the next chapter...

Well... today was my last day... I've done it again... walked away from a job... a place full of good people and friends I will miss quite a bit... the reasons for leaving were definitely different in some ways... but the feeling is similar... just right for me... time to move on... a no-brainer..

Sooo... don't have anything lined up yet again, burned out and once again second-guessing this career of mine... a break, a reset, some time alone with my thoughts, time to head back into nature...

The Pacific Crest Trail is currently my goal - hoping I can quickly pull things together in time to shoot for a mid-May start.. which sounds to be on the late side of things.. it's a long-distance hike and I've done a couple of them before, but this challenge is a bit different than the AT....

alot different actually... "a trail of extremes"... varying between scorching desert and snow packed alpine climates... the gear'll need to be adjusted a little bit... and even at different points along the trail... then there's the remoteness of it... the AT meanders between and even through trail communities and there's a whole culture of trail support around the experience... not so much on the PCT... the road crossings can be spread out much more and then the way into towns more distant, sometimes necessitating hitching... it's 500 miles longer.... there are no shelters which I used nearly the whole time on the AT... also can't possibly ask my parents to repeat the support they provided last time - no being spoiled by the amazing home-made dehydrated food drops this time...

aside from what sounds like much more amazing scenery than the AT, the one thing that might be easier is the grading of the trail... the AT can be brutal in that way with its harsh straight up and down through some pretty rugged terrain.... then again, I seemed to enjoy most of that ;) almost relishing the effort, as if these legs were made for it really... so I'm almost betting I'm going to be cursing the endless switchbacks up these PCT climbs when I'd probably rather just tackle the things and get 'em over with! lol

Ok! Enough whining! :D I'm leaving Denver for a couple of weeks of visiting/helping out the family in Atlanta (spending much of it digging in and planning the trip), followed by about a week of scurrying around and gathering/preparing maildrops and gear back here in Denver before heading off to the trailhead on the Mexican border!

Hope to occasionally post here to let people know how things are goin'. If anyone's readin, wish me luck! I'm feelin' like I may need some ;)