The April 2005 issue of Smithsonian Magazine has a great article on the Pacific Crest Trail, Destination America, Footpath Atop the West, by Donovan Webster. My hiking history has been on the AT but I thought you PCT hikers would enjoy reading this article. It makes me want to head west and join you on the trail.
Homer AT 2004
Homer
It’s easy to try to do a direct comparison between the AT and the PCT, butI think after it’s all over, the AT will be remembered as a social experience, the PCT as a wilderness experience.
booger
you might be right, but that’s only the beginning. The social aspect is only one fraction of the drastic differences. As Yogi’s PCT Handbook reads, they are both long walks, but after that, pretty much everything is different.
When I recall my hikes on both trails, I don’t remember the social aspect as much as the search for water!
Tha Wookie
I’ve always liked Thoreau’s concept of wilderness better - wildness.
Wildness can be found in Oregon when seeing no one for over 3 days (like I did), wildness can be found in a morning walk in town…when it is sleeting, the wind is blowing, the fog is rolling in. Like this morning for me.
All three trails have wildness. The Western trails (and off trails…hike Utah sometime!) have WILDNESS, but the AT and eastern trails certainly have the sublime wildness as well.
I miss the rolling green hills of the Appalachians, I miss the Sierra with its mixture of the sublime and the raw, I miss the canyon country of Utah with its stark and isolated beauty.
I miss them all. I love them all. Wildness in any form is special, wonderful and to be treasured.
Mags
Hey Homer,
Thanks, for the info. That is a pretty good article. Now how did we get into this wildneress or no wilderness junk.
Remember, Keep Smilin & Keep Hikin See ya’ll out there.
Rockytop
<I’ve always liked Thoreau’s concept of wilderness better - wildness. >
Now if only our “politicians” would adopt Thoreau’s concepts, we, as a country, might make it another 100 years.
Walker E.