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2010 - A year of working and dreaming. For the duration of this coming year I am back in Nelson, BC, working for a living, saving up for the next adventure, and enjoying the company of my friends. Winter is keeping me mostly confined indoors (and dreaming and scheming about the next long distance hike or biketour), but come spring I plan to spend most of my leisure time riding my bike and going for weekend backpacking trips. It will be good to re-acquaint myself with the mountains in my backyard.
2009 - A long walk: I did it! On October 12th, I completed my walk of nearly 2600 miles (4200 km) between Mexico and Canada, mostly along the Pacific Crest Trail. I set out with the modest goal of completing whatever amount of trail I was able to, focusing more on being out hiking for as many days as possible rather than hiking as fast or far as possible. My journey began on March 31st at the Mexican border just east of San Diego. I started out taking it fairly easy by PCT thru-hiker standards, letting my body slowly adjust to life on the trail. The strategy paid off, and by the second part of the trek I was walking more miles a day than I ever done on any previous backpacking adventure.
 My original plan was to walk a continuous line north from Mexico through California, Oregon, and, if the weather and my body held out, Washington into BC. I was less interested in faithfully following the official PCT than I was in having a great hike and keeping my footsteps connected. My biggest goal however was to remain flexible and not set any real rules for myself. Flexibility was the key ingredient and, ultimately the only goal I stayed with. For reasons I won't go into here (details on my webjournal), I had to return to Canada by August 20th, so ended up only going northbound as far as southern Oregon, then walking south from Manning Park back to southern Oregon. The plus side of which is that I got to experience the Washington Cascades in what is probably the best season. And although I did end up in a couple of snowstorms in Oregon, and one in the Sierras, I have to say that for most of the six and a half months that I was out hiking, I experienced incredibly favourable weather conditions. The biggest challenge for me was some of the hotter days (with tempertures rising to over 100 degrees F) in the deserts of southern California, but even there luck was with me, and I walked the most dreaded section - thru the Mojave desert - just after a heat wave broke and tempertures dropped to about 85 to 90 degrees fahrenheit.
As well as being the longest continuous hike I have done, the PCT was also by far the most social. I usually prefer hiking alone since I find that hiking in the company of others tends to mitigate the intensity of the wilderness experience. For this reason, while I have been drawn to hiking the PCT for many years, I always held off because I worried that the trail would be too crowded for my tastes. Indeed at times it was quite crowded, but not for long. And most important, I came to appreciate the company of my fellow hikers as I met them along the trail or relaxing at town stops. In fact I ended up walking a large chunk of the trail in the company of one other hiker, although we rarely actually walked together for very long, mostly just taking the odd break together and camping in the same place. For all the differences that exist among PCT hikers, there is something about us that we all share and that bonds us - this crazy need to walk day in and day out! As well as by this motley crew of PCT hikers, my trip was further enriched by the many generous people who reached out to support my hike in various ways. Some of these people are pretty much an institution along the trail, having lent support to hundreds of hikers over the years. Others were chance encounters along the trail or in a supply town that resulted in a ride (to or from town) or a bed for the night or, something as simple but much appreciated as the gift of a piece of fresh fruit.
All in all, this hike was an amazing adventure. The Sierras and Cascades are incredible mountain ranges to hike through, and the desert too has a special kind of beauty. At times my mental and physical endurance were tested to nearly the breaking point; other times everything felt just perfect!
You can follow my journey along the PCT at www.trailjournals.com/hikerbiker2009
(Dec. 21, 2009 - Note: I am currently working on uploading pictures and filling in the gaps in the text of my webjournal, so check the link again in a month or two. By then hopefully it will be complete.
For those of you interested in such things here's my 2009 PCT Gear List. I made some changes to my gear during the hike and plan to have a revised list up soon.
 2008 Tour - East by Northwest: From mid-March until late October of 2008 I cycled some 13,000 kilometres (8100 miles) across North America. I started from Victoria, British Columbia, with a 3 week bicycle tour in western Washington State to work out the kinks - mine and the bike's. Upon returning to Victoria, I slowly made my way north by bike and ferry to Anchor Point, Alaska, the most westerly point in North America reachable by continuous road from elsewhere on the continent.
I reached Anchor Point on the evening of May 30th, and from there rode, in my usual dawdling and "hickely-pickely" fashion, to Cape Spear, Newfoundland, the most easterly place in North America.
This has been the longest journey yet in my human-powered explorations of the north american continent, a journey which I hope to extend into other parts of the americas and possibly around the world over the next few years. To find out more about my cycling traverse of the north american continent please visit my trip journal at www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/roadtonowhere
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