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THE PACIFIC CREST TRAIL Between 18th April and 3rd
October 2002, Liz and Simon hiked the Pacific Crest Trail. Two thousand six hundred and fifty eight miles in
length, it crosses deserts and mountain ranges, as it makes its way the
length of the United States of America, from the Mexico border to
Canada. Along the way Simon kept
a journal on a Pocketmail palmtop computer, writing late into each night
while lying under their nylon tarp.
At every town stop, he e-mailed the entry to Glen Van Peski near San
Diego, and he uploaded it to a website.
By the end of the hike, Liz and Simon were receiving e-mails from complete
strangers who were following their progress by reading the daily
entries. One woman blamed Simon
for keeping her up until 3am reading. There was a great deal to write about. Liz and Simon encountered bears,
mountain lion, rattle-snakes and, scariest of all, a grouse! They thought their trip had ended
half way when Liz's Sister became seriously ill. They had moments of utter elation and complete
despair. They kept notes about the towns in which they re-supplied which prospective hikers
might find useful, and also reviewed their choice of
equipment. Their Journal is divided into five sections and all
the more compelling for being written, not in the comfort of home with the
clarity of hindsight, but as it happened. This is what it feels like to hike the Pacific Crest
Trail. Pre-hike: Packing two lives into
boxes, flying to the USA, then packing food into boxes. Southern
California: Deserts, snakes and nappy rash. Central
California: The
High Sierra and the scary grouse. Northern
California: The
State that never ends. Oregon: Trees, trees and..... Washington: The race against winter. |
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