Max on the CDT

The short answer – I’m hiking the P.C.T. again this year.

From reading my blog, you will barely even be able to tell I’m on a different trail then originally planned. Well, other then the fact that I won’t be talking about New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho or Montana. I promise to still keep you on the edge of your seats with exciting stories about life on the trail.

So keep reading to hear stories like the following:
“Today I hiked 25 miles. The trail went up and down and I stubbed my toe and now I’m going to bed.”
I’ll try to jazz that up a bit for the actually trail journal.

The Appalachian Trail - Georgia

In 2001 I thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. It was hard.
It was cold, lonely, wet, frustrating and painful. To this day my feet make the Spock
“live long and prosper” symbol and have never gone back to their original size. My joints
also require a steady supply of Glusoamine Condrointin to function properly. The A.T. kicked my ass and had me in tears many times. Even so, it was the best thing I’ve ever done (and the beginning of my addiction)

Knifes Edge - Mt. Katahdin, Maine

In 2003 I hiked the Colorado Trail (about 500 miles), in 2006 The Long Trail (about 400 miles), then in 2007 I found myself standing in the desert at the border of Mexico and California at the southern terminus of the Pacific Crest Trail, 2700 miles from Mexico to Canada through California, Oregon and Washington.
There are three long trails in the U.S. that make up the Triple Crown of long distance hiking – The Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. So…..do I really have a choice.

Sometime in late April I will be standing once again on the border of Mexico, this time in New Mexico, at the southern terminus of the Continental Divide Trail. Hopefully 6 months and 3100 miles later I will reach the Canadian border in Montana.

P.C.T. journal – October 1st, 2007.

So the trail ends. No more miles, no more resupplies, no more worrying about water sources or elevations or trail grades, no more rattlesnakes, bear, lizards, elk, marmots, picas, picket pins, or grouse, no more pain, no more great views, no more smelly hiker friends, no more trail angels, no more town stops, no more walking around in public in what some might consider underwear, no more eating whatever I want, no more thinking that 23 miles is a “short” day, no more feeling invincible…..for now.

Well its time to feel invincible again……