Ok, first attempt at posting audio. The plan is to try some podcasting while I’m out at the PCT. I’m trying to work out the kinks before I go – this blogging business is more complicated than it looks.
Craigslist dude
I was surfing around on craigslist the other day and happened across a listing for a bear canister for sale. “Perfect!”, I thought. “I need one of those!” I ended up going over to buy the canister that evening. I walked up to the address the seller had given me and looked in. The front door was open, and inside was a dude and his girlfriend, sucking face.
“Uh, knock knock?” I quiered. Dude and girlfriend quickstepped apart. “Uh, you must be here for the bear canister”, said the dude.
We chatted a little bit, exchanging post-transcation pleasantries, and somehow rock climbing came up. So, naturally, I invited the dude to come climbing with me sometime. Right after I said that, I realized that inviting a total stranger that you just met from craigslist to go out into the wilderness with you and hold the rope that keeps you from crashing into the ground was possibly a weird thing to do. I can be so awkward sometimes.
But, it looks like it was awkward for the win. J and I met up with craigslist dude today for some casual Saturday climbing. Craigslist dude is great, and hopefully a new friend. The weather was perfect. I redpointed a project. It’s spring in Tucson, and the sun is shining, and the smell of citrus blossoms haunts the streets.
I sometimes wonder how many good, interesting people that I’m surrounded by that I will never meet. How many lifelong friends living down the street, that I never introduced myself to. It’s strange to think about.
animal sightings
There was a small wolf in the office today, being wolf-sat by my co-worker for his brother. At 7 weeks old, it’s pretty adorable. (The wolf, not my co-worker, sorry Bill.) Bill said that even with rigorous socialization, when it’s fully grown it still can’t be left alone in the house with other dogs, cats, or small children.
That’s because it might eat them.
I asked him if his brother had ever considered getting a domesticated wolf? They’re not too hard to find, just search google under DOG. He laughed, said he didn’t think a pet wolf was a good idea either. We discussed entering an office safety learning in the official safety learning database, to help meet our yearly quota. The wolf-pup rolled around, then curled up at our feet for a nap. Vicious predator.
In other news, signed the paperwork for my leave of absence from work!
someday?
With this trip coming up sooner and sooner, every day has started to feel like a Friday – an extended Friday as a prelude to a very extended weekend…
I was able to hit one day of the Banff Outdoor Film Festival when it came through town this weekend. It’s an amazing collection of unbelievably crazy people doing unbelievably crazy things in unbelievably crazy places. I wish my mother had seen some of these films; I think she’d be a little less worried about my PCT hiking plans. I’m not skiing over cliffs with a paraglide chute – I’m just going for a really long walk.
A line from one of the shorts, 35, stuck with me, so I’ll leave it here:
“Dreams aren’t worth much if you leave in the drawer marked ‘someday’. ”
Why hike the PCT?
I first heard about the Pacific Crest Trail about 7 years ago, when I was standing on it. I was up from Arizona, visiting a friend in Hood River, Oregon, and we were hiking in the greenest place I had ever seen. I had had no idea that there could be so much water, everywhere. Lakes rivers streams clouds mist rain and dripping moss. I thought I’d been dropped into a fairytale.
I thought about the trail again a few years later, during the too long/too short training period before starting my Peace Corps service in Suriname. They had brought all us new volunteers into the city for a few days, a short reprieve from the other greenest place I’d ever been. (Rainforests are funny like that.) We sat around comparing skin infections and bug bites and host family horror stories. I told Kate it looked like she had a fungal infection on her face (she did). Then Kate and I started talking about dreams and plans that didn’t involve culture shock and new languages and we started planning our PCT hike for two years later, when we got back.
When we got back, it turned out I didn’t have any money, and besides I needed to finish grad school, and things were different after Peace Corps.
Last year, J mentioned the PCT as something he’d like to do someday. Oh yes! I thought. The PCT… I’d forgotten about you… and it started to simmer. Then in January, I realized that I had enough money, and health, and time. And this time PCT fever seized me completely. Preparations began!
So I’ll be heading out onto the trail this summer. Plans are still fuzzy, gear is still unbought/unmade, and logistics remain to be tackled. But this time, it’s time.