...it's a gold rush from the start, to, I don't know, two-three hundred miles. People are so, like, committed to doing big miles, like dude, the miles will come, just let your body build itself to do them. Like it's incredible how injured I got the first week because I packed out the wrong things, the wrong food, oh my goooosh! So just take your time, and don't over plan, like even now I have a few boxes coming, but it's because there aren't enough resupplies in the area, but still, I'd still manage."

I have to add, because it represents one part of Beats words so well. As we came to the cliff over Whitewater Preserve, and were met with one of the most impressive views of the entire trail, something you could imagine being like an Alpine Nile Delta, flowing down from the hills and mountains through greenery and natural pyramids, another hiker who had passed us at speed a few minutes before was standing in deep reflection, taking in this epic view below us. As we all stood, rooted in place, he turned and asked us if we ever had the feeling, the thought, as we looked across these vistas, that we would never see them again. That each of these incredible sights would be so momentary before we moved on. We soaked in this thought and view, and continued on, with our fellow they hiker still in rapture to the valley below.

There will be miles, but if we don't take in some of these moments along them, they quickly just become numbers as part of the most expensive gym membership we'll likely ever have.

What do you like most about yourself as a person?

"I have empathy."

More Humans of The PCT photos and interviews, as well as other images from the trail at Instagram.com/livingthepct

The audio track from my conversation with Beats: https://youtu.be/-Q9MLDa3GZQ

YouTube trail journal at: bit.ly/2U2bGCA

Hannah

Why are you hoping the PCT?

"So my twin sister actually did the PCT last year, her and her boyfriend, and they absolutely loved it. They wouldn't stop banging on about it, and I just thought, I definitely have to try that. I knew it was always something I wanted to do, from hearing from them, and then took six months off work and thought I'm only going to do a section, so I'm going to do a thousand miles. So I just want to get out to the wild and be farel.

I wanted to take some time off to get back into nature. Be outside. I was toying with the idea of maybe a cycle, a long cycle ride, and I've done hiking before, but then when Jenny and Joe completed it last year, I was like yeah, definitely, that's the thing to do."

How did you hear about the PCT?

"From them. So I hadn't really heard about it until probably two and a half years ago when they started planning it. And we'd done long hikes in Scotland before, and they were training for them when we went over there, so I started being drip fed information about it, and I was like that sounds craaaazy, like noooo waaaaay! And then even when they were doing it I was like, could I do it by myself, kept asking my sister like, would it be fine to do it solo? Only when they got back and they told me more about it in like full depth, I was like okay, yeah, definitely, I'm getting a permit."

What's your favorite part of trail life?

"I think just in general, I love having my portable little bedroom that I just put up anywhere, and everytime I open it in the morning it's a different scenery. So I think that's the favorite thing. Sometimes you'll be in the forest, other times you'll be in the desert, sometimes yeah you may be by the side of the road.

But yeah I think that's the favorite thing and the favorite day has been the summit, up to San Jacinto the other day. It was so hard, it felt so dangerous that oh my God why are we doing this, but then when we eventually got to the top, it was just incredible."

What are you most excited for ahead?

"I was really quite scared about the Sierras, and then we had the snow storm the other day, and I was like ooh God, what are the Sierras going to be like? But then speaking to another, like part of the trail family we're kinda with who's done it before, she was like they're incredible, like it's not as cold, it's beautiful, the water crossings won't be as bad as you think, so I'm looking forward to the Sierras. And you can have fires so I'm looking forward to just chilling around a fire and having a sociable evening."

So what are you most anxious about, still the Sierra's?

"Coming back. So yeah, I finish at Lake Tahoe and I have to finish then because I'm a bridesmaid for a wedding back in London. So I literally finish, fly straight back to London and then I'm going to be a bridesmaid. So I'm kind of looking forward to seeing everyone but I'm also scared of going back into normality. "

What do you like most about yourself?

"I think I have quite a positive attitude, and I think sometimes, or often, that kind of reflects off other people back onto myself, like if I'm more happy in a situation, say like something's quite scary then they'll cheer up and it will bounce back to me."



on Instagram and YouTube

For those of you who are familiar with Humans of New York, many of my intentions with this project will be different, but familiar to you. Long before I had heard the name Humans of New York my wife and I had heard the call to hike the Pacific Crest Trail; a walking path from Mexico to Canada. We would becoming increasingly obsessed over the years, until we had a realistic date and had nothing but to do left but test out the gear we would use on trail...and waiting for spring.

Part of the call for me to undertake this large trek is the unique culture which has been created by those hiking the trail and the people who support them. An entire way of life that is invisible to the vast majority of the world and often an unthinkable journey for most of those living just a short commute from the trail itself. Not because of the physically arduous demands and abject discomfort or even misery, which there is certainly in spades, but because for 4-6 months people walk away from whatever their lives were.

Some people walk away from promising careers, while others go during the break between highschool and college, or upon a graduation or retirement. Families, both parents, spouses and children are often left behind the call is so strong. For some people it interacts with their life logistically like a really long vacation, while for others it is a complete change in the vector of their entire life. A temporary divergence, or a permanent one, you never know until after you return.

Thru-hikers are admittedly a special kind of crazy from the start, but they come from such a wide range of backgrounds. Every background. Affluent, essentially homeless before hand, young, older, fit as hell or just trying to walk without pain. From so many different places in life they come to one path and their reasons may have similarities, but there is far more than a single reason why.

I want to know their reasons for taking such a large and divergent step from the life they have been leading so far. I want to know their story. I have heard the call myself, but that doesn't tell me their story. The reason why some people have never and will never hike the trail, but year on year come out to give rides, a dry place to sleep, or a cold beer to thru-hikers. I want to see this unique culture and how it interacts.

I believe every single person has a fascinating story. Is, a fascinating story. Seeing someone change the course of their life so dramatically, even if it's just temporarily, when almost no one around them is going to get why, compels me. I want to share these stories in part just because they are inherently fascinating, but also to show that the standard off the shelf life that so many of us live in the West does not have to be the only way. It can be a good way, but any default is never really the most ideal. For me, part of an intentional life is setting my world aside and walking every day for six months and doing little else, and telling you the story of what landed thousands of other people in the same place every year, even if they return to life 'as normal,' afterwards.