PCT 2021 - BURNEY
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- Опубликовано: 11 окт 2024
- Some snippets from our time in Burney and visiting Burney falls before one of our friends got a Garmin notification from his dad that there was a new fire popping up 10 miles north of us. We decided to get a ride back to Burney and ultimately skip up to Shasta from there. Wild fires are not something we're used to and it's been very difficult making decisions that result in us skipping sections of the trail. What it all means to do this thing and the reasons for being out here shift by the hour and has been a very sensitive time on trail.
As someone who has never studied thru-hiking until the last 6 months, I think you are being too rough on yourself proclaiming you are now just (my word) section hikers. If you want to split hairs, deviating from the trail to visit a hostel makes you a section hiker according to your logic. Making provision for acts of God (weather, temperature, fire, lightning, et al) in the name of safety hardly disqualifies any hiker on any mission. YMMV Quit setting standards you can't live by. You are thru-hiking from Mexico to Canada and unless you stop and don't begin again in the allotted time, you are still in the game.
Thank you Bert. I sincerely appreciate your input and support. We were hard-core purist on the AT so it's been a tough grapple but ultimately making me a better person in general in my values and concerns
The following is from my experience living (in N. Cal) through wildfires most of the last few years: You are most definitely thru-hikers. I'd say your decision even to go to Shasta is wise because no one should be hiking in that kind of smoke. Particulate levels are probably 150+ ppm or much more and just aren't healthy conditions for folks of any age - even 30s and under. So give yourselves a break and don't hesitate to go ahead to anywhere the air is OK - hard to find in N. Cal or S. Oregon.
Edit: BTW we aren't living anywhere close to fires ATM but we've had patchy smoke and smog hanging over the valleys due to wind shifts, and even here we've been advised to limit outdoor activities. During past local/regional active wildfires we've been told to shelter in place when levels were 80-150 ppm +. Be kind to yourselves and take care of your bodies.
You are on the the trail and inspiring me to get off the couch! What you are doing is as important (maybe more so) than any label you apply to yourself. Thank-you.
I watched a hiker do the PCT in 2019 and she had to skip a section and said you have a year to complete it so she was coming back to finish the section she skipped. Please don't say you're a section hiker, you've walked from Mexico!!
Sooo sorry for the smoke. The decision. Do you really count miles you can't hike because of health as skipped miles or include them in the same category of impassable miles or closed miles. Just a thought. I believe health and safety just as important and should not be counted as skipped. Just a thought. Keep trekking. 😀
You are most definitely not a section hiker! Every year the PCT is different from the year before - sections closed by last year's fires mean you are not hiking the same trail people hiked last year. New fires that block the way as you go make it different again. This is this year's PCT and you're doing it.
So sorry about ditching the thru hike..stay safe
He’s definitely still a thru-hiker
I wouldn't be so hard on yourself better to miss a section then have something happen
Just an fyi, smoke will be worse as you go north, not a good year for fires and smoke. 😥