Opening Statement

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach
~Henry David Thoreau, Walden


Friday, July 21, 2017

PCT 12 - Starched Shirt - Etna to Seiad Valley - 56 PCT miles


By the time I had reached Etna, my hiking shirt was completely worn through at the middle of my back.  Luckily there was a thrift shop in town, and I was able to pick up a long sleeve dress shirt to hike in.  The shirt was still starched from the laundry, and I looked quite formal as I trundled down the trail.

There was a forest fire burning a few miles from the PCT, so there were some ghostly scenes of the smoke wending it's way between the mountains.  

This section went through the Marble Mountain Wilderness,  named after a very unusual mountain, which I am guessing has a lot of marble in it.  Most of the rock was granite with some large quartz inclusions, which is unusual.

During this section it occurred to me that this type of hiking has a different quality from more casual hiking.  Your own life and the hike become one thing.  The rhythm of your day and the rhythm of the hike can't be separated.   This isn't very easy to explain, but it's very easy to experience.

I will hike into Oregon in the next section!

Here are the photos for this section https://photos.app.goo.gl/4Do8Wd2sfDB2ad5E2

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