1,000 MILES WAS WALKED BY BOOM AND FEY YOU GUYS! That's right. Today we floated out of the Sierra; the scenery changed dramatically and quickly. Suddenly the hills ahead were no longer rocky cliff faces but rather mountains that remind us of the desert: rolling, brown, scrubby. Soon after the scenery changed we found the 1,000 mile marker.
Many of our comrades are in full blown panic mode having calculated the number of miles they need to average to complete the PCT. Boom and I realized that this panic really squashes what we came out here to do: to enjoy ourselves, to reflect, and to meet people. In trying to avoid the frenzy, we came to a conclusion.
While Boom is fully capable of finishing and would like to, I feel overwhelmed by the miles we need to average. Boom thought everyone was overreacting and put together his own spreadsheet that took into account zeroes, neroes, hard days, and easy days, and the average mileage it spit out for so-called normal days was still over 21/day! We discussed the possibility of me going part time on the PCT, giving me more time for Catalyst work and Adam more hiking time. Win win! We shall see.
In the evening we camped on a beautiful hillside at high elevation with Spear. At dinner we all mused on the thought processes of mosquitoes. As Spear sees it, they are not cautioned by their fallen brethren around us; rather they seek to avenge their friends' deaths, and when they are inevitably also squished, they have no regrets. A brave species.
